There's no doubt about it, digital signage attracts attention. But it won't hold that attention very long unless you're showcasing awesome content. Here, we'll discuss some of the key things to consider when designing content for your digital displays.
Take Advantage of Easy-to-use Tools
There was a time when specialist training and expensive software were prerequisites for designing great looking graphics. Thankfully, times have changed.
The internet has spoiled us with tools like Canva and Gravit. These are free, easy-to-use graphic design packages that are so richly featured they give Adobe's Creative Suite a run for its money. And, did we mention they're free? You no longer need to be a graphic designer with a degree from art school to create eye-catching graphics that are sure to please customers.
If you're more comfortable with Microsoft's suite of apps, you'll be pleased to hear that DatabeatOMNI offers seamless integration with PowerPoint. This makes it easy to design content using the tools you're familiar with. We've even designed some free PowerPoint templates to kick start your content creation and spark your imagination. Check out our free guides for Digital Signage Content.
Create Personas to Target Your Messages
One of the key causes for content campaign failure is companies neglecting to focus on a clear target audience. Avoid making the same mistake by creating personas.
Personas are clearly defined, imaginary members of your target audience. Advertisers and marketers use this technique all the time to ensure their messaging has the right tone and grabs the the right people's attention. Having a concrete idea of who you want to attract towards your content can guide every decision you make during the creative process.
A thorough persona plan should include their name, age, background, occupation, needs, future goals and challenges. It doesn't hurt to give them fun names like 'Bin man Barry' or 'Commuter Carol' either – it makes them more memorable, humanises them, and reminds your team that you're looking to appeal to real people.
Think About Branding
Digital signage is a fantastic tool for increasing brand awareness, so consider how your brand is represented in your content. You don't need to include your logo on every design, but a few smaller brand touches like fonts and colors can tie your content together nicely.
Norwegian convenience store, MIX Skøyen, has over 10 digital displays set up in-store. Each exhibits unique content, but, by incorporating the brand's famous purple into each design, MIX has created a cohesive brand story across its digital signage.
Utilize Live Widgets
Live widgets are a quick and easy way to make your content more dynamic. You could use them to display the day's weather, bus, tram and train times, or you could feature a live feed of developing news stories. The only limitation with live widgets is your imagination.
DatabeatOMNI comes pre-packaged with a selection of live widgets which you can drag and drop onto your designs to offer your audiences up-to-the-minute information, quickly and efficiently.
Consider Time and Location
Digital signage can be updated at any time from any computer, so it's worth thinking about how you could programe your screens to show different content at different times in a range of locations.
If you're a retailer with stores in multiple locations, for example, you could think about displaying a "Welcome to your local store, *location name*" type message. If you're in the restaurant business, you could configure your displays to show your breakfast menu in the morning, your lunch menu midday, and perhaps a cocktail menu in the evenings.
Think outside the box here – digital signage makes it so easy to adapt your content, so experiment and see what works best for you and your business.
Summary
That's just about all you need to know about creating engaging content that's destined to attract the attention of your target audience. For information about how digital signage can help your business, get in touch with us and take DatabeatOMNI for a test drive.
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