Harnessing The Power of AI to Revolutionize Digital Signage Engagement

While signage has remained consistent regarding purpose, the new age of digital technologies has given birth to "digital signage." Times Square in New York City is one of the most impressive and impactful uses of digital and electronic displays to show off a wide range of media content. Whether news updates, entertainment content, or advertisements, these LED, LCD, and OLED screens are ingrained aspects of stadium events, airports, and the rest of the modern human experience. Consequently, with its mass usage and the shortening attention span of a generation, content for these signs has become more difficult to make and ensure its feasibility.

On top of the difficulties with determining whether an ad campaign is effective or whether the information displayed is being absorbed as intended, the security of this technology is a concern. These digital displays have been known to be hijacked to show illicit content, and while these instances may not be high in frequency, the sheer amount of these signs justifies the concern. Interestingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a versatile and crucial tool to address the challenges of using this technology and improve it as a whole – allowing for various industries like retail, transportation, and entertainment, among others, to thrive.

Leveling Up Content Draw

Traditional advertisement and information delivery have come a long way, and with the nature of our contemporary lives being that of constant change and updates, digital signage represents a way to keep up with these changes and provide engrossing multimedia content for consumers. This technology can integrate animations, videos, and other forms of interactive content seamlessly within their displays over a network, allowing for the content to be versatile and appropriate for the desired audience and the ability to be scheduled ahead of time or display real-time updates. Consequently, the issues that arise from this advancement have to do primarily with the content itself, managing it and the audience reception, and ensuring the security and scalability of the network.

On a foundational level, digital signage is the result of digital screens displaying content relevant to a marketing campaign through the use of PCs to run it. Digging deeper, you will find the slightly more involved Content Management System (CMS). Companies leverage CMSs to schedule and manage content delivery while allowing users to upload and organize said content.

With a conceptually simple innovation like this, the solution to its issues is surprisingly complex. Artificial Intelligence serves as the tool that can aid in personalizing content, analyzing data derived from facial recognition software and hardware, and even automating content management, among other impressive features. Personalization, a seemingly gargantuan undertaking when looking at consistently changing environments like the aforementioned Times Square, can be achieved with AI. This is done through custom AI developed to analyze audience behavior and demographics in real-time and change the content displayed to correspond with the viewer's gender, age, and interests. Taking it a step further, these AI-driven algorithms can also use other datasets regarding content performance to track what content is most effective at different times of the day and automatically adjust the playlists accordingly. Plus, with this analytical strength, companies can derive valuable impactful and data-driven decisions for their marketing strategies.

Another layer of digital signage and our current reality is the interactivity. People enjoy being part of something, and this is something many companies know and use to make their marketing more effective. Consequently, Artificial Intelligence can improve this aspect further thanks to advanced gesture recognition, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning-driven chatbots. However, not only can these features be used to create more dynamic experiences, but they can be utilized to bolster security. AI can identify anomalies within networks that could be unauthorized access or become content hijacking and be able to respond in real time.

While digital signage is primarily used for marketing and information-sharing purposes within industries like retail, hospitality, restaurant and food services, entertainment, and transportation, other facets like healthcare, education, and public institutions can use it for more. Within education, AI-driven digital signage can help students and visitors navigate their campuses with interactive maps, provide personalized and action-oriented learning experiences, aid with student services like admissions and financial aid, and deliver important announcements like class cancellations or emergency communications. Healthcare can use digital signage in a similar way, but they differentiate themselves with remote consultation and hospital wayfinding, among other industry-specific use cases. As for public institutions, unique usage lies in interactive voting and delivering emergency notifications regarding natural disasters, public safety threats, or other emergencies.

Continuing the Flow of Technology

While the past of static marketing and messaging is still present today, as a society, we've made significant strides in evolving this aspect of the human experience. The way we consume and interact with content and information has taken a turn toward fluidity and being ever-changing. As a result, companies of all sizes are fighting for an audience's limited attention. With that battle and inherent challenges that are brought on by the technology itself, AI-powered digital signage can lead to impressive benefits and outcomes for consumers and businesses alike. Experienced software developers understand this and can be integral to successfully utilizing these systems.

Whether it'd be to achieve an unseen level of personalization, enhance the engagement and interaction with the content, improve the efficiency of established CMSs, or deliver valuable insights on content consumption and performance, advanced digital signage software can be the difference between your desired audience consuming your product and message or drowning in a sea of content.