More than 50% of all the sensory receptors in the human body are in the eyes. It’s why humans are drawn to great visuals.

Since humans rely heavily on visual cues, using captivating visuals is a highly effective approach to making marketing impactful. This is where visual marketing comes in. It involves utilising images, videos, and other multimedia content to communicate with your target audience.

Interestingly, digital signage is one of the most powerful visual marketing tools, as the technology lets you display eye-catching and engaging content on digital screens.

This article will outline detailed steps for developing a digital signage strategy to leverage the power of visual marketing fully.

1. Define your objectives

If you don’t know what you want to achieve, it’s easy to become directionless, making the path to success more difficult. Thus, defining your objectives is the first step in creating a digital signage strategy. 

Outline what you want to achieve by implementing a digital signage system within your organisation.

Do you want to promote your latest offering and draw more traffic to your store? Or do you need it for informational purposes to provide specific information to customers? Whatever you want to achieve, ensure you state it clearly.

Clarity on what you want to achieve will guide your efforts and help you make informed decisions for success. The benefits of clarity of purpose include:

• You’ll choose the location where your digital signage displays will be most impactful. For example, if the goal is to increase foot traffic, you may want to place the digital screen in front of your store (digital out-of-home advertising displays) or by a glass window (retail window displays).

• You’ll know the type of content that will be most effective. For example, if the goal is to increase sales for a product, you may show promotional offers and user testimonials. But if the goal is to reduce perceived wait times, you may show informational and entertaining content.

Make objectives SMART

When defining objectives for your digital signage campaigns, make them SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. 

SMART objectives make assessing performance easier. Let’s discuss each of them in detail. 

• Specific: The objective should be clear, not vague or ambiguous.

• Measurable: The objective should have a quantifiable element that can be measured to track progress.

• Achievable: The objective should not be overly ambitious but attainable, considering available resources. 

• Relevant: The objective should align with the broader goals of the organisation.

• Time-bound: The objective should have a specific timeframe or deadline for completion.

Thus, when implementing digital signage, an objective like “increase foot traffic” is not optimal. Make it SMART. For example: Increase foot traffic by 20% by the next quarter.  

2. Understand your audience

If your digital signage content does not resonate with your audience, they’ll not bother paying attention to it or following through on the call-to-action. Therefore, to create impactful digital signage, after outlining what you want to achieve, ensure you understand your audience. 

Understanding your target audience starts with defining who they are. Ask yourself who you want to reach with your message. After identifying who these people are, the next thing is to discover their behaviour and preferences.

The goal here is to determine your audience’s interests so that you can create content that aligns with them. Know that when people see content that speaks to their interests or addresses their pain points, they are more likely to pay attention.

Creating a “buyer persona” will help you dig deep into who your target audience is and uncover their interests. Buyer personas typically include demographic information, interests, buying motivation, challenges, etc.

Here are a few methods to help you get insight into your target audience:

• Market research: Use surveys, interviews, focus groups, and existing market data to gather valuable insights into your target audience.

• Direct feedback: Use relevant forms to gather direct feedback from your target audience about their preferences and their overall experience with your brand.

• Social listening: Monitor social media channels to see what your target audience is saying about your brand, industry, and relevant topics.

• Customer data: Analyse purchase history and interaction data from other touchpoints (such as your website) to get insight into customer behaviour.

3. Choose the right software and hardware

Digital signage is more than the screens that show your message to viewers. There’s a lot that goes on in the background, including software for creating content and a media player for playing the content on digital screens. So, an essential step in creating a digital signage strategy is choosing the right software and hardware.

Needless to say, the wrong tools will frustrate your digital signage efforts. The main components you’ll need for your digital signage are:

Screen

The digital screen is the audience-facing hardware of the digital signage system, as it is where the digital signage content is shown to your target audience.

When implementing digital signage, you should choose a screen that maximises content visibility and readability. Key considerations when choosing your digital signage display/screen include:

• Suitable for the viewing environment: Consider the ambient lighting condition. Then, choose a digital signage display with brightness, contrast ratio, and resolution that enhances the readability of content.

• Large enough to capture attention: Consider the physical space where the signage will be installed and the distance from which your audience will likely be viewing the signage. Then, choose a screen that is large enough to capture attention without overwhelming the space. Also, the content should be readable from the viewing distance.

Media player

The media player is a portable device that renders digital content into visual information on your signage screens. Know that media players often come built into the display screen, like the Android TV. 

However, if your digital signage display/screen does not have a media player, you need a portable device. Key considerations when choosing a media player for your digital signage system include:

• Compatibility with other components: If your display screen does not come with a media player, choose a media player that is compatible with your digital signage software and other hardware components (particularly the display screen).

• Performance: Also, go for a media player capable of delivering high-quality content, as a subpar one may struggle to render graphics, videos, or interactive content, leading to a poor viewer experience.

Digital signage software

One of the most essential components of a digital signage system is the digital signage software. This software is the application used to create, organise, and schedule content to play on digital screens.

Choosing the right digital signage software is crucial to successful digital signage implementation, as it helps you create compelling content and ensures your system works reliably.

Key considerations when choosing software for digital signage include:

• Ease of use: You don’t want software that will stress you out. So, ensure the system is easy to set up and use without extensive training.

• Content Management System (CMS) capability: Ensure that the application has a user-friendly CMS, such that even without technical expertise, you can use it to create amazing digital signage content. Look for features such as template support, content scheduling, and multimedia support.

• Reliability: You don’t want your screens to be blank when they should be showing content to your audience. Therefore, go for software with zero to minimum downtime. 

• Remote management: When you have multiple screens, monitoring and controlling all your digital signage displays from a centralised location is more practical. Thus, when choosing a digital signage solution, it’s important to consider remote monitoring.

• Scalability: You shouldn’t buy new software every time you increase the number of your digital signage displays or expand to a new location. So, go for a digital signage solution that can support the growth of your digital signage network.

There are various digital signage solutions, each with its own unique features. Luna Screens ticks all the right boxes. It is a cost-effective solution for your digital signage needs. Get started with a free account today. 

4. Create compelling content

It is the content on your display screens that captures your audience’s attention and motivates them to take action. So, even with sophisticated hardware and software, your efforts will fail without a good digital signage content strategy.

Therefore, the next step after choosing the necessary equipment is to create compelling content. 

Use high-quality images, captivating graphics, and engaging videos to create visually appealing content that can arrest the attention of your target audience. 

Some considerations for creating powerful content are:

Leverage multimedia integration

Digital signage outshines traditional signage in marketing because it can display various engaging content formats, such as videos, animations, and live feeds. 

So, one way to unlock the full potential of digital signage is to incorporate multimedia elements (like videos and animations) into your content.

Static images or text-only displays just cannot compete with multimedia content. Multimedia content adds visual appeal to your digital signage content. This makes your content more interesting and likelier to grab and retain viewers’ attention. 

Implement dynamic content

Another huge advantage of digital signage is its ability to display dynamic content (content that changes over time based on certain criteria).

Dynamic content keeps your digital signage displays fresh and relevant, making it more likely to captivate people’s attention and keep them interested.

As you know, when the same content is shown on a digital screen, viewers soon lose interest. But when the content changes from time to time, viewers remain interested.

Provide real-time updates, like news feeds or weather updates. Also, showcase new products and promotions on digital signage screens.

Include interactivity

Digital signage is more engaging when viewers can directly interact with the content.

Digital signage displays with interactive elements turn your digital marketing strategy into a two-way communication process. That is, the screen not only presents content but also accepts input from viewers, providing a more engaging experience.

Popular ways to add interactivity to digital signage content include:

• Touchscreens: Touchscreens allow people to interact with the content by tapping and swiping elements on the screen. You can use touchscreen capability in self-service kiosks.

• Mobile integration: This enables users to interact with the screen by scanning QR codes with their mobile phones. Scanning the QR code can enable them to access more information, special offers, etc. 

• Gesture recognition: This allows people to interact with the content by standing in front of the screen and making gestures. Cameras and sensors incorporated into the digital signage detect hand gestures and body movement of viewers in front of the digital screen.

Include user-generated content

Customers trust content created by other users more than the ones created by a brand. This is because they believe that other users have no reason to hide the negatives of a product or brand.

So, one way to use digital signage to boost business is to display user-generated on digital screens. 

Examples of user-generated content for digital signage are:

• Social media feeds

• User testimonials

• Reviews

5. Implement targeted messaging

Relevant content is more likely to capture people’s attention. Thus, an important step when implementing digital signage is tailoring content to specific contexts.

During content creation, you can target the message based on factors like target audience demographics, dwell time, and time. 

Let’s explore each of them in detail. 

Audience demographics

The reason for understanding your audience is so that you can create content that aligns with their interests and preferences. Use language, imagery, and themes that align with your audience’s age and interests.

For example, animated videos may be suitable when targeting children, while text-based instructions may be better for professional clients.

Dwell time

Tailor digital signage content to dwell time (how long you expect your target audience to be in each location).

In high-traffic locations, people will have only a few seconds to look at digital screens. 

So, short-form content is best for digital signage in such locations. This allows viewers to quickly grasp the message as they pass along. 

But in waiting areas and similar locations with longer dwell time, long-form content like a video story is more suitable.

Season and time of day

Make content relevant by tailoring it to the season or even the time of day. 

For example, your digital signage campaign will be less effective if your screens are beaming winter apparel during summer or breakfast menus during the afternoon hours. 

Ensure that what you show on your signage screens is what people would be interested in at that particular time or period of time. 

Also read: Tailoring digital content for enhanced customer personalisation: A Guide.

6. Monitor and analyse performance

After deploying digital signage, the next step is to monitor the performance of the campaign to assess the effectiveness of the visual marketing strategy.

Track metrics such as viewer engagement and conversion rates to know how viewers interact with your signage content. 

Some digital signage solutions/ software come with built-in analytics tools for analysing performance.

Also read: 9 Ways Digital Signage Analytics Can Reveal Key Insights Into Customer Behaviour.

7. Regularly update and optimise

The purpose of performance monitoring is to provide insight for optimising performance. So, the last step in creating a digital signage strategy is to regularly update your content based on performance insights.

The goal is to enhance the effectiveness of your content, improve audience engagement, and achieve better overall results. 

Therefore, after analysing the performance of your digital signage campaign, use insights gathered from the analysis to make necessary improvements. 

For example, users engaging more with specific content may indicate that they find it more interesting. You can then use this insight to create more content with similar characteristics in order to capture and hold viewers’ attention.

Takeaway: Unlock the power of visual marketing with digital signage

Digital signage is a powerful visual marketing tool because people cannot stop staring at digital screens.

The seven steps above will help you implement digital signage successfully to unlock the full potential of visual marketing. It starts with defining your objectives, understanding your audience, and choosing the right hardware and software.

The success of a digital signage campaign is largely dependent on using the right tools, particularly the digital signage software. With the wrong software, you’ll be plagued with problems like system downtime.

Thankfully, Luna Screens is one digital signage software that ticks all the right boxes. It has one of the best digital signage CMSs you’ll find, boasting a user-friendly interface for content creation. Plus, it’s a reliable tool with unparalleled uptime.

Unlock the power of visual marketing with digital signage technology! Get Started with Luna Screens today!