Reasons Digital Signage Is Hard & Our Solutions to the Challenges
You may be wondering why digital signage is so difficult. After all, it’s just a matter of putting up a few screens around your office or store, right? Wrong. There’s a lot more to it than that. Let’s take a look at 8 reasons why digital signage is hard.
What is digital signage?
Digital signage is a form of advertising that uses digital displays to deliver content and messages, typically used in public places such as retail stores, cafes, airports, and office buildings.
Digital signage can be used for various purposes, including promoting sales and special offers, providing information about products and services, directing foot traffic, and displaying news and weather updates.
Digital signage is a relatively new technology that can be challenging to understand and use effectively. In this article, we’ll explore some of the reasons why digital signage is hard.
The 8 reasons digital signage is hard
1. It’s Expensive
High-quality digital signage is a costly undertaking. You need to factor in the hardware cost, ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per screen, and the software and content creation cost. If you’re not careful, you can easily spend more than you budgeted.
Digital signage is expensive. There’s no getting around it. The hardware and software can be costly, and there’s often a monthly fee for the content displayed on the screens. Additionally, if you want to create your custom content, you’ll need to hire a designer or agency to do it for you.
All of this can add up quickly. But keep in mind that digital signage is an investment that can pay off in the long run. It’s been shown to increase sales, foot traffic, and engagement with customers and employees. So while it may be expensive upfront, it could be well worth the cost.
2. It Requires Maintenance
Digital signage is a tool that allows businesses to display content in a variety of ways, including on TVs, monitors, and even billboards. While digital signage can be a powerful marketing and communication tool, it requires regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly.
One of the most important aspects of maintaining digital signage is ensuring the content is up-to-date. Businesses must regularly update their digital signage content to ensure that their message is relevant and engaging. Additionally, updates should be made to reflect any changes in the business, such as new products or services.
Another important aspect of maintaining digital signage is ensuring that the hardware works properly. This includes ensuring that the screens display correctly and that all necessary cables are connected. If there are any issues with the hardware, it can cause significant problems with the signs themselves.
Finally, businesses must ensure they have someone responsible for managing and troubleshooting digital signage. This person will need to have a good understanding of how the system works and be able to resolve any issues that may arise quickly. Without someone in this role, businesses may find themselves without functioning digital signage when they need it most.
3. It Needs to Be Secure
Because digital signage is often connected to the internet, it must be adequately secured to avoid hacking and other security threats. This ensures that the system is regularly patched and updated with the latest security features.
Digital signage is a popular way to communicate with customers and employees, but it has challenges. One of the biggest challenges is security.
Hackers can target digital signage systems to access sensitive information or launch attacks on other systems. To protect your digital signage system, you must ensure it is properly secured.
Here are a few tips for securing your digital signage system:
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly.
- Use encryption for all data storage and communication.
- Restrict access to the system to authorized users only.
- Keep the software up to date with the latest security patches.
- Monitor the system regularly for any suspicious activity.
These tips help keep your digital signage system secure and protected from attackers.
4. It’s Complex
Digital signage is a complex technology. There are many factors to consider when selecting, deploying and maintaining a digital signage system. Here are just a few of the reasons digital signage is hard:
Hardware: Many types of digital signage hardware are available on the market. Selecting the right type of hardware for your needs can be a challenge.
Software: Many different types of software are also available for digital signage systems. Selecting the right software for your needs can take time and effort.
Connectivity: Digital signage systems must be connected to a network to function correctly. This can be challenging, especially if you need to gain experience with networking technology.
Maintenance: Digital signage systems require regular maintenance to function correctly and stay up-to-date. This can be time-consuming and costly if you don’t have experience maintaining such systems.
5. It Takes Time to Set Up
Setting up a digital signage system takes time, especially starting from scratch. You must choose the right location for the screens, install the hardware, configure the software, create or source the content, and test everything to ensure it works properly. All of this can take days or even weeks to complete.
One of the most common complaints about digital signage is that it takes too long to set up. While it is true that setting up a digital signage system can take some time, there are several good reasons for this.
First, digital signage systems are often very complex. They may include multiple displays, video walls, content management systems, and other software and hardware components. Finally, setting up all of these components can take some time.
Second, many businesses want their digital signage to be perfect. For example, they may spend days or weeks tweaking the settings and testing different content before they’re satisfied with the results.
Third, some businesses need more staff or resources to devote to setting up and maintaining a digital signage system. This can be a particular problem for small businesses.
Fourth, many businesses need to become more familiar with digital signage technology. This lack of familiarity can make the setup seem more complicated than it is.
Finally, it’s important to remember that digital signage is an investment. Like any investment, it takes time to set up and get the most out of it. But if you’re patient and willing to work, you’ll find that digital signage can be a powerful marketing tool.
6. It Needs an Infrastructure
For digital signage to work correctly, you need a reliable infrastructure. This includes having enough power outlets and internet connectivity for all screens and devices required for content delivery (e.g., media players).
To roll out digital signage across your organization, you need more than just a few displays and some software. In addition, you need an infrastructure that can support your digital signage network.
That means having a robust content management system to create and manage your signage content. It also means having a reliable network of displays and players to deliver that content to your audiences.
And finally, it means having the right team to design, implement, and manage your digital signage solution. With these pieces in place, your digital signage initiative will likely succeed.
7. It Can Be Intrusive
If not used correctly, digital signage can be intrusive and even annoying:
- The brightness of the screens can be overwhelming, especially in a dark environment.
- The audio can be distracting or annoying, especially if it’s too loud or repetitive.
- The screen content can be disruptive, especially if it needs to be more relevant to what you’re doing or trying to focus on.
- Digital signage can be overwhelming, with too much information, bright colours, and moving images.
8. It Can Fail
Like any other technology, digital signage can fail when least expected—and often at the most inconvenient times (e.g., during a presentation or during peak store hours). When this happens, someone needs to be on hand to troubleshoot the problem and get things back up and running as quickly as possible."
How to make digital signage work for you
Digital signage can be a great way to improve communication and branding at your business. However, getting started with digital signage can take time and effort to make it work for you. Here are some tips on how to make digital signage work for you:
Define your goals. What do you want to use digital signage for? Do you want to improve communication with customers or employees? Do you want to promote your brand? Or do you want to use it for something else entirely? Once you know your goals, you can start planning how to achieve them.
Choose the correct location. Where will your digital sign be located? Will it be visible to your target audience? If not, then it’s not worth investing in digital signage.
Create compelling content. Your digital sign should have relevant and interesting content for your target audience. Otherwise, they will ignore it. Consider what kind of information would be most useful or interesting to them, and create content accordingly.
Keep it updated. Digital signage should be updated regularly; otherwise, people will quickly lose interest. Make sure to keep your content fresh and relevant so that people will continue to pay attention to your sign.
Evaluate your results. After using digital signage, take a step back and evaluate how well it’s working for you. Are people paying attention to it? Is it helping you achieve your goals? If not, then it might be time to make some changes.
Conclusion
While digital signage offers many benefits, such as increased sales, improved customer engagement, and enhanced branding, several challenges must be considered before embarking on a digital signage project. First, many factors must be considered, from high upfront costs to complex installation processes. However, awareness of these challenges can prepare you for better success.
Contact us today to learn more about Easy Signage’s digital signage solutions.