Digital Signage Gives Marketers Another Tool

CUNA’s E-Scan online portal
November 8, 2010 | COMMENTS

It’s not easy being a marketer, particularly in the financial services industry. Effective marketing calls for varied messages at multiple consumer touch points. Regardless of communication channel, your message should be consistent, and it should be refreshed frequently.

The realities of today’s economic climate force many credit unions to do more with fewer staff, and it’s not uncommon for a single marketing person to have to manage all point-of-contact communications.

Nothing seems to cause greater heartburn among financial-service marketers than digital signage, according to Bancology. Often called “flat screens,” they’ve been the darlings of the retail world for several years as they encompass a dynamic package of message, motion, branding, and promotion.

Digital signage sells product, reduces perceived wait time, entertains, educates, and—if done correctly—endears your brand to the viewer. Successful digital signage includes several critical components: placement, size, scheduling, zoned messaging, and content.

Placement and size are addressed by performing a physical audit of your facilities, as each location presents its own set of circumstances. Typically, financial institutions look for help from a digital merchandising provider to make sure the investment in a point-of-sale network will pay dividends.

In the battle for your members’ minds and attention while they visit your facility, what’s actually seen on screen is perhaps the most critical ingredient.

Providing fresh, engaging content is always a challenge. Bancology calls it “feeding the monster,” and it has a voracious appetite. Don’t assign content design to a PowerPoint expert. The visuals should be of broadcast-television quality. At the very least, incorporate Flash animation and, ideally, introduce video elements into the mix.

As for the messages themselves, John Mathes, Bancology’s director of brand strategy, offers basic tips and insights in crafting messages that resonate and motivate, in the following categories:

Use the brand filter. All messages need to reflect the brand positioning of the organization, including adoption of the established personality and tone.

• Images and words should follow previously approved brand standards. Messages need consistency and continuity with the brand as well as with other communication vehicles.
• Avoid syndicated content that your competitors might be running. Instead, contact direct-feed suppliers to purchase financial news, national news, and local weather that you can brand as your own.

Keep it simple. All point-of-sale advertising, including digital signage, should follow the rules of effective outdoor advertising.

• For copy, keep messages in a series of five words or less. (Mathes calls these “brand bytes.”) Copy should be clear, concise, relevant, and motivating.
• Be repetitive, as your viewers will engage with the message at different points in the run cycle.
• Keep in mind that time is your enemy. The longer it takes viewers to make sense of your message, the less chance they’ll be able to read and understand the whole thing.

Think eye candy for the branch. Effective visual engagement involves the 3 Rs: readability, recognition, and recall.

• For readability, remember what to avoid: multiple fonts, ornate fonts, blocks of copy, and the overuse of different colors.
• Recognition comes from large type—at least 70 pixels tall—and from contrast rather than specific colors.
• Recall for your branding means keeping your logo on screen, just like television networks. Video and flash animation provide dynamic and eye-catching messages.

More than 70% of the U.S. population — or 181 million people —viewed a digital sign display out of home in the past month, according to a recent Arbitron study.