The average human attention span is down to just 8 seconds. So as a business owner today, you need to get creative to keep your customers interested long enough for them to make a purchase.
One way to do that is by making your business more interactive. When you give your customers hands-on ways to engage with your brand and its products, they become much likelier to stick around long enough for you to make a sale.
Digital signage is one of the most effective ways to build more interactivity in your business. Here are seven ways to do just that:
1. Enhanced shopping and ordering
Digital signage offers many capabilities that will enable you to give your guests better shopping and ordering experiences. We’ll explore the main ones in this section.
On-demand product information
First, you can use digital signage to teach your customers more about your products. By setting up interactive touchscreen kiosks throughout your store, your visitors will be able to look up the product information that matters most to them on-demand.
This not only makes it easier for your guests to get the information they need to make a purchasing decision — but it will also free up your staff to focus on essential tasks.
Automated ordering
When you set up digital signage with touchscreens, you also make it possible for customers to place orders themselves. This can be a valuable and time-saving feature for restaurants and retail stores.
Instead of waiting for a staff member to assist them, your customers will be able to complete their purchase when they’re ready to do so.
Building a bridge between online shopping and in-person shopping
Finally, digital signage also enables you to minimize the gap between shopping in your online store and visiting one of your locations in person.
This can have a significant impact on your business.
For example, imagine that a customer comes to your store and is disappointed that you’re out of their shoe size in their favorite design.
Without digital signage, you would need to convince them to go with their second choice. Or they would leave your store unhappy and perhaps make their purchase elsewhere.
With digital signage, the customer could place their order for their first-choice shoe directly in your store. That way, you get the sale, and they leave having purchased what they came in to buy.
2. Interactive social media board
Instagram has nearly 1.4 billion monthly active users. That user base alone makes it a fantastic platform for reaching out to your customers.
There are two ways to do this. You can either pay for ads on Instagram or develop organic Instagram marketing campaigns that don’t cost you a thing.
Digital signage makes it easier to generate free traffic for your business on Instagram. You can even use it to set up interactive social media boards in your business.
These boards feature your customers’ posts on platforms like Instagram when they use the right hashtag.
As more and more people see the social media board and try to get featured on it, the buzz will build around your company online. So by giving your customers a fun way to interact with your business, you’ll also increase your digital marketing footprint.
3. Self-check-in kiosks
This tip is maybe the most important one for healthcare clinics and hotels. The check-in process at these businesses can be time-consuming — especially when you have a long line.
But digital signage resolves the check-in problem by giving your guests the ability to check themselves in. The benefits are apparent:
- Your guests won’t have to spend as much time waiting in line
- Your staff will have more time to focus on other important tasks
- People won’t have to spend as much time in your waiting area, so it will become less crowded and uncomfortable
4. Interactive wayfinding and information finder
How much time do your employees spend giving customers directions and answering the same basic questions? If you’re like most businesses, the answer is likely quite a bit.
Digital signage can help you solve this, too. You can use it to set up interactive stations that allow customers to look up directions in large spaces and search for basic information about your business, event, or facility.
5. Customized games that promote your products
Did you know nearly 40% of the world’s population enjoys playing video games? Tapping into that interest could be just what you need to make your business more interactive.
Digital signage can help you do it. You can use this technology to set up engaging trivia games that also help to further your marketing interests.
For example, you could set up a game that quizzes your customers on your brand and its products. Top performers could earn a special discount.
6. Animated product explainers
Sometimes, the best parts about your products are also the toughest ones to explain. With digital signage, you can make it easier for your customers to understand what makes your products great with animated explainer videos.
Picture this:
A customer walks up to your product and isn’t exactly sure what it does or what makes it special. Instead of walking away, they press a button next to the product that activates a digital signage video with animations that shows them exactly what makes your product great. They consider buying the product instead of forgetting about it
This type of experience will likely play out hundreds of times once you add animated product explainers to your store. And even though you won’t convert everyone who watches them, you should still convert enough to have a noticeable effect on your bottom line.
7. Ads with QR codes
About a third of all smartphone users scan a QR code at least once a week. With digital signage, some of those could be your customers.
This technology makes it easier to share interactive ads with QR codes. These are impactful because they help bridge the gap between your digital marketing efforts and your in-person ones.
You can direct the customers who scan your QR codes to your mobile app, email list, or a specific page on your website. By doing so, you can get them into your digital marketing funnel.
That way, you’ll be able to retarget the customer in the future regardless of whether they end up purchasing with you that day or not.
Other tips for leveraging digital signage to make your business more interactive
Offer your content in multiple languages
If your business is in a diverse area, you may not be reaching all of the customers that you can with your interactive displays if they’re only available in English.
Instead, it could be good to let customers choose between several language options the first time they engage with your digital displays.
Use colorful, high-resolution images and videos
If you want your interactive digital signage displays to be effective, you need your customers to use them. High-resolution images and videos can help you attract customers’ attention while walking around your store.
Be sure to set up enough digital signage kiosks
Another part of making sure that you reach as many customers as possible with your interactive stations is to have enough of them set up.
You won’t get as much as you could be out of this technology if you only have one or two in a large store. So instead, aim to have at least one digital signage kiosk in each section of your establishment.
Don’t skimp on your digital signage software provider
Lastly, it’s important to do your research and make sure that you select a digital signage software provider who can help you reach your goals.
Not all types of digital signage software will let you utilize every strategy covered in this article. And you don’t want to invest time and money into a tool that isn’t a complete solution.
UPshow makes it easy to engage your audience with interactive digital displays
Engaging your customers with interactive digital signage can help you increase each visitor's value and free up your staff to focus on critical tasks.
UPshow makes it easy to unlock the full potential of this technology. With our solution, you get:
- Access to both pre-made display templates and customization tools to create your own
- Loads of integrated analytical features to track your performance
- The ability to customize your display rotation schedule and manage from any internet-enabled device
