Digital Signage Suppliers: Separating the Good From the Great
Introduction
Effectively leveraging digital signage can set your business apart from the competition and provide a myriad of competitive advantages. However, getting started with digital signage can be a challenge for businesses that lack existing know-how, strategies, and relationships. Although it can be intimidating, investing in digital signage is well worth it to position your business for both short and long-term success. So, how do you get started with digital signage? The first and most critical step is choosing the right digital signage supplier and solutions. Knowing how to properly evaluate digital signage suppliers and separate the good ones from the great ones pays massive dividends when it is time to choose your partner. With this in mind, let’s dive into how to go about choosing between digital signage suppliers.
Consider Your Needs
Before you start researching specific digital signage suppliers, it is critical to take a step back and evaluate what your needs are. What is the goal of your signage initiative? Are you looking to drive more sales in-store, or are you looking to drive a better customer experience and improve your brand’s positioning? How about both? Before selecting a digital signage partner, keep in mind what your ultimate goal is. Partner with a provider that can help you measure against and ultimately deliver on that goal, whatever it may be. Misalignment between your goals and your supplier’s capabilities can lead to a disjointed signage effort.
For example, if your business needs help with everything from installation to strategy and content creation, don’t partner with a supplier that merely sells you technology and leaves you to figure out the rest. If your business is new to digital signage and does not already have a robust infrastructure in place to create content or drive strategic installation, partner with a provider that can help you plug those gaps and get the most out of your signage initiative.
Another aspect to consider is scale. Are you looking to install new signage in a few stores, or are you planning to start your project on a larger scale? Ensure you look into providers who are capable of handling the scale that your business needs, both now and in the future. Your provider should be able to support your changing needs. Partnering with a provider that is unable to effectively scale its operations alongside your business can lead to bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and may necessitate switching providers.
Lastly, consider your budget. Make sure you have an understanding of what your business is willing to spend on its signage initiative and then evaluate providers within your price range. You will find there are plenty of providers that are not at the top of the market price-wise that deliver excellent services.
Choosing Between Digital Signage Suppliers
Now that you’ve taken a look at your needs and goals and established what is mission-critical for your signage initiative, it’s time to dive into what you should look for when evaluating digital signage suppliers.
Reliability: Investing in digital signage is only worthwhile if your signage is extraordinarily high-quality and is actually displaying properly. Before partnering with any digital signage supplier, you need to be certain of their commitment to delivering reliable uptime.
Best-In-Class Support: It is inevitable; at some point in your digital signage journey, you will be in need of assistance. It’s critical that your business gets the support it needs in a timely manner. Many providers can take days or even weeks to respond to support tickets. When you submit a support inquiry, your business needs help now, not days or weeks from now. Although you may consider customer support secondary to factors such as cost and experience/expertise, we assure you that support is just as important. There is no worse situation to find yourself in than with malfunctioning signage and no help in sight. Do the due diligence necessary to verify your provider’s commitment to high-quality support. – ask for references!!!
At DEEL Media, we are truly invested in your success, and our industry-leading response times serve as our proof. If you would like to learn more about our support process and how we work with your business, click here.
Scalability: We touched on this a bit earlier. Your signage provider must be able to grow alongside your business. Your business’s goal is likely to grow. If your digital signage provider is not able to support your growth, you will either have to change providers or risk being riddled with inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Be certain that your provider has the ability to scale up alongside you to support your changing needs.
Seamless Content Management: Your digital signage initiative should be fueled by a powerful CMS (content management system) that makes managing the content at one location as easy as managing it at five hundred locations. Ideally, your CMS will be produced by the same organization providing you with hardware and installation (more on this later). Without an intuitive CMS serving as the motor behind your signage initiatives, your business will struggle to optimize its signage and accomplish its goals. Do not settle for less when it comes to your CMS and its capabilities.
Ensure the CMS your business decides on is comprehensive, easy to use, and allows for intuitive management across many locations. Look for useful features like screen synchronization, dynamic text, multiple template options, and one-to-many changes. They can make your life much easier.
Staying on the technical side, verify that the CMS you select works in tandem with the goals your business is trying to accomplish. For example, if your goal is to maximize in-store sales, are you able to manage individual stores with unique menu mixes based on location? Do you have access to day-part customization that helps you put your best foot forward in terms of displays, and tailors the customer experience? Your CMS should enable you to flexibly merchandise at the store level without excessive human overhead, making accomplishing your goals that much easier.
Comprehensive Analytics and Reporting: Make sure your CMS/digital signage supplier has solutions in place to capture comprehensive analytics that help your business make data-driven decisions. Without access to quality data and analytics, how can you expect to get the most out of your signage? You should be able to monitor which creatives are driving more sales, which creatives are engaged with the most, and more. Accurate, real-time insights into audience engagement, content performance, and display effectiveness help your business determine what signage is most effective, enabling you to learn more, faster, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
End-to-End Coverage: Unless your business has a wealth of experience with digital signage already, it is likely going to need support in areas beyond hardware. Say you are just getting started with digital signage and do not have a pre-existing process for content creation, or any understanding of installation best practices. In this case, your business should look to partner with a supplier that offers more than just technology.
You should strive to work with a single organization that offers comprehensive digital signage coverage. Partnering with different organizations for the unique aspects of your signage like hardware, software, and content creation is more costly and creates potential risk in terms of faulty integrations and process inefficiencies. Partnering with a single end-to-end provider guarantees that your digital signage initiative is as efficient and streamlined as possible.
Additionally, having only one point of contact for your entire project streamlines troubleshooting and communication.
Expertise and Demonstrated Excellence: Of course, it is critical to partner with an organization with a proven track record of success and a nuanced understanding of your industry. Look for an impressive list of clients, case studies, and a wealth of experience in your specific industry before partnering with a digital signage supplier. There is no such thing as doing too much research. Take the time to evaluate your options.
It is also important to check that your partner is fluent in all things construction etiquette and installation. If the installation process is mishandled, your business can accidentally cause tons of headaches for your customers.
Industry-Specific Solutions: Look for any industry-specific solutions that could be impactful for your business. For example, if you are in the C-Store business, in-store/at-the-pump audio systems that can stream live music and radio stations can greatly improve the customer experience. Keep your eyes peeled for any unique, industry-specific offerings that the provider has rolled out previously.
Cost-Transparency: Confirm that the provider you are considering partnering with is transparent in regard to pricing including hardware, software, and any ongoing fees. Few things are more frustrating than hidden costs that pop up when you are not expecting them. Ensure you can have an honest conversation with your potential supplier about expected costs.
Innovation and Future-Proofing: Great providers stay updated with emerging technologies and trends, ensuring their solutions remain relevant and cutting-edge. Look for a partner that has an eye towards the future. Specifically, look for features like cloud hosting, APIs for the development of custom apps, and robust integration with your systems, and mobile devices.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has helped you better understand what factors you need to consider when evaluating digital signage suppliers. Let’s recap what we’ve discussed.
Before getting started on your digital signage journey, it is important to take a step back and consider your goals and specific needs when it comes to your signage. These factors will play a massive role in what you value in your signage, and what your ideal supplier looks like. Once you have established your goals and what you are looking for, it is time to get started looking at suppliers.
We covered several important aspects of signage providers that you need to consider. Here is a brief synopsis of what you should look for in your digital signage partner:
End-to-End Coverage: A provider that can help you with everything in the world of digital signage, from content to installation simplifies your project while reducing costs.
Industry Experience: Make sure that your potential provider has a wealth of expertise driving success in your specific industry and has an impressive portfolio of satisfied clients to back it up.
Seamless Content Management & Analytics: Your provider should have a robust CMS solution that enables simple content management across locations, with access to accurate, real-time data and analytics.
Outstanding Customer Support: At some juncture, your business will need help with its signage. Be certain that the help you need is available whenever necessary.
When it comes to your digital signage, don’t settle for less. Excellent digital signage is a tremendous way to set your business apart from its competitors, but far too many organizations fall short of their aspirations and end up with a sub-standard solution that leaves them wanting more.
If your business is starting the process of evaluating digital signage suppliers, we’d love to speak with you. At DEEL Media, we have been helping businesses get the most out of their digital signage for over ten years, and we are truly committed to your success. Schedule a time to meet with our team to learn more about our approach to digital signage and how we can help your business.
Meet The Author
.jpg?width=476&height=420&name=IMG_5957%20(1).jpg)
What is Digital Signage, And How is it Different From Regular Signage?
What is Digital Signage, And How is it Different From Regular Signage?
In technical terms, digital signage refers to the use of digital displays or screens to present information, advertisements, or other forms of content. It involves the use of technologies such as LCD, LED, or projection screens to display multimedia content, including images, videos, text, and interactive elements. Simply put, it is a more engaging way to display messages than traditional signage.
You can find digital signage everywhere, from retail stores, to airports, to hotels, to restaurants, to schools. It serves as a dynamic and flexible communication tool that allows businesses and organizations to deliver targeted messages to their audience.
The first key difference between digital signage and run-of-the-mill signage is the ability to display crystal-clear, dynamic content. This can completely transform the experience of a shopper, visitor, or whoever is viewing your signage. The bright display is hard to ignore, especially when it is in video format. Digital signage is simply more effective at attracting attention than conventional signage. Think about your personal experiences. Which menu board do you think commands more attention, a chalkboard with the day’s specials, or a visual display with bright colors and real, moving imagery showcasing one of the day’s specials?
Beyond higher engagement, another major difference between digital signage and traditional signage is the flexibility provided by digital signage. Rather than taking down your signage every time you want to communicate a new message or make an edit, digital signage enables you to store all of your content in one centralized location, and make changes to display with the push of a button. This makes life considerably easier for any organization that runs promotions or is frequently making tweaks to its offerings.
How Does Digital Signage Make an Impact?
How Does Digital Signage Make an Impact?
More Sales: Perhaps the most alluring impact of digital signage is the tangible impact in sales organizations experience after making the switch. This makes perfect sense logically. Again, consider your own personal experience.
Imagine yourself at a movie theater. Are you more likely to buy popcorn upon seeing a generic sign that says “snacks” or after seeing some high-resolution footage of kernels popping, butter being poured, and popcorn being eaten (we are making ourselves hungry)! The answer is pretty clear.
This does not only apply to the world of food. Retail stores, and even convenience stores and gas stations tend to see considerable upticks in sales when they are able to better visually communicate their products, and showcase their promotions and sales offers in an engaging, compelling manner.
Digital signage displays vibrant and dynamic visual content that attracts attention and engages customers. Compared to traditional static signage, digital displays have a higher chance of capturing people's interest. Eye-catching videos, animations, and interactive elements create a memorable and immersive experience, drawing more customers into stores or promotions.
Speaking of promotions, digital signage makes it easier for businesses to promote certain offers in a strategic manner and capitalize on customer interest at a particular time of day or other external factors. This leads to more downstream sales and revenue.
Lastly, let’s consider the impact of digital signage on your brand in general. By displaying engaging, helpful content, such as product demonstrations, customer testimonials, or usage tips, businesses can educate customers and guide them toward making informed purchase decisions. Additionally, digital signage enables businesses to enhance their brand perception by showcasing their values, expertise, or unique selling points. These factors positively influence customer perception, trust, and loyalty, leading to increased sales and repeat business.
Improved Customer Experience: The impact that digital signage has on customer experience is monumental. There are three key ways digital signage improves the customer experience that we’d like to focus on:
More Engaging Visual Content: First and foremost, digital signage allows businesses to display captivating and dynamic visual content, such as videos, images, animations and motion graphics, and interactive elements. This form of visual stimulation captures customers' attention and engages them with the brand or product being promoted in a manner that is far more effective than traditional signage. By presenting visually appealing and relevant content, digital signage creates a more immersive and memorable experience for customers, increasing their overall satisfaction.
Real-Time Information and Personalization: When leveraging digital signage, your business has the opportunity to deliver real-time information and updates to customers. Whether it's displaying current promotions, product features, or event schedules, digital signage ensures that customers are informed and up-to-date, and are being pointed in the direction you want. Additionally, with the integration of data analytics and customer profiling, businesses can personalize content based on customer preferences and demographics. This personalization enhances the relevance of the displayed information, making it more meaningful and impactful for customers.
Improved Wayfinding and Navigation: In many industries such as retail, movie theaters, and theme parks, digital signage can greatly enhance the customer experience by assisting with wayfinding and navigation. In large or complex environments such as shopping malls, or theme parks, digital signage can provide clear and interactive directions to specific locations, helping customers find their desired destinations easily. By reducing confusion and saving customers' time, digital signage improves the overall convenience and satisfaction of their experience within a particular space.
Simplified Operations: When deploying digital signage, your business reaps the benefits of being able to centrally manage and update content across multiple locations or displays. Whether you have one location or 500, you can easily create, schedule, and distribute all of your signage content from a single centralized platform. This eliminates the need for manual content updates on individual displays, saving time and effort for business operators. It also ensures consistency in messaging and branding across different locations, streamlining the content management process, and ensuring compliance with brand standards.
Digital signage also enables remote management and monitoring of displays, eliminating the need for on-site adjustments or maintenance. Through network connectivity, businesses can remotely control and update content, adjust display settings, and troubleshoot issues. This capability simplifies operations by reducing the need for physical intervention, allowing businesses to efficiently manage and maintain displays from a central location. This saves time and resources while ensuring that the signage is functioning optimally.
Lastly, digital signage enables businesses to predefine schedules for content playback, ensuring that the right content is displayed at the right time. This eliminates the need for manual content changes or monitoring. Businesses can also target content based on factors such as location, demographics, or time of day, tailoring the messaging to specific audiences. This targeted approach simplifies operations by delivering relevant content automatically, without requiring constant manual adjustments.
What Does a Great Digital Signage Solution Look Like?
- Scalability and Reliability: Perhaps the most important aspect of a great digital signage solution is the ability to support your current and future needs. Consider your provider’s ability to scale the digital signage network as your business grows. You don’t want to decide on one solution, only for it to not fit your needs in a few years. Look for a provider with a robust infrastructure that ensures reliable uptime and performance, minimizing disruptions and downtime. There is nothing more important than quality, and you must be confident in your provider’s commitment to excellence. After all, what is digital signage worth if it's not operating properly?
- Customer Support and Service: An oft-overlooked but incredibly important aspect of selecting a digital signage solution is the level of customer support and service offered by the provider. Responsive and knowledgeable customer support can make a massive difference in resolving issues quickly and ensuring a smooth experience. Consider the provider's support channels, response times, and availability of documentation and resources. It is inevitable that you will need help at some point in your signage journey. Make sure you have a support team that is ready when the time comes.
- Strong Content Management System (CMS): A robust and user-friendly CMS is essential for creating, managing, and scheduling content across your digital signage network. Look for a provider that offers an intuitive CMS with features like drag-and-drop content creation, template libraries, playlist scheduling, and remote content updates. A powerful CMS simplifies content management and ensures the smooth operation of your digital signage displays.
- Display Management and Control: The ability to remotely manage and control your digital signage displays is critical for efficient operations. A good provider should offer a centralized management platform that allows you to monitor the status of your displays, adjust settings, troubleshoot issues, and perform updates remotely. Look for features like screen synchronization that can really boost your in-store experience.
- Integration Capabilities: Your digital signage shouldn’t exist on an island. Consider a provider that offers integration capabilities with other systems and platforms. This includes integration with data sources, such as social media feeds, weather updates, or real-time event information, to enhance the relevance and timeliness of your content. Integration with third-party applications and APIs allows you to extend the functionality of your digital signage and leverage additional data sources.
- Robust Analytics and Reporting: The ability to track and measure the performance of your digital signage campaigns is crucial for evaluating their effectiveness and making data-driven decisions. A reliable digital signage solution should offer analytics and reporting features that provide insights into audience engagement, content performance, and display effectiveness. These analytics help you optimize your content strategy and measure the return on investment (ROI) of your digital signage initiatives.
- More Than Just Signage: You should be looking for a digital signage partner that is just that, a partner. Your provider should be in your corner for all of your digital signage needs, from hardware, to software, to content creation. Your needs are flexible, ensure your digital signage partner is as well. Look to partner with a comprehensive digital signage provider that covers all the bases, and is a one-stop shop for all your needs. This will save you a ton of headaches in the long run.
How Do I Get Started With Digital Signage?
How Do I Get Started With Digital Signage?
- Establish Your Goals: Start by clearly identifying your objectives and goals you seek to accomplish with your digital signage. Are you looking to drive more sales? Improve the customer experience? How about both? Having well-defined goals will guide your content creation and form the foundation of your digital signage strategy.
- Select Hardware: The next step for getting started with digital signage is selecting the necessary hardware components, including display screens, media players or computers, and any required accessories such as mounts or stands. When you are selecting your hardware, consider your store or venue’s layout, where your signage will go, and how much you will need.
- Select Software: You’ll need a robust software that is capable of creating and managing your digital signage content efficiently and effectively. When selecting software, consider things like ease of use, integrations, and scalability. Without great software in your corner, you will not get the most out of your digital signage initiative.
- Create Your Content: Now that your infrastructure is in place, it is time to create visually captivating and engaging content to delight your customers. Your signage is only as good as the content on it. Spare no expense on making sure the content you’ll use on your signage is best-in-class.
- Begin the Installation Process: Once you have your hardware, software, and content ready to go, it is time to install your signage. Ensure it is prominently displayed to attract the attention of your customers. Signage that is sub-optimally installed represents a massive wasted opportunity. Take the time to consider where everything is best positioned before finalizing your installation.
- Test and Monitor Performance: Be sure to thoroughly test your digital signage to make sure it's working properly. Make sure you are comfortable with your CMS and all of its tools, and once your signage is live, keep a close eye on its performance to see how it's impacting your goals. Are you driving more sales? Is your establishment getting better reviews? If you aren’t seeing your desired impact, don't hesitate to make adjustments to improve the results.
There’s one more step in starting your digital signage journey, and that’s calling us. At DEEL Media, we don’t provide signage, we provide solutions. We are equipped to help your organization through every step of the digital signage process, from goal-setting to installation. There is nothing in the world of digital signage we don’t do. If you want to get started with digital signage, contact us today.
Conclusion:So, what is digital signage?
We hope you’re able to answer that question after reading this overview. In short, digital signage is a powerful tool for driving improved outcomes across industries. From retail, to restaurants, to schools, digital signage improves the experience of its viewers and the ambiance of your establishment and improves the chances viewers take your desired action, whether that’s purchasing popcorn, or going to the right location.
When you select a digital signage partner, keep your eyes peeled for critical features like best-in-class support, end-to-end coverage, and of course, reliable performance. When you start your signage journey, start by setting your goals, before deciding on the particulars of your plan including software, hardware, and content creation.
If your business is looking to take its signage to the next level, our team at DEEL Media would love to be of assistance. Our mission is to revolutionize your business with best-in-class, turnkey digital signage solutions that you can rely on day in and day out. We work alongside you as a trusted partner for the entirety of your digital signage journey, and are ready to help you with any need you may have.
Ready to Get Started (Module From Bottom of Homepage)