Outdoor Digital Signage - 7 Tips of Making It Effective In Your Marketing Strategy

Bulidings having digital signage screens to display promotion messeages
29

Apr

Vying for consumers’ attention is a lot tougher now in this new age of content. You need to up your game to compete with online ads. Nonetheless, your outdoor signages can still play a significant role in bringing in more exposure for your brand. To make sure it stands from the rest, you should consider going digital.

According to Grand View Research, the overall spending for outdoor digital signage displays reached $21.49 billion in 2020. Experts believe that this trend will only continue to grow in the coming years. So get on with the times and explore how digital signages can become effective marketing platforms for your business to increase sales.

With that, here are some useful tips in creating your outdoor digital signages.

1. Choose the right software

Going digital with your outdoor signages means investing in a reliable digital signage software. This tool will allow you to manage your signages remotely and in real-time. With numerous options available, you might struggle in choosing the right one for your business. And while there is no such thing as a “perfect” software, there are some digital signage software features and benefits you should look out for.

For one, you would want a user-friendly software. After all, not everyone can be experts on programming. You need an intuitive platform that will allow you to painlessly perform and automate essential tasks.

Another element you should look out for is security. The digital space is often the hunting grounds for hackers, scammers, and fraudsters. Hence, you must protect your business and consumers by ensuring that your digital signages are protected.

Lastly, you should also consider the scalability of your software. This helps you expand your audience reach as your business continues to grow.

Pickcel's digital signage software brings you the latest features such as advance scheduling, app store, reports & analytics, mobile controls, etc. Click here to explore the full list of our software features.

2. Find the perfect location

According to eMarketer, almost one-third of outdoor signages nowadays are digital. That means you have more competitors vying for your customers’ attention. Design and content might not be enough to make sure your ad can stand out from the rest. The location of your outdoor digital signage also plays a critical role in attracting potential customers.

You would want it to be completely visible to ordinary passers-by. One great place to put your signage would be the street where anyone can see it. Just make sure that it is free of any obstructions such as trees, poles, buildings, and other signages.

You should also determine where your target audience usually gathers, and which areas can allow them to interact with your signages. For example, putting one by the bus stop gives your audience ample time to play around with your ad while waiting for the bus.

The dark silhouette of a man crossing an empty road appears to be staring at an outdoor digital signage display that shows the image of a nicely-plated spaghetti and the text ‘24/7 Open’. In the background, tall buildings and glowing street lights are partially visible.

3. Pay attention to the design

Effective signages can leave lasting impressions on passers-by. It encourages brand recall and recognition among consumers which, in turn, can increase your sales. Hence, you need to pay close attention to how well your outdoor digital signages look. This includes the layout, font styles and size, colors, graphics, and more.

While you might be tempted to go crazy with the latest digital designing tools, you must make sure that your product (or service) remains the star of the show. While creativity and innovation are both essential, these can be useless if your audience fails to understand what exactly you’re trying to sell. Hence, you should keep your design clutter-free and readable.You should also pick the right digital signage display for your ad. This includes digital posters, mounted digital signage, LCD/LED/OLED monitors, and others.

A tall outdoor digital signage partially obscures the clear blue sky. The digital signage is made of two screens: the screen on the left shows a smiling woman in a red dress carrying colorful shopping bags. Besides the figure, is the text ‘Sale Ends Soon’ and a digital countdown clock showing 00:88:88. The screen on the right shows the image of the front of a steel-colored car on a road, and the text ‘Best Luxury Cars’.

4. Incorporate interactive content

With digital signages, you can push the boundaries of what outdoor ads can be. While great designs can attract attention, your content is the one engaging with your audience. Hence, you should consider incorporating dynamic and interactive content in your outdoor digital signages.

One great example of the latest digital signage industry trends is the use of touchscreens. This encourages passers-by to interact with your ad and explore more about your ad.

Other cool content ideas include QR codes, contests, and promo codes. This allows your customers to prolong their interaction with your brand using their own devices and even without the signage itself. It also paves the way to a more seamless customer journey—from seeing the ad up to the actual purchase of the product.

A woman dressed in a black jacket interacts with a touchscreen outdoor digital signage kiosk installed on the sidewalk of a building. The digital signage screen shows four clickable options.

5. Integrate with other solutions

Maximize the use of your outdoor digital signage by integrating it with other solutions. This will give you access to more tools and functions beyond what your digital signage software has to offer. Likewise, it can make your workflows more seamless and efficient.

The best outdoor digital signs for business often support various forms of integrations. For example, you can integrate it with your marketing software to have more access to automation and analytics tools. This will also help you track its impacts on your overall marketing campaigns. You can also connect it to your website, social media pages and emails to make your brand more accessible to your target audience.

Read this case study to learn how Pickcel helped NEC deploy Passenger Information System (PIS) as a part of the BRTS project in India | an example of integrations in outdoor digital signage.

6. Consider mobile optimization

Flexibility is essential when managing outdoor digital signages. After all, digital ones can encounter some technical issues such as crashes, lags, and security concerns. These issues can also be hardware-related problems such as busted screens/monitors and fried electricals. The longer these issues persist, the worse it can get. Moreover, this can potentially drain your resources and impact your sales.

Thus, you should consider going for a cloud-based digital signage. This will allow you to monitor and track your signages on any devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. This allows you to manage your signages on the go. It will alert you of any problems with your signages, send updates in real-time, and perform certain actions such as fixing the issues, changing content, and shutting it down when not in use.

7. Leverage data and analytics

By leveraging data and analytics, you can track your outdoor signages’ performance and determine its impact on your business. Moreover, it will allow you to mine valuable insights that can improve your marketing strategies in the future.

Using software, you can monitor screen uptime and count how many people have interacted with your ad. And if you have assigned promo codes, QR codes, and links for each outdoor signage, you can trace back which ones are the most effective and successful in attracting audiences and engaging with them. This helps you determine the prime areas to place your signages and the best designs and content for it. It can also give you insights on consumer behaviors, their demands, and preferences.

Digital is the way to go

The days of static posters and billboards are slowly fading away. As technology becomes more accessible, the outdoor digital signage market is gaining momentum. It allows businesses to push the boundaries of what outdoor ads can be. If you want your brand to get noticed, you need to level up your outdoor signages and go digital.

There are many benefits to using outdoor digital signages. It doesn’t just get your brand out there. You can also use it as an effective marketing tool for your business. So go ahead and explore how digital signages can help your business grow in this age of content.

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Namrata Chakraborty

Namrata is the content marketer for Pickcel. She enjoys writing and her area of expertise is where art meets science & technology.

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