Step 1 of creating a Content Strategy in 5 steps

The right message, the right place, the right time, and the right audience. These four elements determine the effectiveness of your communication. When one of the four elements disappears, there is little chance that you will be able to convince your audience.

But how do you determine what the right message is? How do you discover the right spots for your displays? Which moment do you choose for which message? And are you reaching the right audience? In this blog series, we teach you to think beyond your screen. We help you build a successful content strategy for your digital signage. We do that step by step in this blog series about Content strategy. Today we start with Step 1: Determine the target audience.

Creating engaging content for your displays can be challenging, especially if you're just getting started with digital signage and MagicINFO. Make sure to check out our pillar page for a thorough step-by-step guide covering this topic. 

Every strategy starts with an exploration of your target group. The more specifically you can describe the target group, the better you can tailor the message to the recipient. Some products or services, such as toddler programs or mobility scooters, are aimed at a narrowly defined target group. Other companies, such as physiotherapists or supermarkets, work with a very broad target group. But no matter how broad a target group is, a company never addresses everyone. Patients of all ages and professions may enter a dentist's waiting room, but they are all waiting for dental treatment. Even though people differ, they are in a similar situation and are looking for the same benefit providers and pain relievers.

When trying to define your target audiences, you can be very specific. Take, for example, the income of your average customer, estimate his or her age, and think of your customer's favorite car or supermarket. Perhaps insignificant questions, but it forces you to think about the added value of your company. Do you deliver the best quality, at the lowest price or do you rely on your image?

Signage target groups 

An advantage of digital signage is that your target group is somewhat framed compared to an online advertisement or door-to-door. After all, you only reach the people with your displays
that are currently running past your specific display. Certainly, when the displays are installed in your own building, you can usually make a good estimate of who walks past the displays at what time. A useful tool is to create personas for your customer. Literally, think about what your target group or target groups look like. What is their age, income, and favorite supermarket? Seemingly nonsensical questions make it easier to set the right tone. If you find this too concrete or if your target groups are not so easy to frame, focus on the benefits providers, the pain relievers, and the tasks of the customer. In other words: what is the customer looking for in a product or service, what are the problems she wants to avoid and why is she here?

A different audience every moment

When determining your audience, keep in mind that these are snapshots. A visitor to the theater in the afternoon at the box office is a different target group than when she is in the audience in the evening. Theater employees have something else on their minds. Always consider who the target group is and for what purpose they are here. You can reach someone who comes quickly for information in a different way than someone who has to wait fifteen minutes for the doctor. With digital signage, you can respond to different target groups at any time of the day.

Start with diving into your target group and you made your first step toward your content strategy.

Go to Step 2

Do you have your content strategy all set and ready to start using MagicINFO but are not sure how to implement it? Perhaps MagicINFO Onboarding is just what you need.  In 6 steps you end up with a configured MagicINFO account according to your digital signage goals. A great option for anyone who's just starting with MagicINFO.