Creating your next big campaign can be quite a challenge. When you see so many brands investing in ads which end up failing miserably, you might get discouraged. Even if your previous campaign was a success, you might feel pressured that your next campaign will do as well while there is the constant risk that it may be ignored, annoying or a waste of time and money.

To ensure your next digital signage campaign is a success as well, here are some guidelines and examples you can use to bolster your chances of success. Even if you’re considering investing in traditional outdoor advertising, these guidelines can benefit your efforts, so keep reading!

1. Lay out a plan

Creating a campaign of any kind shouldn’t just be done blindly once you get that eureka moment. If you have a great idea, don’t just run with it immediately. First lay out a plan around it. Here are some checkpoints to go through before and after launching your next campaign. These steps should be present in all your advertising campaigns, so learn them and learn them well!

1. Set Goals – Establish what you want to achieve with your campaign.
2. Create your content – With the goals set, you may proceed with bringing your ideas to life. Narrow down what you want your customers to see. A lot of brainstorming usually takes place in this stage, so make sure you get plenty of opinions before actually creating the content.
3. Decide on location and time – Mark where and when your content will be displayed. The location should be high traffic and the display time should be scheduled appropriately to the amount of time the typical passersby has in front of it. This can be based on time of the day, customer interactions or special segments of your campaign you planned out earlier.
4. Get feedback and track analytics – This is the most important step as it reveals whether or not your campaign was a success. If at this stage your feedback information yields positive results and says your goals have been achieved, you can say the campaign was a success. Meanwhile, if you see no change in profit or other goals you set, it’s time for a new strategy.
5. Adapt your future campaigns – By the end of your campaign, you will know what works and what doesn’t so well. Therefore, take that knowledge and apply it to future campaigns. This is vital as it ensures your content constantly gets better.

2. Adopt the eight second rule

This is quite an interesting method for creating your next campaign. As any experienced user of digital signage will tell you, you have only a limited amount of time to showcase your message to your audience. At the very least, you must be able to inform the viewer of the content on the display. Engagement and some form of action can come only after that, which makes quick information the most important element. The eight second rule can help you get your message across more successfully. To learn more about it, check out this podcast from 16:9.

The eight second rule is most relevant to transit displays and e-papers at bus stops. In these locations, people typically don’t have too much time to observe and read a display. However, the eight second rule is an excellent way to gauge all of your campaigns. Following this rule means making your campaigns understandable within eight seconds of observation. Your target viewer should be able to understand your message within that time frame, at least the most important parts of it. The only campaign which should be allowed to draw more time from a consumer is an interactive one, as users will spend more time with them. If you’re designing a campaign which isn’t interactive, for it to be effective, a viewer must be able to understand it quickly.

3. Interactivity is the future

An interactive campaign is sure to snatch the attention of many potential consumers. Be mindful how you plan it, though. Take a look at this interactive campaign from Coca Cola as inspiration. The key is to engage people, make them have a good time, and ensure your product lands into their hands. Be it a discount, a free offer or just a fun interaction, this type of content gets your audience more interested in your brand.

Interactivity is certainly the pinnacle of a state of the art campaign, but do keep in mind that you don’t exclusively have to rely on it to have a successful campaign.

4. Draw inspiration from creative outdoor ads

If you need some fuel for your creativity, just take a peek at other brands and some of their amazing campaigns. They don’t have to necessarily be in the digital signage area. Outdoor signage, even the traditional kind, can be quite inspiring and spark some great ideas for your next campaign. You’ll find that most entertaining campaigns bring the most prominent aspect of their business to life, showcasing it in its full glory.

Meanwhile, be sure to take a look at some inspiring digital signage campaigns, too, which could spark your next one. Maybe you’ll find ideas for renting locations in various parts of the town to show your campaign. Or you can tie your upcoming campaigns to certain events or holidays in the year. It’s almost Christmas time, so there is certainly a lot of potential in that department, if you start brainstorming today!