We’ve all seen lazy digital signage in our lives. Most often, it’s at the mall. You see digital signage that could capture your attention, but all that’s posted on the screen is the exact same image that was on a traditional billboard in the food court.
Why? Why just recycle static images on your digital signage? It wastes the unique opportunity digital signage provides to focus on active, engaging, and even interactive elements.
How and When to Use Static Images
The excitement of digital signage rests in its ability to show movement and change. Take that away and you just have a billboard. You can use static images and ads, but don’t make these the focus. Use these as interstitial breaks between more active content. If you have 30 seconds of movement, you can pop a static image in there for 5 or 10 seconds to serve as a dividing line between it and the next 30 seconds of movement. Don’t make static images the focus. If you must use them, use them as boundaries for the priority content.
Why You Should Avoid Static Images
When static images also found on billboards are shown on your digital signage, people lose interest in the sign. Not only this, but if they’re familiar with the location, you’ll be training them to ignore the sign – even later when you have more active content.
If it’s not a main display – such as a bathroom display – you’ll still want to avoid purely static images. You can always add an effect on a static image to capture people’s attention. It doesn’t need to be visually loud, it just needs to imply movement or change in the image.
Interactive Content
There’s also an opportunity here for interactive content for digital signage. This can be used to help customers find directions, or to offer children (and let’s face it, adults) a brief game. There’s a lot more you can do with interactive content for digital signage that you may not have tapped into yet.