Digital Signage

Technology is a dynamic, ever evolving and seemingly perpetual facet of our society as we know it. Getting “the message” out to customers is delivered only momentarily, if not instantly. Some of these technologies include social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, a blog or website. Nothing really new here - We have been using these tactics for centuries, we just called it socializing. Now we call it “social” media and have standardized tools and evolved delivering “the message”. What about the audience that does not quickly adopt new technology though? Do we just ignore this large sample audience that HAS NOT bought into your website and other soft-marketing. Even mailers are ineffective to many business models because people just toss them out. People are influenced in a variety of ways and need to get information about your businesses quickly and without feeling they have been sold. The focus of this article addresses marketing to the current culture as a whole, particularly using a unique technology which does not segment the tech-savvy from the technologically ignorant alike. Welcome and read on.

I ended up as the dedicated food shopper of my household. I personally perform the task of ensuring the purchase and delivery of hundreds of food items which we somehow could not live without on a week to week basis. No time for reading flyers, coupon-cutting, circulars, and so on. The mega-supermarket I shop at has a cute smart-phone application they offer to their customers. This store set up a huge colorful sign campaign throughout the location advertising this “new way to shop”. The download (free by the way) allows one to peruse , select the items on sale, and even highlight items they might be interested in purchasing for later. This is a cool tool but likely only appeals to those willing to dedicate themselves to finding the tool, installing, and learning to use it. And for what? – All in the name of the store selling more. This is a great example of how technology has started to evolve in its marketing methods and created ways to capture their audience but can fail as far as being viable to a very large audience. Lets also keep in mind that the costs associated with developing this type of application is likely in the upper 5 or 6 figures, takes a lot of resources to develop and maintain, and at the end of the day its very complex. Let’s move on.

I just spent some time discussing a single marketing method which many businesses have adopted and are still adopting as a means to capture their audience. But if my business is not going to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and endless amounts of resources to market what I do and get my “message” out, perhaps developing an iPhone or Android app is not the route to take. I mean after all what do we traditionally do? We advertise. We advertise online, through print ads, mailing material, business cards, and ultimately signs. Signs which are meant to capture our audience and deliver my “message”. In fact signs are still a very popular means to advertise one’s business model. Businesses have flourished by using signs as a marketing tool as early as languages were available. And thus using today’s technology and slick content delivery methods we have brought the “sign” to our modern era.

Digital signage is nothing new. Bus terminals, airports, and any other foundation which relies on information that rapidly changes has likely already adopted this technology. You have likely seen these, sometimes displayed as small LED scrolling displays, and more recently displaying information on screens very similar to your television at home. The key to leveraging this technology is simple. Advertising space to promote a message which is fluid and can be changed as needed without exerting much effort. Let me emphasize this idea with a solid example:

Joe is a retailer who runs a store. Joe sells products directly to customers whom frequent his locations in order to make purchases. Joe also embraces many media avenues including leveraging a web site, some SEO, and he has developed a brand. Joe typically uses his storefront windows as real estate to promote his business. Occasionally he creates campaigns and targets certain products which he markets more aggressively. In a specialty food store, certain seasons or holidays might correlate to higher margins on a product or product line. Joe was looking for ways he could quickly switch his advertising efforts to play into his current campaigns. Enter the digital sign, allowing Joe to take advantage of whatever campaign or special items Joe is looking to announce and/or draw attention to. Joe can now ramp up and use his on-premise advertising space in a dynamic fashion to suit his needs. The best part? Joe can draw attention to a product or service, and incorporate the ability to quickly switch between advertised products as he sees fit.

Think of this scenario like a television show and the digital signage being the advertising catalyst at specified increments. Using a digital sign/display, the ability to capture the attention of your audience is almost limitless. Digital signs can be hand-tailored to suit any business. They can display static information, such as a news blurb, or they can be animated and dynamic. According to studies by the huge advertising agencies, the ability to grab the attention of an audience is powerful. Airports and shopping malls spend millions of dollars each year to sell ad space on their own digital signs because it’s a proven method. Today these technologies are available to the smaller businesses as the underlying technologies and hardware has become more commoditized.
Veraciti understands that in order to align technology with our customers, we first have to understand the businesses we serve. Recently we have spent a tremendous amount of resources to discover how to effectively implement a digital signage campaign to effectively leverage potential customers and clients in your business.

About Jeremy Oster – Jeremy Oster recently joined Veraciti with a key role. Jeremy assists in running the Operations and Managed Services Delivery areas at Veraciti. Mr. Oster comes from a diverse technical background with close to 15 years of technology experience relating to small and midsized businesses.


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