What do consumers want from digital signage advertising?

Much is said about digital signage being a must have for businesses, but there's very little discussion about how digital signage advertising actually influences consumer behavior. However, Kinetic Panel's research is as refreshing as it is compelling, as it reveals valuable information from the people that matter most to businesses, the consumers!

How is digital signage advertising impacting consumers?

Kinetic Panel's research involved asking 1,000 consumers what they were looking for upon seeing an outdoor digital signage display. Almost one-fifth (19 percent) of those asked said that they sought more information about a product, service or experience being advertised. This increased to 24 percent among a younger demographic (18 -24 year-olds).

Interestingly, 23 percent of the younger demographic had downloaded a mobile app after viewing an outdoor digital signage advertisement, compared with just 1 in 10 adults.

It should come as no surprise then that the younger generation tends to interact more with a digital poster than the older generation. However, according to the research, one method that advertisers could use to remedy this and reach more of the older demographic is to expand the appeal of digital posters by providing location-specific information.

The research found that location-specific information is what adults most desire from digital posters. Approximately 48 percent of the 1000 research participants said weather updates were most desirable. A further 38 percent said digital signage should feature transport updates; this increased to 50 percent among research participants aged between 55 and 64.

Additionally, 29 percent said they would like to see more interactive wayfinding solutions in public locations, 32 percent said new updates would be useful and 30 percent said that information on local events would be helpful.

Digital signage featuring location-specific information helps users to associate with it, potentially boosting brand loyalty and consumer interaction among the older demographic.

Around a quarter of respondents said that, to make digital signage more useful, they could feature a battery charging port for mobile devices. This could work in favour of advertisers because it could potentially improve dwelling times.

Kinetic Panel's research further identifies direct retail services as an opportunity to maximise the potential of digital posters, particularly when you consider that 1 in 10 of their research respondents said they would shop direct from a digital signage display.

In fact, nearly one-third of 25 to 34 year-olds anticipate being able to buy direct from a digital signage system in the future.

Make digital signage advertising personal

Consumers want digital signage advertising to be personal, in particular they want to see advertisements that are relevant to their activities and them as a person. One common request was the use of more facial recognition software, which is connected to an online loyalty account and activates a list of offers specific to their needs.

Click and collect systems

Nearly half (44 percent) of the 1000 participants felt that digital signage systems could offer click and collect services because they would certainly consider using them. Incorporating Bluetooth technology as part of the system would enable digital signage to identify a customer at the point of collection.

With the customer identified, their purchase jumps to the top of the queue, improving the service experience and boosting the likelihood of a customer remaining loyal to the retailer’s brand.

What content are consumers interested in?

A proportion of 18 to 34 year-olds questioned said they would be reluctant to download content from a digital signage display. However, they would be more inclined to do so if it was of any relevancy to them.

The content that most interested the majority of consumers in the 18 - 34 age bracket involved special deals, with 43 percent of research participants saying they would definitely download a retail voucher from a site accessed via a digital poster.

Content that entertains was also important, with 24 percent saying they would download an app or game. 27 percent within this age range said they would download travel information, while a quarter said content should provide information about things to do, eateries and attractions within their local vicinity.

For the youth market, specifically 18 to 24 year-olds, media services were of the utmost importance with 29 percent of this demographic saying they would download clips of upcoming films, TV shows, games or music to their phones if they'd viewed them on a digital screen.

Digital signage advertising empowers advertisers

What we can gauge from Kinetic Panel's research is that consumers across all demographics are already engaging with digital signage advertising, but not necessarily with content specific to them.

This research empowers the advertiser because it enables them to make their content more target specific to suit the demographic they’re aiming at. From just 1000 respondents, we can see that what consumers want from digital signage is varied, but they’re not impossible to reach.

Ultimately, despite the differences across the demographics, there are similarities. Consumers want content that's informative and relevant to them.

Image via Armagard.