The art of great advertising is to evoke emotion, action and build trust. Apart from just sales, trust is an important factor that helps repeated sales and benefits referrals.
This is where bonding with customers comes into place. For digital signage, bonding can be done by adapting more interactive forms.
“The critical mission of embedding digital media within an organization’s over-arching brand marketing and content strategy is to build upon the “customer bonding lifecycle”
Well-put by Kimberly Sarubbi in a white paper (download here) “Persuasion Along the Path to Purchase”. One key takeaway: always make sure to state the WIFM (What’s In It For Me?) for customers.
Give value first
According to Bill Bishop, the Burberry Store in London is the best example of life advertising. In an interview he advised that it’s not just about sales: “using it just to push promotions doesn’t create the same kind of intimacy or trust”.
Give value first – this is marketing 101.
Digital signage can deliver that, and one important aspect more.
Establish 1on1 conversations
Unlike traditional advertising, digital signage is more flexible and can target customers dynamically. Example: a store gets a lot of customers who are male workers around 40 years old between 6 and 7. Using that knowledge, the store can display more tailored messages to this customer segment and convert them into sales.
Richard Ventura explains this in a white paper (download PDF here). According to the advertising specialist, digital signage “can draw people in, and align them with a brand on a one-to-one basis”
In a recent Google Hangout, Mark Boidman of the Digital Signage Federation reinforced this thought: “Digital signage can allow a consumer to interact with [the brand]”. Brands can use this medium to increase trust.
Starting conversations with customers through media screens is one of the key principles in using digital signage effectively. This can’t be done with static advertising, and it can’t be done with inflexible systems.
People
- Bill Bishop from brickmeetclick.com
- Kimberly Sarubbi (linkedin, twitter), CEO Saddle Ranch Digital, Inc.
- Mark Boidman (linkedin, wikipedia), Board Director, Digital Signage Federation
- Ryan Cahoy‘s Google Hangout on digital signage for financial 101
