Your Screen or Our Screen: The Evolution of Digital Signage

This post is sponsored by Samsung Business. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Digital signage is enjoying a long-awaited evolution. Just as the cloud went from on-premise to off-premise and finally hybrid, digital signage is moving beyond the store screen and straight to the user. Consumers are beginning to share an immersive experience with digital signage, and personalization is the watchword. Companies can now customize content for users via mobile technology while running group-marketing analyses for in-store consumers.

Digital signage has helped businesses succeed for years, but markets are only recently realizing its power and potential for robust ROI. Nearly two-thirds of consumers report that digital signage catches their attention, while digital video reaches 70 percent of the public. Digital signage also provides a better in-store atmosphere: More than 40 percent of retail video viewers prefer to shop at stores with video displays, and shoppers who interact with digital signage in store perceive a reduced wait time in checkout by as much as 35 percent.

Digital signage is more than just a way to inform and entertain; it’s becoming an integral part of the user experience. I’ve discussed how crucial journey mapping is regarding customer experience, and digital signage offers a unique avenue to pounce on this info. When you know your customers, digital signage can be a limitless tool.

Leverage IoT and Big Data for Personalization

The Internet of Things (IoT), coupled with Big Data, provides invaluable information for the real-time personalization of buyer experiences. Visual interactions with digital signage are key to driving ROI for companies. Face recognition software, for example, picks up important demographic data to ensure the targeted delivery of messaging. As a target approaches, audio and visual cues encourage the user to interact with the signage.

Moreover, as a potential customer engages with the content, eye-tracking software makes note of what he or she takes in, providing real-time aggregate data for adaptive messaging. Through the process of analyzing key visual cues, companies learn more about what attracts certain demographics to increase conversions.

Harness the Power of Dual Screens

Two-screen immersion, which includes both large screen and mobile, allows for the seamless personalization of digital content. Fifty percent of the Top 100 retailers in the U.S. are testing beacon technology, pushing their targeted advertising straight onto user smart devices. While digital signage provides key demographic cues, mobile technology allows for the hyper-personalization of content.

Think of how often you use your mobile device to access the Internet each day. You’re a treasure trove of potential sales data, and the keys to your shopping behavior are in every Google search and Amazon browsing session. It makes sense that digital signage would move towards mobility. Soon, users will control what comes on a digital sign, and the screen will send targeted messaging to a shopper’s phone via Bluetooth.

A two-screen interaction also ensures a customer’s buying experience extends beyond the store. Almost a third of consumers find digital menus influential in their purchasing decisions. Interactions between smartphones and digital signage ensures the right messages end up in the right places at the right times.

Personalize Tech with Data-Driven Marketing

Welcome to the world of adaptive messaging and Big Data. We’ve only scratched the surface of what digital signage can do. As companies continue to realize the potential of digital signage and its symbiotic relationship with Big Data, IoT, and mobile technology, messaging will become increasingly personalized. Stores will no longer make educated guesses based on aggregate data; instead, they’ll make hyper-relevant ads based on personal specifications.

While this all sounds like a retailing and marketing dream, it may ring a little Orwellian to consumers, and it definitely brings up serious questions regarding privacy. Therefore, retailers will have to tread carefully to find the sweet spot between targeted messaging and respecting consumer discretion. Just as we had to conquer privacy issues with mobile and online behavior, we will do the same with signage behavior. Nonetheless, the future for digital signage and its role in the personalization of the shopping experience is bright.

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Photo Credit: Digi Kiosk via Compfight cc