There are so many things that we feel like are out of our control these days—from how the economy impacts our savings, to the challenges our children are having in the school playground, to the increasing costs of everything. With all this out of our control, it is nice to feel that we can be fully engaged in some aspects of our lives. One of the ways that we can feel in control is in how we access information and make purchase decisions on our own terms.
A unique form of technology is helping us access this information in public settings rather than simply through our computers and smart phones. The technology is called Interactive Digital Signage. Let us learn what this is and five things you need to know about interactive digital signage.
What is Interactive Digital Signage?
Examples of interactive digital signage can be seen everywhere from mall kiosks to airports to hospitals and gymnasiums. The gymnastics club we frequent uses interactive digital signage to share club information, advertise for sponsors, promote events and classes and highlight successful athletes. It is bright, bold and invites the audience to take a few minutes to explore on their own time without having to interact with a third party to seek answers to information. Of late, digital signage is also being used to provide menu opportunities in local restaurants and pubs, and to identify how long it will be before the next train arrives at train stations.
What is it about interactive digital signage that makes it ideal for an organization to utilize?
Interactive aspect
One of the most important aspects of interactive digital signage is in the title—the interactive element. What information does the organization want to share with its clients and what information does a client or potential customer want? With the interactive element of the technology, the digital signage can be set up to provide the customer step-by-step access to obtain any type of information they require, or, in the case of limited information, it can provide contact information to follow up on, such as facebook or twitter feeds, web sites or phone numbers.
Flexibility
Another key element of the interactive digital signage is that of its flexibility. Not only can it provide any information one may wish to share, but it can also be programmed to allow customers to undertake certain tasks, such as booking an appointment. For example, this technology has now been introduced into dental practices and has become very popular. It is being used in the waiting rooms to promote dental services offered while clients wait. It allows opportunities for dental clinics to provide answers to questions or share personal success stories of other clients in a non-aggressive or obtrusive manner.
Some of these kiosks utilize internet based technology and provide interactive touch screens with information on insurance companies, client services, the ability to book appointments, view tutorials or images, get hygiene tips, etc. In some of these instances, there are smart phone apps that can be downloaded to access this information off site and at a future date, creating a consistency and fluidity with respect to information garnering.
New medium
Companies are always looking for new ways to advertise themselves, and digital signage provides this new medium both within businesses offices, malls and through billboards on the side of the road. A company can ensure their information is kept fresh, new and up to date by changing it as often as required without having to worry about the costs associated with print documents or traditional billboards. This medium also allows you to incorporate TV, traditional print/poster format, music, etc. into one new medium.
Relevancy
Interactive digital signage also allows businesses to ensure their information is always up to date and relevant. Print documents, particularly those associated with a particular event, sale or program, will require replacement to ensure they are up to date. Interactive digital can be changed daily if need be, and changing up the content from hour to hour can enable you to provide a lot more content than a traditional billboard or print document. Messages can also be targeted to an audience and adapted easily as this audience changes.
It’s engaging and repetitive
While this may seem quite simplistic, it is the most important element to successful marketing, promotion or information sharing—it needs to be engaging. If your audience is not engaged, they will be less inclined to continue to participate, to garner the information they require, and to respond to the advertisement. In the situations where the interactive digital signage is near where an item can be purchased, it may lead to immediate response and will result in increased sales. The repetition will also help a potential client to obtain, keep and access the information learned at a later date – the more they hear or see the same information the more likely they are to remember and respond to it.
If you are into advertising world then, this article written by the author Gerome. C. Paice will prove to be really helpful for you. Here, he has mentioned the various uses of best interactive digital signage.
