Most people will mention social media, blogs, email newsletters, webinars, e-books, online publications, and other online channels. The same content strategy should be extended to the offline space. And not just in the form of printed materials like brochures, booklets, letters, and marketing whales. Right now, digital technologies like Digital Signage are particularly relevant. They allow broadcasting content and interacting with consumers who are outside the Internet network, uniting brand marketing into a single system.

Digital Signage includes any electronic media: displays, projection systems, video pillars, video showcases, interactive kiosks, and other technologies through which a visitor “consumes” information or engages in direct communication with brand representatives and other users. In 2010, marketer and digital media expert Keith Kelsen called Digital Signage the “fifth screen” – he expressed the idea that consumers have become so accustomed to dynamic, bright, engaging online content that they need it offline as well. Digital Signage technology helps logically extend the brand’s content strategy that people encounter online. That is, interaction with the consumer occurs at all levels: on the company’s website, in a mobile app, on social media, in retail outlets – everywhere they receive the necessary information. Digital menus and other Digital Signage solutions are promising for use in public catering enterprises, banks, and retail outlets. Perhaps the most effective digital technologies in retail, as in a store, the customer’s interest immediately translates into purchasing a product and live profit.

A player for digital signage and other Digital Signage tools are not so much advertising tools as a method of communicating with the consumer, creating an emotional connection with the brand. Therefore, without excellent content, such technologies are non-viable. There is no sense in bright screens if they are not interesting to the user. Keith Kelsen believes that ordinary TV advertising does not work on digital signage; the future belongs to good, narrowly specialized content, the quality of which is directly associated with the brand: “Good content – good brand, bad content – bad brand.” The role of content is also emphasized by Giovanni Flor, the author of the most successful projects in the field of digital marketing, a Digital Signage project manager at Benetton: “The primary importance when implementing Digital Signage is the question of communication with your target audience. How will these beautiful and technological solutions be used? Content is king, it is the driver that will make your project successful. Therefore, it is very important that not only IT department representatives but also marketing work on Digital Signage projects.” Digital advertising and software for digital signage are becoming increasingly important in this field.

Digital Signage in practice

The first Digital Signage systems were ordinary screens or monitors for broadcasting information. Although even in this form, they are suitable for content marketing, as they can display any type of content: informational, engaging, branded, news, and so on. For this, software for Indoor TV is often used, which allows managing content on screens.

The complication of Digital Signage systems opens up new possibilities, as for any store visitor, it is important what happens with them in real-time. They need to satisfy that request with which they came to the retail outlet. Therefore, useful content, such as interactive information about the assortment, combinations of items, ways to use a product, will positively affect sales. Digital menu boards, for example, can show current offers and prices, which contributes to increased sales.

Moreover, with the help of digital technologies, consumers interact with each other and with the brand – for example, they can share images on a screen installed in the store, receiving bonuses for it, or send messages to a video pillar in the window. Elements of interactivity and gamification stimulate users not only to communicate but also to leave information about themselves. For this, special players for Indoor TV can be used, which support interactive functions.

Digital Signage systems allow obtaining data for marketing analysis and other ways, including through the analysis of customer choices, their movements, and product views. Some signs contain built-in intelligence for better understanding consumer behavior. For example, miniature video cameras record customers studying the assortment, while analytical software analyzes their gender and predicted age, as well as the time spent viewing.

How important is it to use Digital Signage and offline content in marketing? In some marketers, there is a misleading impression that in the real world, you can do without digital technologies and the content broadcast through them. For example, a consumer can view the colors and sizes of a favorite item on the store’s website and come to the retail outlet to try on the product and see it with their own eyes. Now, the purchasing process usually happens this way, so it seems that the content of websites and social media is enough for sales.

However, in the future, the real and virtual worlds will interact much more closely. There is the concept of omnichannel, which involves integrating (connecting) all communication channels with users. It is not necessary to confuse omnichannel with multichannel – the latter involves using many channels (site, store, mailing, etc.), but without them being connected to each other.

Omnichannel is when all interaction channels are used together and each has access to information about the consumer. For example, data about a client’s internet activity, their calls to the company’s call center, and visits to an offline store are collected into a single network. As a result, a comprehensive marketing communication strategy with this consumer is built across all channels. For instance, when ordering from an online store, information is transmitted to the retailer’s phone center, and if you call there, the operator will immediately be ready to answer questions about the order. For small businesses, free programs for screens can be useful, which allow managing digital content without significant expenses. For this, Android set-top boxes can be used, which support the operation of various programs for digital signage.

Or, if you couldn’t find the desired product in the retail outlet, you can order it through a digital board with home delivery or check availability in other outlets of the network and reserve it with one click. The goal of omnichannel is the convenience of switching the customer from one type of purchase and communication to another without any extra effort, for example, repeating what was said to the operator on the other end of the line (or in the store). In such a system, everything revolves around the customer, so omnichannel gives them more comfort and simplifies the purchasing process, attracting the consumer.

Personalized information will play a significant role in connecting communication channels with customers. A business, using a single content marketing strategy online and offline, creates a comprehensive perception of the service or product, gains the opportunity to interact with the client where they are at the moment (at home in front of the computer or in front of the window), and achieves maximum user engagement. For this, advertising screens that support Digital Signage systems can be used.

An omnichannel strategy for communicating with the consumer allows for maximum personalization of the appeal to them, adjusting content to meet the needs of a specific person, which means simplifying their communications with the brand. Bill Sussman, president of Collective Bias, predicts that in the near future, a customer entering a regular store will receive a message on their smartphone: “The cardigan you put in your cart on such-and-such date is behind you. You can buy it with a 10% discount.” In addition to messages about the assortment, the customer will receive important and interesting information for them, interacting with digital media located in the retail outlet. For this, centralized video management systems can be used, which allow controlling content on all screens simultaneously.

In the future, Digital Signage solutions will become not separate digital systems but networks that are part of the “Internet of Things.” Moreover, the integration of offline and online channels with visitor identification will allow delivering personalized content to each of them. If targeted marketing is currently an advantage of online stores, soon it will become an integral part of real sales. For this, Android media players can be used, which support the operation of various programs for digital signage.

And what is happening with omnichannel now?

Currently, brands are striving to achieve omnichannel. Online and offline retailers are beginning to invade each other’s space: the former are entering the real world, while the latter are developing internet sales. Online retailers, on the other hand, are opening traditional stores. Even the legend of online sales, Amazon, opened its first offline bookstore in Seattle in November 2015.

Those companies and brands that have long been present both online and offline are actively trying to connect these two channels. Stores are becoming not just a place for shopping but a way to spend leisure time. And precisely the Digital Signage solution and high-quality interactive content is the best way to create a space that inspires purchases and entertains the user. A digital sign for a hall can become part of such a space, providing customers with relevant information and entertainment.

A classic example of the successful use of Digital Signage solutions was the Benetton Live Windows project. It was launched in all of the brand’s flagship boutiques in 2010. Over the four years of the project’s operation, the brand’s marketers applied several excellent ideas for communicating with users. For example, passersby could feel like the face of the brand thanks to cameras and special equipment that broadcast the image of the person standing in front of them onto a video showcase. The brand also used socially significant initiatives. Thus, talented students from art schools and universities sent their works to the company, the best of which were displayed in various cities around the world. Currently, this project is completed, but Benetton has already announced a new one – this time, Digital Signage technologies will be placed inside the stores, not outside. For this, free screen software can be used, which allows managing digital content without significant expenses.

In conclusion, Digital Signage solutions are becoming an integral part of modern marketing, ensuring seamless connection of online and offline communication channels. Using tools such as centralized video management systems, Android media players, and advertising screens, businesses can create personalized content that increases customer engagement and contributes to sales growth. Thus, Digital Signage technologies open up new opportunities for developing an omnichannel strategy, making the purchasing process even more convenient and attractive for consumers.

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