Digital signage inside of a store is no longer unique. Enough retailers have recognized digital signage’s ability to enhance the customer experience and drive revenue that seeing screens is now the expectation. What is unique is seeing those
screens being used well, but it’s understandable. The number of options there are for implementing digital signage is overwhelming, especially when you consider the investment required to do digital signage well.
For those retailers that are looking to run a digital signage program across dozens or hundreds of locations, it isn’t something that they need to try and implement on their own. They need to be working with one of the digital signage solutions providers.
That’s why it’s important to identify the right partner to help you with your digital signage program. Depending on your situation and the number of screens you need, you’ll want to find a partner that offers the digital signage solutions that are right for your business. Here are the five areas you should consider.
1. Content Management & Delivery
When you’re running a large network with multiple locations and many screens in each location, it’s vital to make sure your partner can handle the content management and delivery. Take a look at their ability to control your content and how it’s displayed. They should be able to manage your content as a whole or break it up into different smaller pieces, distributing different content to different areas. And look at how well they manage the three critical types of content: dynamic content, passive content, and interactive applications.
As an example of the kind of content management capabilities digital signage solutions providers should offer, consider the ReflectView Content Management System. It’s highly scalable, reliable, and robust in features and flexible through customization and integrations.
2. Advertising Technology & Fulfillment
One of the many benefits of a digital signage program is that it can become an additional revenue source. But successfully monetizing digital signage networks with paid media requires automation for the effective delivery, tracking, and reporting of campaigns.
Reflect’s ad management system, AdLogic, was developed to address digital signage’s unique requirements for out-of-home and place-based networks. AdLogic integrates with ReflectView, providing robust content management and delivery, and the precision needed for ad management.
In addition, Reflect is planning new features and functionality based on market developments and trends, as well as the feedback of partners, digital signage network operators, and the brands and agencies that are increasingly incorporating digital signage inventory into their media plans.
3. Device Management & Monitoring Networked media players and screens play a crucial part in digital signage solutions. Just as you do with your content, it’s important to have a partner you can trust to manage and monitor your devices. Make sure your digital signage solutions provider has the tools and data for effective management and monitoring of the devices running “at the edge of the network.” As your network grows and your locations are spread farther apart, this becomes a more important consideration.
4. Integration & Interoperability
Increasingly, digital signage solutions must integrate with a variety of hardware devices, data sources, content types, and business systems in order to deliver dynamic experiences. By making it a priority to build an expandable platform, you are essentially “future proofing” your digital signage program investments.
Reflect provides a wide range of interoperability and data integrations, while providing clients the ability to leverage innovations and new technologies.
5. Analytics & Insights
Reporting has long been an important part of digital signage, including system and network performance data, as well as content proof-of-play. Today’s digital signage solutions have moved beyond the basics of passive media playback like videos and images and has become a vital part of your marketing plan. As signage capabilities increase, real-time“dynamic” content and interactive applications require more robust capabilities
for tracking, reporting, as well as analyzing what happened where, when, and
how.
There are many factors to consider as you look at digital signage solutions providers. It’s important to keep in mind not only your current situation, but also your plans for the future. The more locations you have, the larger your investment, and what you want to accomplish will all affect your decision. Choose a digital signage solutions provider that can handle your current screens and locations, and who will be able to scale your system as you grow.
Want to learn more? Download our whitepaper, Ready to Run: Moving from Proof of Concept to Pilot Program to Full-Scale Digital Signage Implementation
