As a VAR or MSP, your job shouldn’t end after you install a digital signage solution. Your clients will need your guidance to get the results they’re looking for from the system, whether they’re aiming for increased sales, greater employee engagement, or more effective communication.
Start with this list of tips for digital signage content that can help your clients avoid some common mistakes that can stand in the way of their goals:
- Create clear, readable assets. Your clients may experience a learning curve as they create content for digital signage. What may look like a great asset on a computer screen may be difficult for customers or employees to read on digital signage. Remind them readable content is essential, so they should avoid small or intricate fonts or colors with little contrast.
- Limit information. Your client may have a lot of information they want to share, but they shouldn’t put it all into one digital signage image or video clip. You’ve probably heard that people now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish – 8 seconds compared to a goldfish’s 9 seconds. Therefore, digital signage content that requires much time to read or decipher won’t be effective. The best content is short and to the point.
- Stay true to brand image. Your clients should always create customer-facing content that aligns with their brand and will resonate with their target audience. For example, a university should develop content for Gen Z, not for the baby boomer administrators that may be writing it. And although it may be effective for some of your clients to use humor in their messaging, it may not be the best idea for a healthcare provider’s office. Remind your clients to be mindful of the content they present – and how it’s presented – to avoid brand confusion.
- Pay attention to resolution. It’s essential that digital signage content displays as a high-quality image – not pixelated, blurry, or marred by static. Help your client optimize images for the greatest visual appeal and the best reflection on their business.
- Change content periodically. If your client’s digital signage is targeting people who could see it every day, it will be more effective if they add fresh content from time to time. If the content is always the same, the number of views will drop – maybe to zero if people think there’s nothing new to see. So advise your clients to keep their audience engaged with fresh messaging and images.
- Include a call to action. Your clients are implementing digital signage for specific reasons: increasing sales, engagement, or communication efficiency. They need to include clear directions that point their audience toward those outcomes. Remind your clients to have calls to action in their digital signage content.
- Ignoring data. Your client may be partial to a particular type of digital signage content or specific messaging, but data from the solution, used in conjunction with data from the point of sale (POS), people counter, or another business system, may reveal that it’s not getting the results they need. Urge your clients to use data from the system to determine what’s most effective – and then double down on what works.
Bonus tip: Regardless of how well you or your customers focus on the above seven tips, it will all be a wasted effort if you don’t have safeguards and alerts to notify you in the event the signage goes down or experiences a critical error.
Invest in Your Digital Signage Content Management Success
Although you may be providing your clients with top-of-the-line solutions, digital signage content mistakes can minimize the benefits the solution offers – and you want to avoid your client concluding that the solution you provided doesn’t work.
Taking the time to educate your clients, warn them about common digital signage content mistakes, and be available to answer questions can help them get the greatest ROI from their system and contribute to your status as a valuable and trusted business advisor. 
