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Digital Signage and the Broader Marketing Picture

Digital signage can be a marketing tool that is dynamic and effective for delivering a brand message. It provides a lot of options to the business that use it and it can help to drive the consumer experience in ways that were not possible in the past. While as a standalone, digital signage can be very impressive and effective, it tends to have the greatest impact as a piece of a broader marketing strategy. When you can integrate the sign into this broader picture, it will bring the consumer experience to the next level.

This means taking advantage of technologies that can work for the consumer when they are not in the presence of the digital sign. In this case, we are primarily talking about the digital sign being integrated into the consumer’s online experience. The modern shopper spends a significant amount of time on the internet and they get much of their information about products and businesses though this medium. For a marketing strategy, this is an opportunity to bring people to their establishment and digital signage can play a significant role in this respect.

One strategy can be to provide information to the consumer through social media and website offers. This information can bring the consumer to the store and get them to interact with a digital sign terminal like an interactive kiosk. Releasing promo codes and specials that can be redeemed at the interactive kiosk can be a great way to draw the customer into the in-store experience. This can be one step in making your brand a part of the consumer’s everyday life.

Another thing to consider is that mobile devices play an increasing role in the consumer’s everyday life. Integrating these devices into the marketing strategy can take the campaign even further. Developing apps for devices like smartphones and tablets will also make the brand an even greater part of the consumer’s life. With your app on their mobile device, they are essentially taking your brand and message everywhere that they go.

With a consumer app in combination with the digital signage, you can get an even more effective strategy. Having an app that actually interacts with the digital signage will really improve the consumer experience. Not only will the consumer be able to use the app to get information about your business when they are away from the store, but it makes the device part of the in-store shopping experience. From offering special deals to consumers that have the app to helping them find products that they previously searched and cross-selling products that are related to their interests, the two technologies combined can really open up some marketing opportunities.

Every piece of the marketing puzzle has some value on its own, but they are much more effective when they are integrated so that each piece builds on the others. Using digital signage just as part of the in-store experience will have its benefits, but with a multifaceted media campaign, the sum is greater than the parts.

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What an Interactive Kiosk can do for Your Business

Building a compelling in-store experience is an important part of customer relations and marketing. This is a factor that impacts your ability to maintain customer satisfaction and the way that you present and sell products. One tool that can make a huge difference in this regard is an interactive kiosk. They can build on the customer relations process, advertise products and provide information.

What is an interactive kiosk?

In the most basic sense, an interactive kiosk is a computer terminal that is designed to provide an interactive experience to a consumer/visitor. Businesses have a lot of options when it comes to putting an interactive kiosk on location. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and with a whole host of hardware and programming options. From large screens to small screens to touchscreen displays and kiosks that can interact with devices like smartphones, there are options that can be great for just about any location.

They are adaptive

An interactive kiosk can also be used like a piece of digital signage. Digital signage outperforms traditional static signage in that it can be updated to fit the moment and the circumstances with little effort. This includes having messages that are programmed for different times of the day, to cover special in-store events and to meet the needs of the business in the now, rather than just having the same message all of the time.

A medium for information

With an interactive kiosk, you also get a great means of delivering information to the consumer. Instead of just advertising your products or services, you can really educate the consumer about your business and what you do. Further, the interactive kiosk allows the user to search for the information that is relevant to their experience, which makes it more useful to the consumer and a better tool to help your business flow.

It’s a virtual team member

The interactive kiosk can also work as a member of the in-store team. It can greet customers as they arrive, work as a self-checkout station and help the consumer to find the products that they need. This gives the consumer more options and a better in-store experience. Not only that, but it also takes some of the workload off your human staff members.

They are highly customizable

One of the reasons that an interactive kiosk can be great for any business is because there are so many options. You can choose the screen size and software package that is right for your location. The programming options are also very open. You can design an experience that is completely unique to your location and build a consumer experience that is in-tune with your brand identity.

Competing for customers can be tough and most businesses realize that they need to use every tool at their disposal to stay ahead. With an interactive kiosk, you can provide a customer experience that will distinguish your business from the competition and increase the potential for your business to grow.

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Designing Mobile Apps that Drive the Consumer Experience

The business world is competitive and to stay in the game, you need to use all of the resources at your disposal. In the modern age, this means using things like websites, social media campaigns and mobile apps. These technologies allow the business to provide information to the consumer and engage them in a way that wasn’t possible in the past. While these can be effective tools for driving the consumer experience and winning new customers, they won’t have a significant impact if they are poorly designed.

An effective consumer app will do a lot more than provide information. It will offer an interactive experience that gets the consumer thinking about your business. It should give them access to information about what you do in a way that is convenient and it should have features that allow the user to customize their experience with the app and the business, but above all, it should inspire the consumer to want to visit your establishment or use your services.

The initial steps of designing an app for a business involve coming up with a variety potential mock-ups for how the app should work. In this part of the process, the team gets together and they determine what will make an effective app for the given business. They discuss the features and functions and how the app should operate to deliver the best possible consumer experience. Through this process, they will narrow it down to maybe a few ideas for the direction of design.

The process of making a good app also needs to involve collaboration between the design team and the developers. Once the design team has a few ideas nailed down, they can bring them to the development team to discuss how the different features will work and whether all of the ideas are practical. The collaboration between design and development is fundamental to making an app that will serve the consumer well. If the development team needs to change features of the app or remove something from the initial design, the design team can be there to provide input and possibly tweak certain aspects to help maintain the integrity of the initial concept.

For an app to drive the consumer experience and deliver the necessary message, the team will also need to collaborate with the business that is going to use the app. After the design team has their feedback from the developers, you can pitch a few of the concepts to the client or business that is purchasing the app. Explaining the features and functions of the app and giving a tour of how it will bring consumers to their business. Talk about how it can be used through social media to raise awareness of the business and highlight interactive features of the different concept apps. Once you have feedback from the people that are paying for the app, you can move on to the final development stages that will turn the concept into a reality.

The problem with so many of the unsuccessful consumer apps is that the development company didn’t take the time to design an app that would suit the end user. In short, they simply designed an app because they were paid to. If you want to make an app that will really drive business and bring consumers in, the design process needs to be highly collaborative between all of the parties involved. An app that is designed hastily and with no clear purpose, will be ineffective and a waste of money.