How to successfully introduce digital signage into your business

Your regular route to work has been the same for years. You see the same dozen posters advertising this or that and sigh as the repetition of it is exhausting. Then one day, something changes. Instead of repetitive posters, your path to the workplace now has eye-catching displays with advertisements that change every couple of seconds. Not only that, but you identify with the ads being shown to you. Maybe it is indeed time to change your old car and the newest Opel model doesn't look bad at all.

More and more businesses are beginning to see the benefits of using digital signage for advertising. Today's blog is all about successfully introducing digital signage into your company using MagicINFO. If you'd like to get the full picture, make sure to check out our previous blog in which we discuss how to introduce digital signage to your company.

Here's what will be covered in this blog:

1. The benefits of digital signage and MagicINFO
2. Creating your business plan
3. Getting buy-in for your digital signage project 
4. Assembling the perfect team 

1. What are the benefits of digital signage and MagicINFO 

Digital signage is an emerging business with plenty of software solutions for any business type. Whether you're a small-to-medium business or a multinational corporation, there is suitable digital signage for you. You just have to find the right one. 

MagicINFO might be the perfect solution since it has so many different options. First, you have the choice between MagicINFO cloud or on-premise. We recently wrote a piece in which we compare digital signage cloud-based vs. premise-based. Check it out and get expert-guided knowledge to help you make the right choice. 

In a nutshell, if you're an SME, MagicINFO cloud would be a good option for you because there are no installation costs which means less IT hassle while reaping the benefits of using MagicINFO by connecting to the cloud server provided by MagicInfo Services by ScreenCom. Check out this blog in which we outline reasons to choose a managed service provider. On the other hand, there are good reasons to choose a private cloud for your signage solution, which we outlined in a previous blog. If you're a big corporation, the IT hassle is probably not an issue as you have a team of experts who can handle any technical issues that might arise. Thus, it might make more sense to opt for the premise-based MagicINFO solution. 

Moving on, you have the choice between 3 different license types: Premium, Lite, or Remote Management. Make sure to check out the differences between them by going to our website. For an extensive comparison, you can read this article in which we go over the differences between MagicINFO Lite and Premium.

Finally, here are 3 benefits of using digital signage. First, digital signage will help your business stay relevant and bound in the realities of this day and age. As technology is forever changing at a pace that is difficult to keep up with, hopping on the digital signage trend is the first step to making sure your business is still sought after and that customers are familiar with your brand. Second, digital signage allows you to create content easily. Take MagicINFO for example. With the templates option available in Web Author, your marketing team can reduce their workload by creating templates to be used every time you need to create new content for the displays. Third, and perhaps most important, digital signage looks good, grabs attention, and can keep people engaged for longer, making it more effective as a marketing strategy than using paper-based traditional signage. 

2. Creating your business plan

Once you know which solution to opt for, it's time to create your business plan. It is very important to have one because, just like the best generals, you simply don't go into battle without a strategy. Depending on the scope of your project, it might be easy or more difficult to convince your colleagues and manager to share your enthusiasm. Having a business plan makes it easier for you to explain yourself. It also makes it easier to visualize the steps needed to achieve the outcome desired. 

First, you need an overarching objective, such as improving communication in the office. Then you need to make it a SMART objective so you can make it measurable and time-bound. Next, it's time to break the objective down into smaller steps. Visualizing this could be very helpful and make it easier for your team to see your perspective. Don't forget to think about who needs to be involved at every step of the project. This will help you figure out who is essential for your project. For more detailed step-by-step instructions, check out our "Getting started with Samsung digital signage" ebook. 

3. Get buy-in for your digital signage project 

Let's go back to the scenario from the intro of this blog. You're sold on the idea of using digital signage and you'd like to get your colleagues excited about it too. Here's what you can do. 

First of all, make a list with all the reasons why digital signage could help your company achieve its business goals easier. You could mention, for instance, that studies show people are more likely to pay attention to moving images instead of static ones. Then make sure to bring in numbers as data is showing your team indubitable proof of why introducing digital signage will bring positive results. Here you can talk about the sustainability of digital signage compared to paper-based signage. 

Another important point is thinking about the specific benefits of using digital signage in your business. For instance, if your goal is to increase customer engagement with your products, digital signage can help you achieve this by using targeted advertising. AI is on everyone's lips nowadays and retail strategies will forever change because of this. Luckily, digital signage can use AI to improve the customer experience by using sensor-based or biometric technology which triggers the content specific to the buyer persona that the customer is part of. While still in its infancy, AI and digital signage are definitely worth watching out for if you're interested in incorporating this into future digital signage strategies. 

For more useful information, check out this blog in which we outline 5 tips for betting buy-in for your digital signage so you can make your digital signage project come true. 

4. Assembling the perfect team 

Finally, it is time to discuss putting together the dream team for your project. If you've done your homework right and you have a solid business plan, then whoever needs to be part of the team will emerge from the plan naturally. For example, let's say you'd wish to opt for the on-premise MagicINFO Premium license. You're going to need at least two members in your team with solid IT skills and experience because they need to be able to do the software installation and maintain and regularly check that your content runs smoothly, without any strange errors. Then you'll most likely need to involve the marketeers who can tell where the displays should be placed for maximum engagement, create templates that help create content in line with your brand, and create content that reaches your desired audience.

You have reached the end of today's blog. By taking the time to read it, you learned about the benefits of using digital signage and MagicINFO, how to create the business plan for your project, how to get buy-in from your colleagues, and how to assemble your dream team. If you need further guidance, we encourage you to schedule a meeting with one of our MagicINFO experts and let us level up your digital signage project.