Digital Signage: Three Handy Rules to Succeed

By finding the right digital signage partner, investing in content development and providing your people with the best training available, you can rest assured that your digital signage network will continue achieving the goals you set out for it far into the future.

It seems every day brings a new announcement in the digital signage arena -the release of a whiz-bang technology, a new vendor entering the market, some huge sale or formation of a new strategic business alliance.

While news of this sort is interesting and relevant, it can be a bit overwhelming. In fact, it can lead to a bit of paralysis in implementing a digital signage plan. Fear of premature obsolescence, or missing out on the next important development to come along, can retard progress and direct energy and attention away from the true mission, specifically, communicating effectively with clients, constituents or employees to advance the marketing or informational goal of the enterprise.

But rather than sitting on the sidelines waiting for some never-to-be-attained zenith of technological development to be realized before making the decision to proceed, wouldn't it be better to find a framework within which a digital signage deployment can be made that lets you respond and if necessary assimilate the changes that inevitably will come along?

Here are three handy rules to help you succeed with your digital signage deployment regardless of the changes that come along:

One: Don't just choose a digital signage vendor, select a digital signage partner. This is the crux of the matter. Technology continues to change at an ever-increasing rate. What must remain constant is an unwavering commitment on the part of your digital signage vendor to adapt existing solutions to meet your needs as they change. If that means writing new software, so be it. If it requires developing new drivers, new interfaces or taking any other steps needed to integrate "must-have" third-party components into the digital signage network, a true digital signage partner must be willing and capable of doing just that.

Two: Invest in your content. It's funny how many of the latest "earth-shattering" digital signage developments turn out to be small blips on the continuum of progress. What helps to inject a bit of reality into the latest whiz-bang announcement is the sense of security that your digital signage messaging is on target and accomplishing your desired goals. What does it matter if there's a new digital signage technology that will polish the shoes of people who approach a sign if no one ever stands there long enough to get it done because the content is so irrelevant?

Three: Invest in training your people. Whether they are in-house content creators, sales people securing advertising contracts or IT or AV managers tasked with monitoring the performance of the digital signage network, your people are your real assets. The better trained they are, the more productive your digital signage network will be.

There's nothing wrong with wanting the latest or greatest technology to be a part of your digital signage network. But you have to ask yourself just how important that is to accomplishing your real goal. If there's no other way to achieve your goal without adding that technology, by all means do so. However, nine times out of 10, if you take a moment to consider all of your options, you'll find that you can rely on creativity -whether it's in the realm of content creation, IT management or sales- to achieve the goal you desire.

By developing a partnership with a digital signage vendor, investing in training your personnel and devoting the resources necessary for content development, you'll position your digital signage deployment to best achieve the goals you've set for your network. You'll also have removed that element of paralysis that can set in when the fear that the digital signage network you're contemplating will become obsolete.