Digital signage is a somewhat new technology that is based on advertising methods that have been around for years. Until recently, true digital signage was available only to very wealthy businesses like casinos, but recent technological innovations have led to more affordable, scalable solutions which are being implremented by universities, churches, hotels, event venues, shopping malls, and real estate companies.
What is digital signage?
Digital signage as a broadly-defined term refers to any use of electronic equipment to aid consumers in commercial endeavors. This term encompasses everything from scrolling LED reader-boards to the gigantic, multi-display signs located on the Las Vegas strip. More recently, this term is more commonly used to describe the implementation of LCD or Plasma television screens which run software applications designed to advertise products or stores, aid in wayfinding, or provide information about the store or venue. Because this type of signage is becoming more and more popular, this is generally what is most often being reffered to.
How does digital signage work?
In the beginning, available technology limited digital-signage to LED reader-boards which could be programmed to display a set-number of characters in scrolling or static fashions. As these devices became more complex, they could accomodate several different colors, different display methods (blinking, vertical scrolling, etc.) and even limited graphics. On the higher-end of the spectrum, casinos and event venues began to implement gigantic sight-screen technologies to capture billboard-size audiences with many different messages and moving pictures. Recently, with the maturation and adoption of LCD and Plasma screen technologies, the advantages of the sight-screen size advertising can be achieved in smaller or interior spaces where previously only reader-boards could be deployed.
This modern form of digital signage is generally accomplished by tying all of the digital signage at a location together via internet connections to a central server. This server generates the content for a given sign and distributes the result of the software to the screen. This method makes dynamic displays very easy to accomplish (for instance: displaying the latest news headlines or current weather), and provides for more security over software housed at the screen’s location.
Advantages of digital signage
The primary advantage of digital signage is engagement with customers. Digital signs can be programmed to dynamically display information that is more relevant to the current user or users. For instance, a hotel could display nearby breakfast options alongside current weather and flight information in the mornings, and could provide nearby dinner options and closing stock-market prices in the evenings. Or a shopping mall could install a touch-screen navigation kiosk to help shoppers find the stores they are looking for. The customer-engagement provided by a digital signage solution is far beyond that of static signage.
Although digital signage may seem like a complex endeavor for the average business owner, many providers of digital signage solutions can take a lot of the complexity out of choosing and sourcing displays, creating dynamic and engaging content, and providing easy-to-update networks for one sign or thousands. The implementation of digital signage networks is only going to get easier as new technologies and network-architectures make adding additional screens cheaper and easier.
