Tens of millions of people in the United States use VR technology – and that number is growing.
That’s why entrepreneurs across the country are beginning to launch VR bars. These businesses blend the digital with the tangible to create fun and unique experiences for visitors.
If you own a VR bar, digital signage may be just what you need to get more out of it. Keep reading for step-by-step instructions on how to take your VR bar customer experience to the next level.
Why digital signage and VR bars are a match made in heaven
While virtual reality (VR) is a familiar term for many, it’s still the case that VR is a relatively new technology. That means if you run a VR bar, your staff is probably familiar with explaining how it works to new customers and troubleshooting issues.
While crucial tasks, this can reduce the amount of time that your staff has available for other parts of their roles like running food orders and making drinks. Digital signage lets you automate much of this process by replacing your staff’s instructions with signage.
You can record a staff member showing how to use VR once and replay that explanation infinite times. This can free up a ton of time for your employees to optimize other parts of your business.
On top of that, digital signage also makes it easier to:
- Advertise your products and specials
- Entertain your customers while they wait
- Keep your guests informed
- Allow your customers to order food and drink on their own
The headlines of adding digital signage to your VR bar
We’ll dive into these steps later on, but for now, here’s a quick look at what it takes to add digital signage to your VR bar:
- Set your goals for digital signage
- Install screens throughout your bar
- Pick a digital signage software provider
- Create your display content
- Share the content and adapt it
Yup, it’s that simple.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started
There are only three things you’ll need to add digital signage to your VR bar:
- Digital signage software
- Screens (televisions, tablets, computer monitors)
- Media players (only necessary if your screens can’t connect to the internet on their own)
Once you’ve got all that, you’re ready to begin the installation process.
Step 1: Set your goals
The first step in adding digital signage to your VR bar is figuring out what you hope to achieve.
Maybe your guests have complained about long wait times for food and drinks. If so, your goal may be to use digital signage to allow guests to order themselves to reduce those wait times.
Or you might want to reduce your printing costs by swapping your analog on-premise advertisements for digital ones.
You could even use your digital signage to entertain your guests in-between VR games with live streaming video content.
There’s a lot that you can do with digital signage. When you clearly understand your goals, it becomes much easier to figure out the specific types of hardware and software that you need to reach them.
Step 2: Install your screens
Next up is installing the screens that you’ll use to display your digital signage content. Again, the best way to do this will depend on the goals that you came up with during the previous step.
For example, if you want your guests to be able to place their own orders, then you would likely want to install tablets in each of your VR rooms.
Or, if you want to keep your guests entertained, you would want to install large televisions in the parts of your bar that get the most traffic.
And if you want to accomplish both of these goals, you need to install tablets and televisions in suitable locations.
Step 3: Choose your digital signage software
After installing your screens, you’re ready to select your digital signage software provider. You want to be sure to choose a provider that gives you each of these features:
- Remote content scheduling
- Easy access to live streaming entertainment
- Built-in analytics features
- Dozens of pre-made display templates and options to create your own
- Intuitive dashboard to control it all
UPshow offers each of these features and more. That makes it a good fit for any VR bar ready to make this update to their business.
Step 4: Create your displays
Now you’re ready to begin using your digital signage software to create the displays that your guests will see.
You’ll be able to choose between designing your displays from scratch or using a pre-built template to quickly bring an idea to life. Thanks to its versatility, this technology enables you to create more engaging types of displays than other media.
For example, research shows that animated ads often perform better than non-animated ones. And with digital signage, it’s easy to bring your ads to life with engaging animations.
You can also include value-adding features to your digital signage content, such as:
- QR codes
- High-resolution images
- Social media posts from your guests
- Memes
- And whatever else you think your audience will find interesting or amusing
Step 5: Set a schedule, share your content and adapt
Once you’ve created your content, you’re ready to develop a rotation schedule for displaying it to your guests.
It’ll be important to mix up your advertisements and entertainment to keep your audience engaged. However, the best rotation schedule for your VR bar can vary based on the shifting preference of your customers.
That’s why it’s essential to use analytics to assess the effectiveness of your digital signage content over time. Then, when you notice dips in performance or see that your ads aren’t performing as well as you would like, you can make informed adjustments to resolve the problems.
Research suggests that people need to see an ad 7-8 times before acting on it. So that could be a good benchmark for how often you leave the same ads running in your VR bar.
Don’t let these potential problems derail your progress
When done right, digital signage can enhance the overall experience of your VR bar. But there are a few potential pitfalls that you’ll want to look out for while implementing it. Here are 4 to keep in mind:
Issues with screen placement
Your digital signage can only be effective if it’s easy for people to see and access. A big part of that is making sure that you put your screens in the right locations and at the right angles for viewing.
For example, if you want to use digital signage for advertising, you’ll need screens in your highest-traffic areas to get the most out of those campaigns.
Similarly, let’s say you want to use digital signage to entertain your guests while they wait at the bar. If you hang the screens at odd angles requiring customers to bend their necks, fewer people will pay attention to them.
Failing to monitor your digital signage’s performance
It’s also imperative to keep an eye on the effectiveness of your digital signage content. You can do that with built-in analytics features from UPshow.
If you don’t do this, you have no way of knowing whether or not your content is resonating with your audience. And that could lead to a scenario where you’re spending a lot of time and money on building out a content pipeline that isn’t working for you.
Not taking your customers’ feedback into consideration
Analytics is a great way to understand how effective your digital signage campaigns are. But they shouldn’t be a complete substitute for what your customers tell you about your digital signage.
Raw data doesn’t always tell the whole story. So it’s crucial to also solicit feedback directly from your customers to make sure you’re not missing anything.
Picking the wrong software
Finally, your software is everything when setting up a digital signage solution.
If the software you pick is limited in its functionality, you’re not going to get as much out of your digital signage investment as you should.
That’s why it’s crucial to look for digital signage software that will allow you to accomplish all of your marketing and entertainment goals.
UPshow makes it easier to unlock the full potential of digital signage in your VR bar
Digital signage could be just what you need to keep the party going in your VR bar for years to come. UPshow is the perfect partner to make that happen.
Our digital signage software can help you take full advantage of the versatile benefits of this technology. From live streaming entertainment to self-ordering, UPshow can do it all.
