You see it everywhere, your competitors have it, so you start thinking, “Maybe we should get digital signage, too.” It’s a bit of an investment, and even so-called “free” digital signage options are not, in fact, free when they scale up past the most basic options. And it also requires time and effort. It will take a team of people to implement a digital signage solution, and once it’s up and running, it’s easily a fulltime job for one or even several people to keep it going. So, you may be asking yourself if it’s really worth it. People in a number of industries are finding that the answer is “Yes,” and that the benefits of digital signage far outweigh the costs.
Top 12 Benefits of Digital Signage
1. Increased exposure
With digital signs placed in high-traffic areas, you have a virtually unlimited audience as opposed to print runs and email lists. You can also show more messages more often, and choose when and where they display, which increases message saturation. Anything with a screen can be a digital sign. Send messages to single large displays, touchscreens, video walls, small monitors, tablets, smartphones or room signs – or all of them at once.
2. Increased engagement, recall and retention rates
Because it’s so visual, digital signage really increases engagement. 63% of people surveyed say digital signage captures their attention, and 59% want to learn more about what’s on screen. Digital signs have a recall rate of 83%, and people remember 65% of all information that’s visually presented after three days (as opposed to 10-20% of written or spoken information). That’s because a third of the brain is devoted to visual processing, and we process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. You can also add movement to messages, capturing even more attention. Digital displays with motion capture 400% more views than static displays.
3. Improved customer experience
One of the most touted benefits of digital signage is in retail applications, but the customer experience doesn’t have to be in a store. Providing ready access to FAQs and general info on screens helps both employees and customers save time. Digital signage reduces perceived wait time at checkouts by as much as 35%. Adding queuing data further reduces perceived wait time, and digital signs can double as an entertainment medium, featuring video and TV streams, or interactive games. You can turn your screens into a revenue generator by encouraging point of sale purchases and impulse buys. Retail shops that use point of sale displays see an increase of 20% in unplanned purchases (and that jumps to 80% in food establishments). Even adding a single screen can increase average sales revenue by almost 5%.
4. Increased employee motivation and retention
Motivated and engaged employees call in sick 37% less often and are over 20% more productive (which leads to 26% higher annual revenue). You can engage teams and build community with timely messages on digital signs. Keep everyone in the loop with KPIs and data visualizations, and recognize individual and team achievements. A short message on a digital sign is often more rewarding than money – one-third of employees say they prefer recognition through a company-wide email (or digital signage message) than a $500 bonus. Successful engagement also reduces employee turnover by 65%.
5. Better digital connectivity
Digital signage widgets can pull in data for your screens from a number of business systems that you’re already using, like SharePoint, Excel and calendaring systems, so all your workflows are simplified and unified. You can also show external feeds like weather, news, social media, webpages and RSS feeds to add popular topics to your digital signs. And the best thing is that all of these are automated and update in real time without any work on your part.
6. Cohesive branding
Studies show digital signage increases brand awareness by over 47%. A central content manager powers all your communications for any number of signs in any number locations – part of a building, a whole building, several buildings on a campus, or many buildings in different cities and even countries. Maintain a cohesive brand by matching your screen designs with websites, social networks and any print materials you still use. You can maintain standards with easy digital signage templates that any approved contributor can use to create messages that are always on brand.
7. Lower creative costs
You don’t need a whole high-priced design team. Digital signage systems let you easily import content like videos and PowerPoint slides, or point to a folder on your network to pull in media files. Templates and automated content mean anyone can create good-looking messages. And, you can let more people contribute (sharing the load) with user account permissions and simple approval processes in the digital signage software.
8. More accurate targeting
A centralized system distributes content to any screen or set of screens, so you can have multiple channels for different audiences managed from a single desktop. Scheduling lets you drill down to different days of the week and times of day to show content matched to viewer demographics, traffic patterns and preferences. Dedicated playlists let you localize content, so everything shown is relevant to the audience in front of that screen.
9. Interactivity
Everyone today has a smartphone, and they’re used to getting information via touchscreens. By adding interactivity, with either touch or a voice user interface, your digital signs can deliver a richer viewer experience. Self-service kiosks allow people to discover information on their own and navigate to what’s most important to them. Touchscreens also allow you to offer a vast number of options on a single screen, like interactive wayfinding, directories and menu boards, just to name a few. Interactive screens also free up your staff for more personalized service.
10. Lower operating and environmental costs
By replacing print communications with digital signs, you’ll save the associated expense and waste of paper, ink and recycling. It also requires fewer people to manage than print programs, which means lower operating costs. No more printing, hanging, pulling down and disposing of notices on bulletin boards. And a digital signage system is a one-time cost, whereas print materials are an ongoing and increasing revenue drain.
11. More versatility and scalability
Digital signage is much more versatile than other communications mediums because you can show literally hundreds of content types, all centrally managed. Messages can be updated easily and frequently, so screens are always accurate. And if you want to expand your system, you just add more media players – the software still centrally manages everything.
12. Increased safety
Don’t overlook the safety benefits of digital signage. Workplaces that use digital signs report 48% fewer safety incidents, and a 20% reduction in workplace injuries. Show workplace safety reminders and tips, number of days without incident, and encourage regular training on screens placed throughout your facility. You can also use digital signs as part of your emergency alert system, triggering messages that override playlists to show alerts and instructions on screens.
There’s just nothing like digital signage displays for communicating effectively – whether it’s a single screen or a global network. No matter who your audience is, they’re used to seeing information presented visually, dynamically and in real time. Whether you’re a company, school, hospital, retailer, hotel or government office, digital signs can help you engage your viewers for tangible, bottom-line benefits.