Managing and maintaining your digital signage content properly is enough to drive notable foot traffic to your store or business. People will appreciate it as they’ll discover things of interest encouraging them to enter. The approach changes entirely when you lock onto key elements which drive your audience and create content around them! Just by considering ways to focus on this purpose alone, you’ll quickly find yourself making tweaks to your content or considering to invest in digital signage ads at other locations to boost your traffic. Let’s explore this perspective a bit further.
Use your own digital signage to the max!
Utilizing digital signage to empower your storefront is the first and most direct way of inviting potential customers inside. Display limited time promotions on your digital signage. Highlight the most exciting products or new releases of best-sellers. We did an in-depth post exploring ways to improve your storefront via digital signage, so be sure to give it a look!
Don’t forget that displays in the storefront can have goals other than boosting foot traffic. Consider your priorities and find a balance which suits you best. For example, you may look to raise brand awareness, lead the viewer online, or place third-party advertisements as a revenue stream.
Expand your reach with digital signage ads
Think beyond the walls of your business. Just as you may sell ad space to third parties, consider investing in digital signage campaigns at other locations. Of course, create your own content mindfully. Set up campaigns not unlike those you’d showcase in your own storefront. They should be engaging and exciting to your target audience. The added touch is to redirect the viewer to your store. This method is ideal for placing your digital signage content in locations where you’ll likely find your target audience.
For example, if you run a fitness studio, running ads in stores selling sports equipment would be a good idea. If the business matches yours, or if you’re willing to sell ad space yourself, you can build partnerships and exchange promotions for both of your benefits!
Connect your online and offline campaigns
A must-have strategy for success in today’s competitive markets is to utilize as many platforms and media channels as possible. We’ve talked in-depth about merging social media and digital signage, for example. This can raise brand awareness and customer satisfaction. You can tweak the focus further to boost foot traffic to your store. Promote exclusive discounts online which are only redeemable in-store. Digital signage can act as a complementary feature to this approach, ensuring visitors are welcomed and see the needed steps to make once they arrive.
Consider the opposite approach too, in which you use your digital signage to send users to your online marketing funnel.
Use gamification to create excitement
Gamification is a great way to drive foot traffic to your store and appeal to an audience by applying gameplay elements to your screens. This is most commonly seen in highly interactive digital displays, sometimes even with elements of virtual reality mixed in. While this approach would certainly bring more people into your store, you don’t need huge investments to gamify your digital signage.
In reality, gamification can be as big or small as you want. In short, create a setup where consumers get rewarded for entering your business. For example, run a simple “Spin the Wheel” promotion where customers can scan a QR code to participate and claim their prize inside the store. Even simpler, put up a QR code with the message “Scan me for 10% off on your next purchase!” The key is to create a sense of reward and excitement. You can limit these campaigns and say “Scan within the next hour only” or put a timer next to it to create a sense of urgency.
Focus on local content
A more indirect way of bringing people indoors is also perhaps the most rewarding one. Building a strong connection to the community surrounding your business will guarantee an increase in foot traffic. As you may imagine, this will take a bit more than simply amping up the content quality of your digital signage while digital signage itself already acts as a powerful amplifier of your efforts. No matter the content, if the local viewer appreciates it, your reputation rises.
Explore content which is relevant to locals and display it alongside your main content. We can start off with a simple weather forecast for the area. Tons of digital signage software providers, like OnSign TV, offer weather apps which take only seconds to set up. Or take local news for example which you can source with RSS feed apps. You may also promote local events of interest to your target consumer or post social media walls and testimonials from your existing customers.
Digital signage is a really powerful tool to drive foot traffic to your store, though it requires a bit of experimentation. Identify your target audience, and figure out what type of content makes them tick. Fortunately, testing and tweaking content is among the main advantages of digital signage. That’s where the software side of things truly shines. Try out apps, create templates, and tweak your content schedule until you find the ideal combination. Try out OnSign TV, and get started!
Cover image by Andrew Leu.
