It has been a tech-forward start to the year from the world of digital signage. Industries including retail, restaurant, hospitality, and corporate (to name a few) are being challenged to deliver more engaging, tech-forward experiences for customers and workers. This happens alongside efforts to both optimize operations and grow business, presenting a challenging proposition.
At the heart of these experiences is content, delivered and managed by pro AV and digital signage ecosystems. The evolution of these ecosystems— and the advent of operational artificial intelligence (AI)— has turned once static mediums into dynamic endpoints. It has firmly opened the door for RFID, IoT and sensor integrations to directly impact these experiences. We have seen examples of this already brought to market (for example, wristbands that people wear to museums that change content based on preferences and profiles), but the surface is just being scratched.
Because organizations clearly understand the business value of interactive and personalized experiences, digital signage has earned a seat at the table alongside other critical business infrastructure. Now, with that technology in place, it’s time to focus on another element signage has traditionally led the charge and can scale with the integration of intelligent tools: measuring impact.
Why Does this Matter for Integrators, Businesses, End Users
The conversation in signage has shifted. Business and operational functions are looking for answers to better measure the impact of every investment, every experience, every product placement, and better understand the entire journey an individual has with a brand.
Gaining this understanding requires data. If end-to-end measurement (or, a better understanding of cause and effect) is the goal, there must be visibility along the journey. Importantly, a more consistent and reliable way to correlate the efforts put into a business and the impact that strategy has on key performance indicators.
Improving the quality of information and data gathered across these journeys is an incredible opportunity. As is improving the speed at which cause and action loops are closed or that value is derived from this information.
This is what businesses are looking for: using data to make informed decisions across all functions.
What is Trending in the Business of Digital Signage
The digital signage industry is doubling down on dynamic, intelligent content that can elevate customer and worker journeys:
- Measuring total value: The number one topic of conversation in digital signage is helping customers understand the value of money, time, and resources put into every engagement. For a single piece of content or product, how many interactions, how many pick-ups, how long was the dwell time, how did that correlate to purchases, what information was shared, and more. These demands are baked into every signage conversation.
- Creating interactive experiences: Sensor and gesture-based interactivity is changing the game. Weight, movement, proximity: all engagements that trigger dynamic content based on individual experiences. This can be altered by environmental or lighting conditions that shift content to attract and engage consumers. For example, when temperatures reach a certain level, changing food and drink offerings, or promoting best health practices like getting steps in. This will quickly become table stakes for brands looking to differentiate logos and products.
- Driving efficient, cost-effective operations: Sparked by consumer expectations, sustainability, and cost-savings efforts, digital media players add value when they can run intelligently. For example, automatically turning off or dimming when sensors detect certain lighting conditions, or when no one is in close proximity, drawing eyes elsewhere. This helps run a more energy-efficient signage operation and opens the door to unique curated experiences along an individual’s journey.
What About AI?
The convergence of AI-detected intent and personalization is giving rise to a new content paradigm. As sensors and IoT tools capture information across customer journeys, AI-enabled signage works at the edge to enable dynamic content strategies that respond to real-world behavior.
Together, AI-enabled digital signage and integrations with data capture functionality deliver anticipatory experiences. The result: content that feels a lot less like advertising and a lot more like personalized information and customized assistance. And, with digital signage that works on the edge as opposed to in the cloud, integrity is maintained.
What Integrators Should Know
Digital media players are purpose-built and powerful enough to handle complex computing tasks, intelligent integrations, and react in real time to inputs captured by smart sensors and the IoT.
There are opportunities for companies that get this equation right— being able to capture data efficiently, and effectively, and act on it in real-time without compromising content quality or playback.
The key is finding the right partners to collaborate and turn digital signage into dynamic, innovative content.
