The popularity of interactive digital signage is growing rapidly, and its prospects for the future are tremendous. Everyone is striving for interaction as the focus of physical venues rapidly shifts to the digital realm. It's a novel technique that will excite your consumers and improve your relationships with them.
Interactive media allows marketing departments to differentiate their products by telling compelling tales. Some potential benefits for media owners that promote interactive content include showing more interesting and engaging material throughout their network, greater premiums associated with hiring this kind of complicated campaign, and the chance to create a splash with ecstatic social media postings showing the campaign in action.
What is interactive digital signage?
If customization is the way of the future in business, then interactive digital displays are the way to get there. The fact that interactive digital signage focuses on the audience makes it a powerful promotional tool. Digital screens have traditionally been used to display promotional videos, ads, and other information that passers-by may easily ignore. However, a new marketing approach is required when including interaction.
By putting viewers in charge of what and how they see on screens, interactive digital displays provide a "personalized experience." It gives companies the opportunity to play unique, dynamic content that makes them stand out by increasing excitement and engagement. You'll agree that retailers and their marketing teams have had a difficult go of it because of the inability to tailor their digital signage to individual customers. But now that interactivity has come to the forefront, traditional and digital marketing channels are awash with promotions and brand stories that will attract and hold consumers' attention.
Why make digital signage interactive?
The typical city inhabitant probably walks by many digital displays daily, the vast majority of which are static and unresponsive. Having an interactive capability requires more costly technology and setup. Customers who desire more sophisticated advertising campaigns and media owners who need to equip the signs may benefit from this.
Should you spend more money on interactive signage? The key to success in today's oversaturated advertising market is to create something memorable. MAGNA established that viewers spend 47% more time with interactive video advertisements than traditional commercials and remember the commercials even if they didn't participate. People are more likely to give out their data if they feel it will be used to improve their experience or provide them with something of value. If you can provide this level of personalization and value to your audience, they will be more likely to give you access to their data.
Potential ad buyers are persuaded by the efficacy of interaction, which is crucial for network owners. In addition, when paired with more conventional marketing strategies, 81% of marketers feel that interactive content increases the retention of brand messages. Only those digital signage networks which can deliver the engagement that high-end buyers are searching for will be approved for running campaigns.
What you need for interactive digital signage
Good interactive content can be challenging to make. Hardware capable of powering interactive content and software capable of connecting all the necessary pieces for the content to execute properly must be secured by network administrators.
In most cases, the best option for interactive signage projects is extensible software with an open API. Still, ensuring the solution is safe and reliable is equally important. Arm's-length, interactive displays are potential targets for mischief makers and should be protected.
Finally, people need to interact with what's written on the signage. There are a variety of possible formats for this information, depending on the nature of the presentation. For instance, if a media buyer wants to place a certain advertising campaign on an interactive display, it would show interactive content provided by the buyer. The network administrators will take care of the interactive content for an indoor display, such as a mall's navigation station. That's not to say you should make everything in-house.
Types of Interactivity for digital signage
Interactive signage encompasses a wide range of applications. Here is a rundown of some of the most often-used forms of interactivity.
Touch
Touchscreens are often used to add interactivity to digital signage. Touchscreens are commonplace at the moment since they provide a low risk of failure as an interaction medium because most people can walk up to the installation and start using it immediately. Audiences often use touch to navigate content or interact with content on a screen.
Gesture/motion tracking
It's the sort of element that looks the coolest but is seldom used in interactive signage. The sign has installed hardware and software that " tracks" the user's motions to activate predetermined responses. Although the technology is not widely available at the moment, it has the potential to become an exciting addition to digital displays in public locations like malls and shops that include games and other forms of entertainment software.
Mobile
Mobile interactivity leverages mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It enables viewers to engage with the digital signage content through their devices. By scanning QR codes, using near-field communication (NFC), or accessing dedicated mobile apps, users can access additional information, participate in polls or surveys, make purchases, or even control the displayed content. Mobile interactivity enhances the overall user experience, enabling a personalized and interactive engagement that bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds. It empowers viewers to actively participate and connect with the digital signage content on their terms.
Augmented reality & visual recognition
Some of the most successful interactive advertisements are also the most straightforward. It is possible to create some extremely cool augmented reality campaigns by installing cameras close to a digital display and then connecting those cameras to an appropriate personal computer. It is a fantastic way to draw bystanders and the environment around them straight into a fresh new experience, and doing so can be a lot of fun. Other applications include employing cameras to do fundamental visual recognition and having campaigns provide content specifically customized to anybody the cameras view standing by. For example, the presentation of a different piece of information may be possible based on the age of the person watching.
QR Codes
The usage of QR codes is prevalent across sectors to create interactive digital signage. The widespread acceptance of this touchless technology may be attributed to how simple it is to include QR codes in any digital signage platform. On the interactive digital screen, you will discover a QR code that lets you quickly and easily share essential information such as product listings and catalogs, restaurant menus, websites, maps for navigating the area, service specifics, and other pertinent data.
By pointing a smartphone camera to the QR code, your customer is directed to a page where they can make a purchase decision, see some of your offers or entice them to make a purchase.
Social media
Social media has been a staple of interactive digital signage campaigns for many years because it effectively increases audience participation and provides material for display. Each campaign has its unique strategy for incorporating social involvement. Users often share content from their social media accounts using a designated hashtag, which is then shown on screen, occasionally after a moderation procedure. The most cutting-edge example of this now is social media walls which are often used in the shopping malls, school campuses or during the events.
Face recognition and detection
Facial recognition has a wide range of applications, although it is most often used to verify the identities of account holders and restrict access accordingly. Face ID is a face recognition system that unlocks iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products. The potential uses for this technology are endless. For example, fast food chains are experimenting with face recognition in their loyalty programs so customers can pay for their "favorite" meals with a single scan at a self-service kiosk without entering any payment information.
Interactive digital signage with Look DS
It takes some effort to create high-quality interactive content. Network owners can benefit if they pick the finest digital signage software, such as Look DS, to create the interactive scenario and guarantee it operates without a hitch with various hardware options that might be used in the project.
Take a look at the following to learn more about the interactive features that come with Look DS.
Layout designer
Look's layout designer is a highly flexible tool that allows you to partition your screen into multiple areas and create a unique layout to broadcast what your business has to offer. It allows you to simultaneously divide your screen into several areas to broadcast different content items. It comes with an inbuilt graphics editor, so you can create content exactly how you envisioned it. In addition, you can create different scenes, set transitions between them, and ensure your scenarios are multi-layered to make your content as interactive as possible.
Making your touch monitor interactive
Look DS allows you to make your touch monitor interactive. To do this, you need to connect a compact media player to the screen. You can use the Look HD-2222, but you can always choose from various Android, Windows, Linux, or Mac OS options. All you need to do is plug the player into the HDMI input of the monitor and connect it to the sensor via a special USB connector.
You should sign in to the content manager if you want high-quality content. Proceed to connect the screen to the system using the 6-digit code that appears after connecting the player to the internet. You can create a simple scenario based on the existing templates in the layout section. Change the color of clickable widgets to your corporate one, and if necessary, reassign content items or other scenes that will be opened by clicking on them and then change the text. Add your scenario to the screen, and you'll be ready to enjoy interactivity with your touch monitor.
Conclusion
It's conceivable that many networks in the digital domain will start considering interactivity a must-have as interactive technology becomes more accessible and affordable. Network owners and their companies will benefit most in the future from investments made now in the most effective technology. Interactive signage with the right platform, such as Look DS, can revolutionize your company's business.
