Growth Of Digital/Smart Signage Displays
Digital displays are everywhere these days, in retail stores, malls, fast food restaurants, movie theatres, transportation hubs, even your local doctor’s office – they are gaining traction as highly effective marketing tools and hold immense potential for future growth.
Spurred on by the desire to provide customers with a more personalised brand experience, research estimates the global digital signage market is expected to grow from 16.3 billion in 2021 to $27.8 billion (USD) by 2026 (Source).
What Is A Digital Signage System?
Digital signage or smart signage consists of an electronic display that shows information such as menus, contents, weather information, timetables, data, video clips, images, advertising and other visual content in digital format.
Digital signs employ various hardware and software technologies using LED or LCD displays to be found on everything from micro display screens and interactive kiosks to digital posters and large billboard-style video walls.
Smart signage is found both in the private and commercial sectors as well as the public service sector. This includes places such as public spaces, transportation systems, museums, stadiums, retail stores, hotels, schools, restaurants and corporate buildings and many more!
What Are The Benefits Of Digital Signage?
The success of digital signage is attributed to its ability to increase engagement from customers and audiences with wider interactivity via smartphones, touch screens and QR codes, gaining maximum effectiveness from the marketing messages. Here are 4 of the most significant benefits of using digital signage in 2021.
- Increased Engagement
Any kind of interactivity improves engagement with customers. Rather than simply displaying passive images or messages smart digital signage can encourage customers to take an active role in determining the information they receive. Touch screens and kiosks, ordering systems, and mobile engagement interactivity captures the customer’s attention at a level not seen outside of web-based apps and tools.
- Better Customer Experience
A lack of production information, specialised knowledge and ability to corner a salesperson or find a specific product are some of the main customer complaints when visiting a store. Greater “in-store automation” aids in alleviating these common frustrations by providing assistive selling solutions, from answering price questions to providing directions; interactive signage fills the gaps building an all-around better customer experience.
- Enhanced Data Accuracy
Depending on the setup, digital signage interactions are also able to be used to make data-driven decisions that can shape the in-store customer experience, better target the customer’s needs and shape marketing decisions and even aid in new product development.
- Better Brand Awareness
Higher levels of interactivity and sophisticated software and hardware components means smart signage solutions are here to stay. Digital signage works by bridging the gap between traditional forms of marketing such as TV and radio ads and web-based platforms to better boost brand awareness and customer loyalty.
How Effective Is Digital Signage?
Digital signage has proven to be the frontrunner in today’s digital marketing campaigns – essentially providing a solution to bridging the gap between customers and their products and services in a more personal way. Here are 4 reasons a business might choose to invest in smart digital signage solutions:
- One-Off Costs. Having purchased the necessary hardware and software, you are able to use the signage over and over while continuously updating and changing the material displayed.
- Real-Time Updates. Multiple digital signage displays are able to be simultaneously updated at the touch of a button allowing the business to keep information up to date.
- Multiple Display Options. Working within the framework of your digital signage components, you are able to add or remove multiple displays while using different forms of display options.
- Higher Impact. Increased interactivity, more accurate data collection, personalisation, low setup costs, and inherent “usefulness” mean digital signage can have a greater impact on the target market than more traditional advertising methods such as print marketing or brief ad campaigns.
What Is Driving The Growth Of The Digital Signage Market?
The desire for businesses to streamline advertising and information in a more cost effective way and the increasing demand for digitised promotion built to target audiences who are more captivated by instant answers and digital interaction are the key driving forces behind digital signage growth; here are a few more reasons why business choose to use digital signage:
- Over Saturation Of Traditional Marketing Methods. Growing awareness and disregard among customers used to persistent online advertising such as pop-up ads, targeted ads, and short-lived promotional campaigns has led to businesses seeking new methods of getting their information across in a more user-friendly way.
- Rising Demand For Advanced Information Services. In our increasingly digital world, there is a constantly increasing demand for more advanced digitised information management that can be updated remotely.
- Technological Advancements. Innovative efforts with the components of digital signage solutions (the evolution of LCD, LED, UHD, OLED for example) have led to much more accessible and intelligent displays systems. These are enhancing of the quality of advertisement content which in turn increases the potential product use and increases impact on the target audience.
- Decreased Costs. The relatively decreasing cost of digital signage displays has been the number one driver of growth in the market. What was once priced well out of reach is now a cost-effective informational marketing concept that is easily managed and provides a good return on investment.
- Greater Personalisation. Digital signage solutions can vary from small format options such as tablets through to large format video walls. There is a display option for all occasions and situations, give your business flexibility in providing a more personalised approach to customers. When partnering with the right digital display company, you have the ability to choose from a wide range of technology.
The future for smart digital signage is looking bright, with no sign of demand slowing for 2021 and beyond. We can look forward to greater use of interactivity, larger variations in screen sizes and increased technological advances – but for now, take a look here for some of the best digital displays available in today’s market.
