As a newcomer entering into the vast, and somewhat, complex world of digital signage, I wanted to share a few observations I have made as I try to make sense of my new found digital environment.

Like any newbie, and particularly as a marketing executive, it was important for me to get a quick but relatively thorough understanding of the market place. And in order to better understand the products and services that I would have to promote I tried to put myself in the mind-set of the unknowing layman - needless-to-say, that as an actual unknowing layman it was not too difficult to adopt this persona.  The first few weeks into my new position consisted of looking blankly and taking notes as I tried to translate all of the talk about code, programming, networks and deployments. I thought that things would get easier as I progressed onto learning about the physical set up of a digital network but felt as confused as I did when watching The Matrix for the first time. A bit lost and totally in awe of the technology being presented. 

I realise now that my initial beliefs of what digital signage consisted of are far from the simple plug and play set up I had imagined and definitely included more than a DVD player and flat screen.  That is why I feel very relieved every time I walk into a coffee shop, music store or petrol station and see this very configuration in operation.

It seems to me that generally advertisers - myself included - are aware of the significant power harnessed by digital signage in being able to advertise, engage and interactive with consumers, but it is also far too common to see a screen out of order or to watch looping content that only appears to animate when a page on the Power Point slide show changes or when the DVD skips after being bumped by the staff behind the counter.

Maybe people have forgotten how beneficial software can be for creating, running, managing and monitoring content? Or maybe it’s because they simply don`t know that the software exists?  Just imagine a digital signage network serving a multitude of stores, displaying the same message but having the option to alter the content and messaging between locations, playing video files by dropping them into playlists, scheduling images and messages to engage with the right customer at the right time of day. Or imagine integrating Twitter so you can see live messages from your customers or being able to update text and images instantly using nothing but your smart phone. Well, imagine no more! The software that gives advertisers the power to achieve this is available and is not overly priced or complicated.

Whether it is an industry wide responsibility to educate and inform people of the benefits of digital signage software or you believe that it is every man (or company) for himself, it is clear that a certain amount of education is paramount.  That is why my future blogs will provide insightful and helpful hits and tips to achieving a great digital signage campaign and what can be achieved using the proper software for the job.

Blogged by Sarah.