When starting with digital signage technology, many wonder about the design tools they can use to create eye-catching digital signage content. Surprisingly,  some people don’t even consider PowerPoint.

PowerPoint is a powerful tool for digital signage as it is cost-effective, easy to use, has many great templates and features for creating impressive presentations, and more.

This article will explore the benefits of using PowerPoint in digital signage and how you can design digital signage content with PowerPoint. 

Advantages of using PowerPoint for digital signage

The many benefits of using PowerPoint for digital signage include:

Easy to use

PowerPoint has become the standard program for presentations because it’s easy to use. Though it has powerful features, these are straightforward. 

Even without formal training, you’ll be able to master basic PowerPoint features and start creating eye-catching slides for your digital signage.

That said, if you want to be able to whip up visually appealing content for your digital signage screens in minutes, PowerPoint will serve you.

Also Read: 19 Easy Graphic Design Tools For Non-Designers: Enhancing Your Digital Signage.

Wide range of templates

PowerPoint has a variety of pre-designed templates that help streamline the content creation process. If you don’t have extensive design skills but still want to create professional-looking digital signage, PowerPoint templates are built for you!

You simply choose a template from the available options and customise it by adding your own text, image, and other content. This helps you save time and ensure a consistent and professional look for your slides.

Rich content format

One of the main selling points of digital signage is being able to display visually appealing and dynamic content. PowerPoint can help you do this.

You can incorporate text, images, charts, audio, videos, and animations into your PowerPoint slides to make your content more engaging for your audience. 

Rich transitions

Your digital signs cannot be static—the content displayed on your screens has to change based on certain criteria. This increases engagement because viewers have something new to look at every time content changes. 

PowerPoint offers a lot of page transition effects. With these effects, you can create exciting page changes to enhance the visual appeal and engagement of your digital signage presentations. 

For example, you can make new slides fade in as the old ones fade out, and more.

Compatible with different media players 

Software that supports various media formats increases the likelihood of compatibility with a range of hardware and display configurations.

PowerPoint offers several output formats to export your files after creating them. You can export to PDF, JPG, PNG, MP4 formats, and more.

So, when you use PowerPoint, you can select an output format your media player supports, ensuring it will play on your digital signage screen.

Easy distribution

PowerPoint files are very small and consume limited memory, so sending the files to others is quick. The relatively small size of PowerPoint files also means that rendering the slides does not require lots of computing power. 

Rendering is the conversion of digital data into a visual presentation that can be viewed or shared in different formats.

Easy to update

One strategy to make digital signage effective is to keep content fresh. And keeping content fresh requires updating and modifying content to make it up-to-date.

This is where easily editable digital signage content comes in! PowerPoint digital signage files tick this box. PowerPoint does not have limitations regarding what you can edit after rendering. 

You can return to your slides at any time to make changes to the text or design elements. This helps you create dynamic and frequently changing content for digital signage.

Cost-effective

PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft Office Suite, which includes other useful programs like Word and Excel. If you have Microsoft Office Suite, you already have access to PowerPoint. In this case, it’ll cost you nothing.

If you don’t have the Suite, you can purchase a license for PowerPoint individually, which costs about $160. 

You may also like: Cost-Effective Digital Signage Solutions (Read This First!).

How to create digital signage content using PowerPoint

The following steps can help you in creating appealing PowerPoint digital signage: 

Step 1: Define your objectives

To start creating digital signage content using PowerPoint, define the purpose of the content. Do you want to promote a product, enhance brand awareness, etc.?

Understanding your objectives guides content creation. It helps you determine the most relevant information and design elements to include in your signage content.

Step 2: Start a new PowerPoint presentation

Open the PowerPoint application. Then, start a new presentation. PowerPoint provides a variety of design templates to make life easy for you. 

Choose a template that suits your content requirements. But you can start from a blank slide if you want a custom design.

Step 3: Select the slide layout

The next step is determining how you’ll want the different elements to be arranged on each slide. 

Simply hit the Layout button in the “Home” menu and select an option that best fits your content.

Slide layouts provide a predefined structure for your content. They offer different arrangements of placeholders for the title, text, images, and other elements of your content.

Step 4: Add text

Next, enter your main message using text boxes. It’s important to keep the text concise and easily readable. 

Important considerations when adding text to your PowerPoint digital signage content include:

Amount of text

Be careful of overloading your design with text. That can clutter your design and make it unappealing.

The 3x5 rule can guide you in this regard. It suggests having either three lines of text with five words per line OR five lines with three words per line.

Font

The watchword when adding text to digital signage content is readability. Make sure that viewers will not struggle to read the text.

So, use fonts that are clear and easily readable. Don’t go with stylised fonts with unnecessary lines that diminish readability.

Colours 

To increase readability, the colour of your text should contrast properly with its background. As you know, white-coloured text on a whitish background will not be readable.

The text colour you use should depend on your branding and the emotions you are trying to evoke in your audience. But as much as possible, go for vibrant, bold, and eye-catching colour combinations. 

Step 5: Incorporate images and graphics

Images and graphics make a design more visually appealing, so they’re more effective (than text) at capturing viewers’ attention. Therefore, use relevant visuals to complement your message. 

Remember the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Thus, a picture is worth at least 60,000 words.

Step 6: Include branding elements

Digital signage is usually a part of a broader marketing strategy. It’s important to use the same design elements in all marketing materials to create a cohesive brand image. 

So, when creating PowerPoint digital signage, include your company’s logo and other branding elements. This reinforces your brand and makes it more memorable. 

Also Read: Mastering Brand Consistency Across All Digital Touchpoints (Key Considerations).

Step 7: Create multiple slides

Having multiple PowerPoint slides can make your digital signage presentation more impactful.

Not only do multiple slides help you segment your message effectively, but they also create a dynamic and changing visual experience, making content more interesting and engaging. So, you should create multiple slides to be displayed in a loop.

To create a new slide, just hit the “New Slides” button. It’ll show a new slide with your selected layout. You can then add text and images as you did before. 

When creating multiple slides, ensure a flow between slides and that the series of slides work together to convey your message.

Step 8: Use transitions 

You don’t want your slides to change abruptly. So, after creating all the slides of your digital signage content, ensure a seamless flow between the pieces of content using transitions. 

Smooth transitions contribute to a more polished and professional look, enhancing the overall visual appeal of your digital signage content. 

Also, in high-traffic areas where people barely have time to see what’s happening, well-chosen transitions can help grab your audience’s attention when transitioning between slides.

When you have multiple slides, it’s also important to set how long each slide will be displayed. Do this by changing the advance time on PowerPoint.

Pro tip: When setting advance time, select a duration that gives viewers enough time to consume the message.

Step 9: Preview your presentation

When you’re done creating your design, it’s important to know how it looks. So, don’t forget to preview your presentation. Seeing your PowerPoint digital signage content on a computer screen gives you an idea of how it will appear on the digital signage display.

Then, make necessary adjustments if you don’t like any part of the design.

To preview your presentation, simply hit the “Slide Show” icon at the bottom of the page.

Step 10: Save your presentation

If your presentation is satisfactory, save it in a format compatible with your digital signage system. Common formats include PPTX, PDF, JPG, and PNG.

To save your presentation, hit “File” in your top menu bar, then select “Save” from the options.

How to display PowerPoint content effectively on digital signage 

After creating your content on PowerPoint, you’ll need to upload it to your digital signage system to display it on your digital screens.

There are two ways to do this: a PC stick or a content management system.

PC Stick

A PC stick is a compact computing device that resembles a small USB flash drive.

It has storage capabilities, allowing you to copy your PowerPoint files onto the PC stick. Then, you plug it into the HDMI port of your digital signage screen, and it will display your content. 

However, while PC sticks are easy to use, they have several performance constraints. They generally have lower-end processors and limited RAM, meaning they are not powerful enough to run resource-intensive digital signage content.

In other words, if your content includes high-resolution images, videos, or complex animations, using a PC stick to display the content will result in poor-quality video playback.

You may also like: Your Guide to Using an Amazon Fire Stick for Digital Signage.

Content management system

A digital signage content management system is specifically designed for creating, organising, and managing digital signage content.

These systems also accept PowerPoint presentations, allowing you to upload and use your PowerPoint files with other digital signage content. 

A content management system is a more effective way to display PowerPoint content on digital screens.

First, a CMS does not have the performance limitations of a PC stick. That is, even if you have high-res images or complex animations, CMS-enabled plays are smooth and of the highest quality.

A CMS lets you schedule content to go live at specific times, allowing for automated changes. Also, a CMS allows for centralised management of digital content across multiple screens and locations.

You can control and update content from a single interface. But with PC sticks, you need physical access to each stick plugged into each screen.

Tips for creating digital signage content with PowerPoint

When creating digital signage content with PowerPoint, you need to optimise your slides to ensure attention-grabbing and clear communication. 

Some tips for creating powerful digital signage content with PowerPoint include:

Optimise font size and readability

Remember that your target audience will probably be viewing the digital signage screens from a distance. So, use clear fonts in large sizes to ensure text is legible enough to be readable from the distance your audience will be viewing the signs.

Sans serif fonts are some of the most popular for digital signs as they are more readable from distances. 

Use contrast for visibility 

Your content will be less impactful if viewers struggle to make out key elements in the displays. To prevent this, ensure sufficient contrast between elements and their background. 

For example, use dark text or images on a light background, and vice versa.

Limit text

Don’t overload your PowerPoint digital signage content with text. Besides cluttering the display, viewers may not have the time or patience to consume that much information. 

Therefore, keep your content concise and sweet. Consider using bullet points to convey information efficiently.

Create a visual hierarchy 

When people look at your digital signs, where do you want their gaze to fall on first or go next? You can guide viewers’ gaze by creating a visual hierarchy.

To create a visual hierarchy, emphasise the most important information on your slides. You can do this with larger font sizes, bold text, contrasting colours, key positioning, etc.

Use high-quality images and graphics

One thing is sure—a low-quality picture will do more harm than good to your digital signage efforts. Thus, use high-quality pictures and graphics in your PowerPoint slides. 

This maintains visual clarity and makes your design more eye-catching. 

Consider aspect ratio

Aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height of an image or screen. Considering aspect ratio means ensuring that the dimensions of your slides match that of the digital screens where the content will be displayed.

If the proportions of your presentation slides do not match the specifications of your digital screen, the content will be stretched or squeezed for it to fit. That distorts the content, negatively impacting its visual appeal.

Considering the aspect ratio when creating your slides helps prevent this. 

The default aspect ratio of PowerPoint slides is 16:9. But that will not display well on your screens, which probably come in different aspect ratios. 

Therefore, when creating your slides, use a slide orientation and size that match your digital screens.

Enable automatic slide change

Showing PowerPoint content on your digital screens differs from making a PowerPoint presentation on a computer screen. You’ll not be there to manually click on buttons to change the slides.

So, you should enable automatic slide change to ensure a continuous display of content without the need for manual intervention.

Test your presentation before running it live

Your presentation may look good on the computer screen when you create and review it. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be perfect for your television screen, video wall setup, or other digital signage screen you may use.

So, it’s important to test your presentation on your digital signage system before you show it live to the public. Let it run on digital screens. Take a step back and view the display from where your audience will be. 

That can help you identify issues with the overall content. You may also ask the opinion of some other persons. Then, ensure you work out all issues identified.

Takeaway: Revolutionise Your Digital Signage Game With PowerPoint Designs

Microsoft PowerPoint, the good old presentation software, is actually a powerful tool for creating eye-catching content for digital signage. You can use the program to create digital signs that grab your target audience’s attention and make them engage with your business.

It has a user-friendly interface, offers great templates for content creation, allows incorporation of different media types, enables continuous updating of content, is cost-effective, and more.

A content management system (CMS) is the best way to display PowerPoint content on digital signage. This is where finding good digital signage software comes in!

A CMS is the main component of digital signage software. So, with the right digital signage solution, you’ll get a user-friendly interface for organising your content, including PowerPoint presentations.

When seeking a great digital signage solution, you can’t go wrong with Luna Screens. The Luna Screens solution ticks all the right boxes. It allows content scheduling, offers remote monitoring, has excellent uptime, and integrates well with other systems. 

Ready to use digital signage to take your business to new heights? Get Started with Luna Screens today!