WHITE PAPER
Interactive Digital Signage:
Maximizing Engagement
in Three Steps
SPONSORED BY:
Effective interactive content and technology enables
business users, or deployers, to learn about their
customers while showcasing their brands.
By Richard Slawsky
DigitalSignageToday.com
Interactivity opens up a new dimension for digital signage, inviting viewers
to become involved. Deploying interactive digital signage creates a deeper
emotional connection between the business and the consumer, whether
that business is a university, a restaurant, or a theme park.
The same technology used at ATMs and information kiosks can supplement
a digital signage setup in which the deployer wants to give the user on-demand access to information. The touchscreens used in those deployments
actively engage users, making the technology an ideal medium for advertising and distributing information.
Interactive touchscreens offer a near-infinite amount of real estate in a
small space, making it possible for the deployer to provide in-depth technical information about a range of products, offer a choice of demonstration
videos, or display a variety of add-on products or choices based on the
user’s purchase or question.
In addition, every touch leaves a record, which the business then can use
to make more informed decisions on how best to serve its customers.
Step 1: The Basic Deployment
On the hardware side, interactive digital signage displays generally are
made up of the same components as traditional signage networks with a
few twists. Equipment and players have to be easily upgradable and flexible enough to run multiple platforms.
The main component of an interactive deployment, of course, is an interactive touchscreen. Deployers can use standalone touchscreens or touch
bezel overlays that affix to existing plasma or LCD screens and make them
interactive. Separately, tablet computers are being used as screens to bring
functioning displays to places never before considered.
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Interactive Digital Signage: Maximizing Engagement in Three Steps
At the gas pump, for instance, an interactive touchscreen allows users to
purchase a car wash or other service while fueling their cars. Touchscreens
in a healthcare facility allow users to fill out patient information, make appointments or pay on their accounts. At a university, interactive, wayfinding
signage enables campus visitors to select a destination and determine the
best route. In a theme park, users can check on ride line times or concession stand menus.
Equally as important is an interactive digital signage player. More than just
the standalone media players of the past, players must have the capability
to handle bidirectional interactivity, responding to inputs from the screen
and providing a prompt response. The best touchscreen installations are
those when users have seamless “conversations” with technology.
On the software side, packages range from standalone or cloud-based
bundles developed to match the capabilities of a particular brand of signage
player to open-source products available at no cost and usable on a multitude of systems.
When interactive digital signage first began to gain popularity, each screen
required its own media player, making an interactive display one that required a significant investment. Over time, developments in both hardware
and software have brought down those costs.
At this time, both software and appliance-based solutions exist that facilitate
one computer driving multiple interactive screens. These can be coupled with
video and bi-directional USB extenders, or video+USB IP-based extenders,
to remove the signage player or local computing device from the point of use
to a centralized location for more efficient and secure operation.
Powering interactive digital signage with virtualization using a server appliance and delivery over a local area network (LAN) dramatically reduces the
cost and makes it possible to increase the volume of signage to increase
customer engagement.
Step 2: Content Creation
Relevancy is obviously a major component to maximizing customer engagement and interactivity, content creators say. The content being displayed must be relevant to the target audience. If viewers aren’t interested
in the content, they won’t interact with it.
“We maximize customer engagement with our digital signage by providing
utility to the customer,” said Stacey Tozer, marketing director for Kitchener,
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Interactive Digital Signage: Maximizing Engagement in Three Steps
“We maximize customer
engagement with our
digital signage by
providing utility to the
customer.”
— Stacey Tozer, marketing director,
MappedIn
Ontario-based MappedIn. “By including digital wayfinding, we draw customers
to the screens for information that they are seeking, and then provide targeted
promotions and events while they are actively engaged with the screen.”
One way to engage customers with interactivity is by replacing static information or wayfinding signs with well-placed interactive kiosks in high-traffic
areas, said Brian McClimans, vice president, global business development,
of Aurora, Ill.-based Peerless-AV.
“Having easy-to-use content is also very important so that the users can intuitively navigate through the application,” McClimans said. “Using directional
sound would greatly help to target and pull people closer to the touchscreen.”
According to David Roscoe, founder and CEO of ADFLOW Networks, the
objectives of the retailer, the deployment’s target audience, and the products promoted by the deployment dictate the content strategies for marketing and sales applications.
“For audiences that might be intimidated by technology — typically older
audiences — it’s important to offer short content on large screens using
large buttons with a user experience that is intuitive and guides the customer through,” Roscoe said. “Reaching tech-savvy audiences requires quick
and engaging material, which takes into account that this target audience
wants their information now.”
The key element in content strategy is engaging the consumer, which
requires combining many different audiovisual elements to deliver a satisfying customer experience, Roscoe said. To be effective, content must be
current, easy to change, and relevant to the customer. This is particularly
important when developing material to market complex products, such as
phones with a multitude of features and prices that change frequently.
One way digital signage companies ensure that players are showing relevant content is by pulling new content from content management systems
on timed intervals. However, if these updates occur too frequently, they may
slow down the system network. It is important that digital signage companies understand the applications and environment in which their media
players are being deployed, as this knowledge will help them provide the
right solution to the customer.
In addition, with the number of smartphone users today, deployers are seeing
an increased need for digital signage to be integrated with mobile technology,
said Emily Long, spokeswoman for Lancaster, Pa.-based ConnectedSign.
“Creating digital signage that allows customers to interact with a brand using
their mobile phones is a great way to maximize engagement,” Long said.
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Interactive Digital Signage: Maximizing Engagement in Three Steps
Step 3: Analytics
The type of information that can be gleaned from interactive digital signage
is nearly limitless.
Frequent lookups for information about a certain product, for example,
might indicate to the retailer that inventory levels on that product need to be
raised. Lagging sales of another product might trigger increased promotion
of that product on digital signage.
MappedIn, for example, has found that when promotions are featured on the
wayfinding screens there is a 51 percent uptick in directions to that item.
By using technologies such as anonymous video analytics, often (incorrectly) called facial recognition, deployers can gather demographics such
as gender and approximate age. That information, combined with the ease
of updating content, allows retailers to proactively manage campaigns and
make changes on the fly.
About the sponsor:
Black Box (www.blackbox.com) provides
a full range of ProAV solutions including
digital signage, video extension, switching,
conversion and scaling, AV-over-IP,
HDBaseT, 4K technology, and cabling.
All Black Box products are covered by
no-questions-asked warranties and free,
lifetime 24/7 technical support. Black Box
is a multiple award winner for unique AV
technology, outstanding customer service,
and value-driven channel partner programs.
“By using interactive signage, businesses can learn what applications are
working best and which ones may need to be updated,” Long said. “Interactive signage allows the deployer to determine how an audience is engaging with their message by monitoring what people are looking at and what
tasks they perform.”
Interactive digital signage gives any business an entirely new opportunity to
engage customers. To get the most bang for your buck, deployers need to
focus on their hardware and software needs, creating relevant and engaging
content and utilizing analytics to properly manage all campaigns. By following
these three steps, business uers will learn about their customers, showcase
their brand and maximize engagement.
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