What Is Digital Signage and Why You Should Use It?
If you’ve ever been to a healthcare center and found it easy to navigate, been at a supermarket and could easily locate what you wanted, or been at an airport and didn’t have to trouble the staff for information, that’s because of digital signages.
They’re everywhere, guiding us, giving us the necessary information, sharing breaking news and weather reports, and entertaining us as we wait for our appointments or the dinner reservation.
Digital signages are hardly highlighted as the most effective tool for targeted mass communication. But that’s exactly what they’ve become.
What is digital signage?
Digital signages use several technologies including e-paper, projection, LCD, and LED to display content. They can display websites, advertising messages, videos, images, texts, infographics, etc. When third-party apps are integrated into digital signages, news, sports, social media feeds, etc. can also be shared through digital screens.
Since a digital signage solution can relay a wide variety of content, its application can also be customized to the needs of a business. Unlike several other technologies that are exclusive due to their complexity or the cost of investment, any business, big, small, or startup, can employ a digital signage system.
Why businesses of all sizes should use it
Any organization can utilize the power of digital signages to communicate to both its internal and external audiences. It can be a private firm, NGO, governmental institution, healthcare provider, office, or school.
A restaurant can use a digital signage system to share its menu while a health club can utilize it to play workout videos. A warehouse can communicate to its employees while a sports stadium can use it to help spectators find their way. A small business can employ digital signages to share project status while a large corporate can use them for corporate training.
It’s for everyone.
What are the advantages of digital signages?
Flexible: They can support a wide variety of content and therefore, can easily grab the attention of passersby
Focused: Whether it’s an office canteen, salon reception, or a subway station, digital signages give organizations the power to target their communication to specific groups
Interactive: A/B testing, viewer polls, offers, promotions, and contests are some of the more common ways in which advertisers can make digital signages interactive
Cost-effective: Unlike the expensive mass media advertising, including, television or newspapers, digital signages empower even smaller businesses to run campaigns
Last-mile push: Especially for supermarkets and big-box retailers, they offer last-mile communication to convert shoppers with relevant and targeted offers
Video-friendly: Digital signages are a great medium to share videos, the fastest-growing form of content.
Ease of use: What makes it client-friendly is that institutions don’t require any IT expertise to either create and share content or manage a digital signage system
What are the different types of digital signage systems?
On-premise and cloud-based are the two kinds of digital signage systems available to companies and institutions. Another way to describe them would be as self-hosted and cloud-hosted.
On-premise/Self-hosted: This is how it started. Any firm or organization that wanted to deploy digital signages had to make significant investments to buy the hardware and software and get it installed at its site. Other than the installation, on-premise systems also demanded dedicated resources for monitoring and maintenance.
Plus, whenever the hardware or software would get outdated, the business would have to make fresh investments. Although there’s total ownership of the system, the prohibitive costs ensured that small and medium-sized businesses couldn’t deploy digital signages.
Cloud-based/Cloud-hosted: Like all other software as a service (SaaS) solutions, cloud-based digital systems run entirely on the internet. Content creation, management, storage, and scheduling are controlled through a browser. The servers are not at the client’s site and can be used to display content wherever the screens are.
With a cloud-based system, the client doesn’t have to make significant investments for the initial hardware and software. Importantly, they don’t need to hire IT personnel to monitor or maintain the system. All updates are managed by the remote team. By design, it’s also demonstrably easy to use.
What makes it the preferred option for many small businesses is the fact that it’s scalable. A firm can start with a smaller number of displays and expand its presence once the business demands it.
Is it affordable for every business?
From a standalone cafe to an independent yoga class, any business can deploy a digital signage system. If it’s a cloud-based solution, the initial investment will be highly reasonable. Additional screens can be added as the business scales.
How easy is it to set up?
It’s difficult and cumbersome for on-premise systems. They’re also difficult to maintain. Cloud-based solutions, on the other hand, are easy to set up, monitor, and maintain. The digital signage solution provider’s team will remotely take care of maintenance.
The EasySignage advantage
EasySignage provides a cloud-based digital signage system that’s exceptionally easy to use, affordable, and rich in features. You can create engaging and compelling content with its readymade templates. Even if you’re not a designer, the integrated Canva app will make it easy for you to create everything from infographics to posters to menus to brand campaigns.
To ensure that your digital signage content doesn’t become monotonous, EasySignage comes with a host of social media, news, sports, and weather apps. You can embed Twitter, YouTube, CNN, BBC, or any of the other apps to refresh your content. With Text Tickers, you can also deliver specific communication to your audiences.
Supporting all Android-based displays, and with automatic software updates, it is effortless to manage. and maintain. As schools, restaurants, health clubs, hotels, and retail outlets have found out, EasySignage is an all-in-one communication platform that businesses of all sizes can deploy.
Checkout out EasySignage at https://easysignage.com/
