The month of September marks the welcoming of a new season. In my home state of Minnesota the temperatures and leaves drop, kids return to school, and activities shift to conclude the buzz of summer. Communities start to experience a fresh breath of life.
All around, the impact of changing seasons is felt. Offices bustle with children back in class. High school graduates take their first steps onto a college campus. Flights are booked to different places in celebration of birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones.
Scattered throughout these venues to accommodate folks moving through, you can typically find digital signage displays. As wayfinding, welcome messages, and more are shown, there is another content strategy that should be included.
Incorporation of community-based digital signage content effortlessly adds relevance and value to all kinds of places. Let's explore this a bit more.
We carefully curate positive experiences in a space with human interactions, decorations and ambiance, even scents and lighting. Digital displays and the content shown on them play an equally important role, so that content should be planned accordingly.
The heart of a successful digital signage content strategy should always be based on the experience you’re aiming to create. Successful execution leaves people with an emotional connection to a venue and a desire to return.
Here are a few examples to inspire you to plan the perfect audience experience using localized digital signage content.
Approximately 30% of students attend a college out of state state. For some, it’s the first time leaving home, generating excitement—and perhaps some unease.
Local weather, traffic, and health indices are simple ways to get them acclimated to the city around them. How often does it rain? When can they zip back to their apartment without traffic and settle into a new favorite Netflix show? What allergens float in the air on any given day?
Community events happening around the area also create easy opportunities to get involved and feel included. Recommending favorite local restaurants or parks will introduce them to their new go-to takeout meal or relaxation spot.
These can all be displayed on-screen to create an experience they look forward to returning to for their next college year.
It’s the first week of school. A parent has three kids, all on different buses. Each needs a lunch, one is missing their shoes, and the other insists on packing their bag themselves.
Once bus boarding is successful, the commute to work begins—and so did road construction on that one main stretch. Finally, it’s realized that, amidst the morning shuffle, the parent's own lunch was forgotten in the fridge at home.
It’s easy to imagine the convenience created by displaying highly-rated restaurants around the area in the conference room of the late-morning meeting. Just in time to make a (now) easy lunch decision.
Traffic map colors will indicate if that construction is paused for the afternoon, or if certain roads should be avoided from a traffic forecast. A short, welcomed distraction was also served when they were able to catch the final score and stat highlights from last night’s football game.
The stress of a once-chaotic day tapers with the help of digital displays around the office.
When travelers spend money on a trip, the stakes are automatically raised to provide a memorable and comfortable experience for them. While a beach or a mountain may be the initial draw to a new city, people on the go will be looking for other memories to bring home, too.
Use screens to create the feeling of a friendly neighbor cluing someone in to local gems like the best spot to grab a cocktail, or the live band that can’t be missed.
Upon returning home, travelers won’t leave their vacation only raving about the sunsets and views. They’ll also reminisce on finding the best shopping, food, and local flair they were recommended and immersed in.
As digital signage content aficionados, Screenfeed found inspiration this year in creating more content options that support experiences similar to those detailed in this post.
We've launched a brand-new content option called Local Favorites, a perfect pairing to Community Events introduced back in March. They follow up some of our most popular other local options like weather, sports, traffic, pollen, air quality and UV index, and more.
Local Favorites grants access to 20+ categories of top-rated restaurants, parks, services and more in different areas globally.
Watch this video to learn more, or visit the Local Favorites Page to subscribe and get started:
The invite is always open to reach out and discuss content strategy. Send an email to connections@screenfeed.com, I’d love to chat about goals to create meaningful experiences with your audiences with the use of your digital signage content and displays.
