2018: Digital Signage Content Matters More Than Ever

It’s a strange new world we live in. One day content is your friend, the next day content is your foe. Here’s the thing: no one wants more content.

All day we’re bombarded with more blogs, more social media posts, more social media ads and more places to go and view content. Whereas once we had newspapers and radio, today we have social networks, streaming apps, messaging apps, books, podcasts, boxsets and a whole host of other “content” vying for our attention.

Now we’re not trying to say that the old world was better in any way. But what we are saying, is that audience attention has changed.

Rather than trying to consume as much content as we can, we’re on a constant filter, choosing only the content we really want.

When it comes to digital signage, this changes how any business worth its buck must think about content.

Content that’ll beat the filter

Most company digital signage displays are that: displays that take company content and place it in front of its audience. The problem is, most company content doesn’t impress, engage or inspire people.

In the same way that brands on social media went from sharing content that said “look at me”, to having to think about social content as crafted and curated advertising, digital signage is the same.

To make the TV screens around us truly useful, we need to think of them as smartphones and personal computers that are tailored to what the owner wants to see.

Because when screens are useful, the content will beat the filter. That’s when the magic happens and audiences begin to not only consume your content, but to look for it.

Good examples of content for 2018

So let’s put our money where our mouth is. What do we see as important forms of content for the year ahead?

Real-time content

Real-time content in digital signage shows what’s happening at that very moment in time. It’s easy to access, on apps consumers are already used to, that update automatically so there’s no need to refresh the screen.

Perhaps this is a panoramic of the street around your office that helps staff avoid traffic, or live news that keeps customers in your coffee bar while they catch up on the latest headlines.

It might be a Twitter display that pulls from a specific hashtag, so viewers can follow the conversation, or a dashboard for your customer service team on help tickets answered that day that show them how quickly they’re responding.

Whatever real-time content you go for, the idea is that it’s showing up-to-the-minute relevant information that people want to watch.

Interactive content

As we mentioned in our trends report, voice recognition and interactive screens have captured the attention of audiences this year.

In 2018, screen content will need to focus on interactivity between screens and audiences. In its most basic sense this might mean giving viewers a unique URL or code to use offline. Then you have touch content where viewers can interact with the screen, pulling information at will.

Voice will also be added to the mix, with consumer-led voice controlled interfaces such as Alexa, Cortana and Siri being used to interact with screens and make content altogether more accessible.

Insight and reporting

For offices, receptions and even consumer-facing companies, providing analytics that can then improve results or work processes is a great way to do content in 2018.

This might mean Trello boards sent to screen or the tracking of a social mission such as raising money, or saving on plastic use. Dashboards that take data and analyze will become truly relevant and interesting to the audiences watching.

Looking for a content health check?

As this year’s DSE we’re going to have our content-gurus on the deck, helping you to make better content decisions for your audience.

Book a personalized one-to-one session where we can take you through how to use filter-beating content to achieve your business goals. As well as coming up with a content roadmap that you can take back to the office with templates, ideas and ebooks for better content creation. Hurry, spaces are limited.

Head here to book a session.