Interactive Signs: how do they work and why are they important?

Keeping your customers engaged with your business can be a challenge. Your employees only have so much time to answer questions. And there’s a limit to what they can do to keep your guests entertained and engaged while in-venue.

That’s why you should consider investing in interactive digital signage. It helps you connect with customers by educating, informing and entertaining them. Keep reading to learn:

What is interactive digital signage
How interactive digital signage helps companies
Why UPshow is the right interactive digital signage software for your digital interactive displays

Discover The Real Value of Interactive Digital Display Boards Today

What is interactive digital signage?

Interactive digital signage is exactly what it sounds like: digital signage that you can interact with. If you don’t know, digital signage is a type of electronic sign that displays dynamic content via screens.

Businesses can use interactive digital signage (which is also called smart signage or interactive signs) to display ads, content, information and other things they want their customers to know. Smart signs are preferable to traditional signs because they’re easier to update and more effective at keeping customers engaged.

Interactive digital signage takes this a step further. They’re digital signs that your guests can manipulate according to their preference. Every person who has contact with the interactive sign can access the specific information that’s most relevant to their needs without having to sit through ads and information that doesn’t matter to them.

Interactive digital signage display help you connect with customers

Creating a relationship with your customers is an essential part of keeping their business for the long haul. But it can be tough to manage this on your own. Commercial interactive signage displays can be supplemental tools that can help you connect with your customers in more meaningful and authentic ways.

Part of building a strong relationship with your customers is making it easy for them to buy things from you. Interactive signs will do that for you. You can use them to share crucial information with guests so that they can get what they need from you faster.

You can also use interactive digital signs to make it easier for guests to sign up for contests that you’re running. This can be a great way to build a rapport with a customer without ever having to interact with them.

At the very least, you can use this strategy to gather some valuable information from your customers, such as an email address and a name. You can then turn around and use this information to market to that customer in a more targeted way than you would be able to do otherwise.

Interactive digital displays can educate, inform and engage

Share menu details on your interactive digital display board

Now more than ever, people want to know where their food comes from and what its nutritional profile looks like. But you don’t want your employees to have to take time out of their work to look up this information and share it with your customers multiple times per day.

An interactive digital screen signage can solve this problem. It lets you share whatever menu information you want with your guests so that they can access everything they need to know on their own.

Help people find their way with interactive digital signage touchscreen displays

Digital interactive displays can also be fantastic for large venues. Maps can be useful in these spaces. But they offer no way for your guests to personalize the information that they see.

Interactive digital displays make it easy for your guests to find exactly what they’re looking for. You can set up a program that simply asks your visitors where they want to go and then provides them with custom directions to that place. This can eliminate a whole lot of confusion and wasted time.

Educate and explain with digital interactive displays

Customers tend to ask a business the same questions over and over again. Interactive signage display will reduce the number of times that your employees need to answer these questions.

You can load your interactive digital display board with a set of FAQs that users can navigate themselves. This will make it easy for them to find the specific answers that they’re searching for instead of having to wait for a traditional digital sign to display the answers for them.

Check-in patients and guests through interactive digital display boards

The check-in process can be a real bottleneck for clinics and hotels. When your venue is busy and the check-in process can’t keep up, patients will have to wait longer to see a doctor and guests will have to wait longer to get into their rooms.

Interactive digital signage can help you avoid this. You can set up your digital interactive displays so that customers can check themselves into their appointments or hotel rooms automatically. This will also free your employees up to focus on other tasks, which could improve their efficiency quite a bit.

Set up games on digital interactive displays

For some businesses, keeping customers entertained and engaged is what it’s all about. Interactive digital displays can make that easier for you to achieve. You can load the displays up with engaging games that customers can play from their seats.

Interactive signs can even connect different guests from your venue to one another. For example, you can use the screens to get your entire bar involved in a trivia game. You can even create themed nights to go along with these games to get more customers into your bar or restaurant.

Create something new with interactive digital signage screens

You’re the best judge of what your business needs to thrive. With interactive screens, you’ll have a new tool at your disposal for making that happen. You can create your own interactive digital displays for advertising, informational display, game or something completely new. Interactive smart signage will give you the tech that you need to bring your vision to life.

How interactive digital signage with touchscreen displays are shaping a post-COVID world

Interactive signs may be even more valuable in the post-COVID world. Smart signs, in general, should become increasingly important as consumers become more aware of the benefits of social distancing to remain healthy. This type of dynamic signage lets customers get the information they need without having to interact with an employee to get it.

But traditional digital signage can’t answer all of your customers’ questions. You need something that they can interact with for that. That’s why interactive digital signage will be much more important in the coming years.

You can use interactive signs to encourage your guests to explore your offerings in more depth. For example, you might have an interactive display with your menu on it. Your customers could use the display to see which ingredients are in your dishes and what their nutritional profiles look like.

Other types of businesses can benefit from using interactive signs in the post-COVID world as well. A clinic could install interactive signage so that its patients could check in on their own. This will help them see a doctor faster while also allowing them to keep their distance from others if that’s what they prefer.

Interactive touch screens are safe to use

Interactive signs can provide businesses with a lot of value in the wake of COVID-19. But you may still worry about whether your customers would want to use touch digital signage displays if they’re concerned about the spread of viruses.

However, this isn’t actually a huge worry. The CDC said that surface transmission is not a major way that COVID-19 spreads. Additionally, there are lots of hardware companies that sell touch screens with anti-microbial displays. If you buy these screens and let your customers know that they’re anti-microbial, most will have no problem with using them. Plus, there are signage solutions that make it possible for customers to interact via their own mobile device, entirely removing any concerns about infection.

What do you need for interactive digital display signage?

Clearly, there are lots of ways that your company can benefit from using interactive digital signage. If you’re ready to invest in it, then you’re probably wondering what exactly you need to focus on procuring.

Interactive digital displays are made up of a few straightforward components. The first thing that you’re going to need is some screens. You don’t necessarily need to make all of these touchscreens. Instead, you can save yourself a bit of money by just buying standard LED, OLED, or LCD digital signs to hang in places you know your customers won’t be able to reach.

Next, you need content management software that can help you manage your interactive signs. UPshow has one of the best in the business. Our platform makes it super easy for you to display a wide variety of interactive and engaging content to your customers.

Finally, content is the last piece of the puzzle. This is what you intend to show your customers through your interactive screens. It could be a menu, health and safety information, games, Over-the-Top (OTT) entertainment channels, something else or all of the above.

Interactive screens for business: A necessity to thrive

Interactive digital signage can be a tremendous asset for your company. It enables you to engage your customers in a wide variety of ways while also freeing up some of your employees’ time for other tasks. Using interactive signs could be just what your business needs to excel in the post-COVID business environment.

However, interactive signs won’t do a thing for you unless you also have a powerful content management system. That’s why you should check out UPshow. Our platform makes increasing your customer engagement a breeze.
Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help.