Digital signage or dynamic signage can be defined as a dedicated form of silvercasting in which multimedia or video content is broadcasted in public and private places for advertising purposes. In layman’s terms, digital signage is nothing but use of digital signs that incorporate technologies like LED and LCD to advertise or offer information in both private institution and public places such as a retail outlet, restaurants, and corporate environment. The ultimate purpose of these digital signs is to ensure the delivery of high-quality and up-to-date content in the most effective manner.
In today’s world, when technology is changing its form every hour, latest and effective delivery of content has become extremely essential for the survival of a business. Thus, today’s cities are surrounded by digital screens, displaying additional content than ever before. The declining cost of displays and improved customer experience are aiding growth the global digital signage market. In addition, the advent of near-field communication is expected to open new avenues in the market.
There is an unspoken rule in the world that digital signage is equivalent to use of high definition screens. Thus, customers who invest in digital signage think that they need to focus only on the quality of the digital screen that can be placed anywhere to boost their business. However, the evolving technology and rapid digitalization gave birth to novel trends in the digital signage market that include several aspects beyond the quality of the digital screen. Such trends are mentioned below…
Latest trends in Digital signage market
1. Interactive screens
It is evident that one of the most attractive features of any technology is interactivity. It is what customers crave for, and the incorporation of interactive displays can help make a business campaign more successful. However, digital signage is not just bound by touch interactivity; voice recognition and behavior patterns also play an important role in the digital advertisement. These factors offer more than just a pretty screen and help engage customers more effectively. From shopping stores to helping people locate a particular spot in the city, interactive digital screens have humongous applications in advertising. First tablets, then television screens, and now video walls, digital signage is getting bigger in both size and scale.
2. Ultra-thin screen and video walls
In the next few years, consumers would welcome the innovation of video walls. Video walls offer a wide range of advantages including the potential for interactivity and–needless to say–additional surface area. This year itself, Panasonic India launched its new range of digital signage solution SignEdge. In addition, the company unveiled a new range of 4K video walls and professional display monitors that can be easily put together with SignEdge solution. Such solutions are helping bridge the gap between efficiency and aesthetics.
Visuals have always been a vital part of user experience, but today manufacturers are focusing more on the aesthetics of display screens. Thus, sleek designs and ultra-thin screens are in trend. Make no mistake, the screen used in digital signage and the household televisions have a huge difference. They may look alike, however digital signage screens have features that make them suitable for commercial use, including waterproofing, increased brightness, and extended service lives. Thus, experts believe that the next challenge for designers would be how to make existing screens slimmer and brighter than before. In fact, the answer could be reflective displays–full colored e-paper screen could be the next big thing in the digital signage market.
3. Responsive content
Developments in sensor industry have made the content more personized. Today, content can be adjusted according to real-life situations. This means the responsive content can automatically create digital signs that change content on its own according to the external triggers. For instance, during summer, the digital signs would portray advertisement of soft drinks and ice creams or during rush hours, these displays would show the alternate route to avoid traffic. This creates the most effective personal experience as the customers feel being part of it as they are targeted with only relevant information and advertisements that are relevant to the surrounding situations. In this way, the content will never be scheduled but will get updated every day to interlock more customers.
4. Artificial intelligence
With the advent of AI, there has always been a fear of losing human-to-human interaction and smart digital signage can help that nightmare come true. No need to look in the future, it is already happening in the restaurant industry and other industries are expected to follow the same trend.
Artificial intelligence (AI) allows unprecedented scaling of data analysis and integration. With the help of AI, a huge chunk of data can be transformed into messages without human intervention. Moreover, AI-based digital signage can make a suggestion regarding what type of content should be displayed at that time and offer cross-promotion on a whole new scale.
With new breakthroughs coming to light every day, we are getting increasingly comfortable with AI solutions and the next thing in the AI-based digital signage can be regarded as content triggered by facial recognition and behavior patterns.
5. Era of digital security
With every word of a content being connected to the internet, there is a dire need for digital security. In today’s date, only a few minutes of unapproved content is all it takes to bring down the campaign or business and–not to mention–create a bad publicity outbreak and legal headache. Thus, media owners are more concerned about securing their network. In fact, companies are investing in or collaborating with those firms that offer a complete commitment to security. In addition, with incidents of cybercrimes continues to increase, it makes sense to invest a few bucks in the security of the content.
What is the bottom line?
It is clear that the digital signage would dominate the advertising market and technological advancements would continue to improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies. The benefits offered by digital signage are unavoidable, including cost-effective, engaging marketing, and effective branding.
Digital signage is here to reduce work stress of marketing team. On one hand, it helps sell more products by offering an effective and entertaining medium for advertising and on the other hand, it engages the audience with relevant feeds as well as updates information that save time and errors, which in turn increase profit. Thus, if you feel your same old business needs a facelift with some technological innovations, digital signage is the new success mantra!