Interactive digital signage: how it works

Never miss an opportunity to reach your target audience

Interactive digital signage is a collective word for a piece of technological magic. In short: digital signage displays (Panel PCs, touch screens and displays) enable you to dynamically display (personalized) digital content to reach your target audience.

The simplest way to achieve this for just one single screen, is to put your media content on an USB stick and plug it into your device, to play it using its pre-installed media player. It gets more complex when you want to put your media content on multiple devices, across multiple locations.

When the scale of the installation increases, you want to add digital signage content management software to this equation. This way, you’re able to remotely distribute and update your media content from one central location to any connected display through a network connection.

Interactive digital signage then adds another layer to this equation. By adding interactivity you’re enabling the target audience to engage with the content, instead of just receiving the message. Interactivity requires the right hardware component and an interactive software application.

Examples

Examples of these so-called interactive digital signage solutions are the use of a touch screen on your device, which enables checking in your hotel on a self-service kiosk, through the hotel’s dedicated application. Or the use of an NFC card reader to scan an employee card, to successfully book a meeting room. Or the use of a sensor to dynamically display content on a screen, based on actions performed by the target audience.

Interactive digital signage: different types

Interactive solutions to engage your audience

There are many type of interactive digital signage solutions for different kind of audiences:

• Customers at your shop. Engage, create experiences, analyse behaviour and cross-sell products.
• Staff & employees at your corporate office. Inform, gather data about office usage and support meetings and hybrid working.
• Visitors and guests at any location. Improve their experience (while they are waiting), digitalize staff tasks, or increase efficiency and reduce queues.

For any type of interactive digital signage solution, you will need a combination of hardware and software. ProDVX is a manufacturer of hardware, creating the technological framework in which a software application runs. Continue reading this guide to learn about this technological framework.

Interactive digital signage: advantages

The reasons why it has become so popular

Interactive digital signage has become immensely popular in the past decade because it’s flexible, has an impact and allows engaging in dynamic communication. Research has shown some clear advantages of digital signage:

• It leads to more brand awareness – your message gains 400% more views with a recall rate that’s increased by 83%!
• It leads to more engagement – increases customer satisfaction by 46%!
• It is fast – you’re able to update messages on any screen. In real-time!
• It leads to more sales – up to 33% increase!
• It leads to lower costs – lower printing costs and increases employee productivity by 25%!

In order for interactive digital signage to meaningfully impact your organization, the first step is to define the goal(s) of your organization. Read more about that in the chapter below called 'Customer Journey'.

Examples and trends

Interactive digital signage opportunities for your industry

Digital signage provides many advantages in different situations. That’s why it has quickly become a technique that has been adopted by almost every industry nowadays. Digital signage is constantly evolving; the industry is driven by the innovations that are introduced by hardware manufacturers, software developers and system integrators. Listed below are some trends in today’s industry that create the best digital experience:

• Sensors. There’s no better way to draw the attention of your target audience than to surprise them with content that’s displayed based on their actions. Examples include pick-up sensors (also known as lift-and-learn technology), people and object detection and other sensors that collect environmental and object based data. Surprise your target audience and grab their attention!
• Interactivity. The best experiences are the ones that are shared. Activate your target audience and guide them through their customer journey by having them perform any desired action. Swipe through an assortment on a touchscreen, scan a code for unique content (QR-codes, barcodes or other objects) or scan a membership card for personal benefits. More engagement has always been an important determining factor in terms of creating a positive experience!
• Analytics & data. One of the best things of today’s era is the fact that there’s a lot of data that can be used to make improvements. Every time a user engages, interacts or even moves, digital signage can turn these actions into actionable data. This way you are able to analyse behaviour and gain more knowledge and insights. Decisions will no longer be based on gut feelings; instead, they will be based on real data!

These innovations have led to many smart applications in different industries like Retail, Corporate, Hospitality, Events & Hotels and Healthcare and Education. Learn about more examples and advantages of interactive digital signage on this page.

Interactive digital signage: the right display

For software developers & end users

Whether you are a software developer that’s designing the next best digital solution, or an end-user of interactive digital signage, you don’t want the display to limit possibilities. Hardware should always enhance any piece of content or application. 1+1=3.

ProDVX designs interactive digital signage displays with exactly this in mind. ProDVX products include many hardware features that enhance digital experiences:

• (Surround) LED Bars on the edges of the display: light it up in every colour imaginable to ensure your content has an impact and gives the right feedback to the user.
• Enhance hardware with extra modules that are easily connected on Pogo pin connectors. Easily add an NFC card module, camera or barcode module.
• Accurate touch functionality to support any type of interactivity.
• Ultimate connectivity: all the I/O ports you need to have your display act as a central controller for all the systems you have in place.
• High brightness IPS panel for high impact. It’s especially useful at locations that are well illuminated (daylight), but it also increases service life!
• Device management tools that make a developer’s life easier and saves time developing.
• 3-Years warranty, matching lenght of SaaS contracts.

ProDVX Panel PCs, displays and touch screens are available in sizes ranging from 7 inches to 32 inches. This is also advantageous when you, as a software developer, have multiple software applications for many different purposes.

Interactive digital signage hardware: benefits

For re-sellers, integrators and end-users

Working with ProDVX hardware means more than just working with reliable and stable hardware. Because interactive digital signage is more than just the hardware, many benefits are associated with the use of ProDVX:

• ProDVX’s experts are available to guide you through every digital signage project and answer every possible question you might have during the process.
• For us, it’s entirely natural to have an accessible support department.
• ProDVX account managers will work and plan right alongside you. In fact, we would even prefer meeting with you on-site and make a difference together.
• Interactive digital signage hardware that’s specifically designed for digital signage installations: long term availability, long product service life and a reliable supply chain.
• Possibilities for custom-made products (and OEM/ODM).

We have been a leading company in the industry for 20 years now. Learn more about the benefits of working with ProDVX on our partner page.

Utilizing screens already installed in the field

A shortcut to digital communication

Digital communication is not new; it’s been around for some years now. Chances are you’ve already installed some type of screen or TV in the field and you have no desire to go through a large scale installation again. Good news: you can get your current screen(s) ready for digital signage by adding a digital signage media player!

A Box PC is a digital signage media player that turns the screens you currently have installed into dynamic content players. With a Box PC, you’ll benefit from all the advantages of interactive digital signage. Simply use an HDMI cable to connect the Box PC to the screen and get ready to capture the attention of your audience.

Interactive digital signage: customer journey

Integrate your organization’s story across all touchpoints

ProDVX can connect you to many partners around the world who can help you to create an engaging customer journey. In order to get the most out of interactive digital signage, you’ll have to think about the following:

• Define your goals
• The path travelled by your target audience at your location
• Content strategy

In planning a successful integration, ask yourself a few questions:

• What do I want to achieve? (awareness, engagement, activation)
• What story do I want the screens to tell at the location?
• Who is my target audience?
• What do I want the target audience to remember?
• Which types and how many digital signage touchpoints do I need to have in order to achieve my goals? (a welcoming touchpoint, awareness and information touchpoints, for ordering and at exit points)
• What do I want to communicate at each touchpoint? – start with general content and then get more specific
• For how long do I want the target audience to see my message at the touchpoint?
• What content do I have available and how often will I refresh the content?
• Will I connect my real-time content to some kind of database (like weather or stock inventory) for spot-on messaging?
• If I have content available, what type of message will I show? (photos vs videos vs texts)

Interactive digital signage can be a powerful strategic tool that enhances the experience of your target audience. ProDVX and the partners of ProDVX can help you get the most out of your installation and your content.

Getting started

The process from A to Z

Are you ready to get started? Hopefully most of your questions about interactive digital signage have been answered by now (if not: please contact one of our experts). When done right, you’ll understand that interactive digital signage can be a strategic tool that has a significant impact.

Now it’s time to get your project started. While every project is unique, we can identify some similar phases across every project. These phases are listed below:

1. Definition of business goals, business case & ROI
2. Tender (select the right partner with the right hardware and software)
3. Proof of concept
4. Content creation (if applicable)
5. Small scale installation (if applicable)
6. Large scale installation
7. Ongoing refreshing and updating of your content (if applicable)
8. Analyse

Integrating interactive digital signage in your organization can take anywhere from 6 months to two years, depending on the scale and size, industry, stakeholders and goals.

Sustainability

Green signage

It’s no longer a question of whether or not an organization is sustainable, but rather how sustainable an organization is. So in order to be futureproof, solutions should fit any corporate sustainability strategy.

Good news: interactive digital signage fits in that strategy! It is green, and especially more green than the traditional signage industry. Printing new communication materials, week after week, is a thing of the past. Also worth noting is the amount of paper that gets wasted due to minimum order requirements by printing companies.

The sustainability of interactive digital signage is dependent on three factors:

1. Packaging & logistics
2. Product
3. Production

This means digital signage has a very small carbon footprint compared to the traditional printing of signs, so it’s actually a good idea to start using it.

Research has shown that on average, up to 80% of the CO2 emission generated by a display takes place while the screen is in use. Therefore, a digital sign must have a low power consumption to be considered green.

When starting a new tender, make sure to add requirements about sustainability. Please read about ProDVX and sustainability here. Interested to learn more? Contact us and find out how our products fit into your corporate sustainability strategy.

IT-talk: adding interactive digital signage to your IT environment

Seamlessly integrate your ProDVX hardware

Even though IT environments are becoming increasingly complex in today’s world, integrating your digital signage project in existing IT environments can be a breeze. In most cases, it comes down to selecting the right operating system for the hardware. There are many different types of operating systems used on our hardware:

• Android digital signage
• Windows digital signage (or Intel digital signage)
• Linux
• ChromeOS

Windows is a familiar interface that is used by most businesses like healthcare organizations and transportation. That’s why Widows digital signage (or Intel digital signage) is compatible with most digital environments, meaning there’s no need to overhaul current IT environments. This saves money even though the cost per Windows device is higher than for example Android.

Nowadays, Android has proven to be just as stable, secure and user friendly as Windows. For this reason, selecting your operating system is always a trade-off in terms of costs versus integration in IT environments. Therefore, never forget to get the IT department of your company involved in the decision-making process.