The Biggest Vertical Missing from your Current Marketing Strategy

By now you’ve likely already got on board with digital marketing; from email, to social media and a slick looking site. Marketing has shifted and no longer are our marketing disciplines split between ‘online’ and ‘offline’ marketing - the two have converged. Take a look at these three scenarios:

The rise of mobile viewing

You have a great desktop website but it also looks excellent on mobile. You know visitors aren’t always going to be sitting behind a computer screen to shop or browse. In fact, mobile viewing overtook desktop for the first time last year. 

Multi-screen viewing

87% of consumers use a second screen device while watching TV, studies show. But what about the rest of the time? How many times do we use a second, or even third screen, while at work, while shopping or eating out with friends? We’re surrounded by screens more than ever. It’s just a shame that some of them aren’t being utilized (more on this later). 

A new offline marketing strategy

What would happen if someone gave you an additional marketing tool, through which, you could get a more engaged audience? Truth is, that’s how many see digital signage - the art of creating content on a screen located in a physical space. You only have to look at the stats to see that digital signage is a fast-growing area. 

Yet digital signage is still one of the biggest verticals missing from most current marketing strategies. 

It’s time we changed that. Here, we run you through how (and why) digital signage needs to be part of your current marketing strategy and just how easy it is to do it. 

Digital signage and marketing

If you’re on a mission to improve customer service, create great in-store experiences, drive more traffic to your website or social media channels, then digital signage can do all of those things. As a marketing tool, it’s pretty stellar. 

It uses a medium we’re already familiar with - the screen. It delivers content that can be changed regularly (unlike static signs), that you can edit in real time, or to suit real time campaigns or occasions (much more easily than on your website even). You can use it to create a better atmosphere, improve sales targets and tell brand stories. 

Finally, it can be used to market towards an internal or external audience. If you have a physical shopfront that’s aimed at customers like in a hotel, store or real estate office then great, you’re perfectly positioned to use digital signage.

If you have an office, a lobby or anywhere that people go employee or otherwise, you can use it too. Digital signage can be used to improve company culture, impress potential new staff members and share information with visiting stakeholders - like your latest figures or site traffic. 

Overall, digital signage is a pretty versatile marketing strategy and it can be used in almost any scenario. 

Digital signage and mobile

As we mentioned previously, digital signage takes what we love about mobile, information at our fingertips, and places it on a larger scale. Think of your digital screens like extensions of the user's smartphone. They have the same versatility!

Digital signage can be updated live, either using real time apps such as social media feeds, or from a CMS that can be edited from any internet-connected device anywhere. It can also be personalized and interactive. As we see trends towards interactivity and the use of sophisticated technology such as interactions led by voice and mobile-driven OOH marketing grow, this will become even more of a connected experience. 

One where the screen content can be changed with a nod of your head, or the click of your smartphone button. 

Digital signage and social media

Digital signage and social media are a perfect match. We’ve spoken about the power of the large social media wall many a time. Because yes, social media is essentially ‘free’ to run but it’s also time-consuming, difficult to master without budget and competitive.

All digital signage does is takes the social media you’ve worked so hard to curate and place it up on a big screen where everyone can see it. When potential customers are viewing social media in the social media landscape they can easily be distracted by updates from their friends, family or other brands. When viewing it on your digital signage screen it has more sticking power.

Digital signage and email

That’s right, digital signage can also collide with your email marketing efforts as a great canvas to encourage email sign-ups. Perhaps you’re running a free promotion code in exchange for an email address? Your digital screen is the perfect place to advertise this! Throw up a bit.ly link or similar and your audience can easily see what they need to do. 

Digital signage and advertising/PR

When we first think of digital signage we often think from an advertising perspective. Of course, digital signage is a great and natural medium to show your latest digital content. You’ll see this from many retail brands that prioritize digital media in their physical stores using screens and videowalls. 

But there’s also a little more to it. As we know, great PR isn’t always about blowing your own trumpet loud enough for everyone to hear. It’s also about crafting stories, sharing the words of your customers through customer testimonials and even allowing your staff (or students) to create the digital content as one of our customers North Valley Baptist Schools has done. Digital signage allows for all of those things. 

Digital signage and events

Grabbing a visitor’s interest starts as soon as they walk through your event door. Again, there are a lot of distractions. From the visitor’s own smartphone, to issues back at the office, the coffee bar and the Wi-Fi zone where they could just plot up with a laptop. So what will get them focused on your event or your tradeshow booth? 

Digital signage can both enhance and detract attention from the rest of the experience. It adds media to an otherwise static booth space, it gives you a canvas for an interactive floor plan - that can change the moment an exhibitor doesn’t turn up! It can provide live information on the speakers of that day, wayfinding towards the cafe areas and live social media walls to help the conversation swell. All in all, it’s filled with benefits. 

Digital signage and your brand

Digital signage is a huge marketing vertical and one that we know isn’t being utilized enough. When our customers talk about implementing digital signage in their store, restaurant, school or office they’re surprised at how much weight it gives to campaigns. How impressed and delighted their audiences are and just how easy it is to setup, run and manage. 

If you’re looking to give it a try, our super-easy digital signage CMS is a great place to start. Head over and begin your 14-day free trial here.