Every new year brings with it a large amount of reports, statistical survey and case studies (whatever our field of competence) to wrap up the past 365 days’ progress and set the path towards new proposals, perspectives, ideas. Digital signage market is no exception from this point of view.
Digital signage solutions are in high demand, which is why the range of available solutions on the supply side is steadily growing as well.
Want some numbers?
According to Markets&Markets the digital signage market is expected to reach USD 27,34 bn by 2022, at a CAGR of 6.7% between 2016 and 2022. Moreover, the higher growth will derive from software offerings because – differently from hardware- software licences need to be constantly updated.
But in order to be prepared, grow your business and be competitive on the market, you should take a look at the trends for 2017. So, how will digital signage look like during this year?
1) Customized and engaging contents
The 2017 Digital Signage Future Trends report provides an in-depth analysis about the digital signage ecosystem: one of the most interesting facts that emerge from the report, is that the main benefit of using a digital signage strategy is to enhance customer experience since customers are longing for personalized and tailored contents which feels like specifically produced for them.
No doubt it becomes of primary importance to customize the content, and get it distributed to different targets in suitable locations, instead of relying on the already well-known and frustrating one-size-fits-all message.
Customization alone is not enough. Indeed, the best way to catch the attention of a customer whatever the business field is, is to provide appealing and engaging contents.
For example, thanks to evolving integrated technology, we can now use the Bluetooth connection on the one hand, and beacon on the other, in order to create a two flow communication between the digital signage platform and the user, so that the viewer can answer to the first one encouragement, or interact with what s/he sees on the display with the help of s/he smartphone.
2) More affordable technology
Digital signage doesn’t necessarily need to cost an arm and a leg and create deep holes in your marketing budget. In fact, the trend is quite the reverse.
It is true that the newest LCD-LED big screens are extremely powerful tools for outdoor digital signage projects (such as the ones in Time’s Square, NYC), and yes, they are still out of reach for most small retailers and companies.
But fortunately, hardware companies and software producers are increasingly lowering the prices of their increasingly sophisticated products.
Thanks to this trend towards price decrease, more and more small businesses, today, can realistically think about building a digital signage communication project on their own: hence the tech progress is on the helping side of those small companies who want to make their business grow by exploiting digital signage.
For example, Raspberry Pi (available at less than $50 on Amazon) and Chromebit ($83,99 on Amazon) are among the most useful and affordable ways to make your digital signage project work. They basically are small computers; both of them need to be connected with a HDMI cable to a monitor in order to display contents. Both are really smart solutions for running small digital signage project, which do not have to be pricey UHD displays and LCD-LED monitors.
Hence 2017 could be the year for small business to come forward, exploiting the tools that digital progress provide them all.
3) Separated content creation and content display
Another trend for 2017 , is that to separate between the content creation phase and the content display phase of running a digital signage project.
Practically speaking, what once used to be a singular and long process, now tends to be splitted into two consecutive phases: the content is first produced by those who know the audience and its needs the best, while the visual and creative appeal is added later-on by professionals in visual design.
This way, we can better manage and supervise the development of our digital signage project, and be sure to give our viewers an appealing display of our products.
… which is good news for small businesses
Digital signage is a direct and powerful way to communicate with your target audience, whether your purpose is to inform, entertain or engage with them.
2017 trends all highlight one fundamental aspect: small companies and firms now have a wide(r) range of possibilities, tools and plugin to develop a brilliant digital signage communication project on a low(er) budget and using smart and agile work method.