Engaging and visually pleasing content is arguably the most important part of your digital network strategy. It is the ‘face’ of your brand. Whether you need to create awareness or market your products and services, the content you display is an all-important step in helping your customers decide on the product or service they need.
To make the most of your in-house in-store screen network you need a content strategy that is in line with your organisational goals, and one that serves your organisation and your customer.
Without a content strategy that sets out what content to display, where, when, why and to whom, your in-store screen network may not fulfil its objectives and may end up being a waste of precious resources.
A sound strategy will usually ask and answer the following questions:
Why are you displaying the content? What are you wanting to achieve? In other words, what is your goal. For instance, are you wanting to increase sales of a particular product or service?
Who is your customer? Is your goal to communicate with a specific customer demographic or everyone who walks into your store? Do you need to communicate with your staff?
What action do you want your customer to take? Would you like your customer to buy a product or service? Do you need to convey important information to your customer?
What information does your customer need? Identify what you would like your customer to view. For instance, if your customer has bought a tin of paint, you may want to display a range of paintbrushes on screen to encourage further sales.
Where should your screens be located? Strategically located digital screens will mean that your customer can more easily engage with your message.
How often should content be changed? Content should remains interesting and engaging for new customers as well as returning customers therefore frequent refreshing of content is required. Many forward-thinking companies even go so far as to trigger content to suit their customer viewing the screen enabling more targeted messaging.
What form should your content take? One of the joys of a in-store screen Network is that you can display just about anything. Here is a list of the most common formats:
- Videography: Capturing moving images on electronic media. This includes video production and post-production.
- Live action footage: A form of videography that uses photography of real people, animals or objects instead of animation.
- 2D animation: The creation of movement in a two-dimensional space. The illusion of movement is created when individual drawings are sequenced together over time.
- 3D animation: Using motion to bring characters and other images to life. 3D animation adds sophistication to the end product.
- Infographic: A visual representation of information or data in the form of a chart, diagram or similar. “A good infographic is worth a thousand words”.
- 360° video: Immersive video where a view in every direction is recorded simultaneously. 360° videos let the viewer experience what is being displayed on screen.
Who will create the content? Partnering with a digital communications service provider who understands your goals and objectives, shares your vision and works within your budget to produce engaging and compelling content, is key. Importantly, a trusted service provider will also ensure compliance with laws governing artists rights, expiration dates and proper logging of the material used.
Last, but far from least is the scheduling of your content. Great content scheduling will make sure that the right message is delivered to the right customer at the right time. It could also help customers upgrade their purchase or connect with you on other channels. Flexible content scheduling means that your content can be changed to suit a specific customer or be responsive to specific events.
Since 2006, TQ Group has partnered with several of the continent’s leading financial institutions, retailers and parastatals to install and manage screen networks and provide content for over 2600 screens and 36 channels. Contact us for a chat.
