Smooth transitions, uninterrupted display, and consistent delivery are words you’d use to describe digital signage scheduling, and consumers love that. But as the digital signage owner, how well can you work that scheduling feature in your CMS portal? It's more than just setting a start and end time.
You need to understand your audience, using data analytics, and master the nuances of your chosen digital signage software. Here, we’re going to show you how to achieve all of that.
What is Digital Signage Scheduling?
Digital signage scheduling involves automating the content delivery to your digital displays so that the right message is shown at the right time to maximize impact. This is done by creating playlists of content (images, videos, text) and assigning them to specific screens or groups of screens. Schedules can be set to run at certain times of day, days of the week, or even trigger based on real-time events such as weather or social media trends.
Importance of Effective Scheduling for Digital Signage
Effective scheduling is the backbone of a successful digital signage strategy. It ensures your content is relevant, timely, and engaging for your target audience. Strategic scheduling will maximize the impact of your messages and prevent information overload or your displays from becoming stale or repetitive.
Look DS Scheduling Tool
Look Content Manager has a scheduling tool that enables you to set the time your content will be shown on your digital signs. Once you have created your schedule, you can assign it to one or more screens.
Schedule by Day of the Week
You can set a weekly schedule and assign it to specific screens or screen groups.
To do this,
- Go to the Schedule tab.
- Click on Add Schedule.
- Give your schedule a name and select the days of the week on which you want it to run.
- Click Add Playlist. This will show a list of playlists at the right side panel, so you ought to have created your playlists before trying to schedule.
- After selecting your playlist, click Add Time. You’ll be able to set the start and end times and add a layout if you desire.
- You can also delete or duplicate the schedule at the bottom of the settings menu.
- To complete, click Save Schedule.
Schedule Within the Day
Within each day of the schedule, you can break the day down into time slots to ensure your content is as targeted as possible. Just follow these steps:
- Create a new schedule and name it. Select the day of the week you want the content to run and click Add Daily Schedule.
- Click Add Playlist and select from the list on the side panel.
- Specify the duration of the display.
- Click Save and you’re good to go.
Repeat steps 3-4 to add more events to your schedule.
Calendar Scheduling
Use the mini weekly calendar in the right side panel to quickly remove or assign a daily schedule to specific days of the week. Below the calendar, you can assign a layout to a daily schedule, which will be applied to all playlists within that schedule.
Length of One Content Unit
At Look DS, we don’t specify the length of content units, but we recommend keeping them relatively short to maintain viewer interest. It is important to note that Look supports custom durations for all content types except video.
Screenshot feature
The screenshot feature in Look DS is remote management at its best because you capture and review the content being displayed on your screens from anywhere. This is incredibly useful for troubleshooting display issues, verifying the accuracy of your content, and making sure that your scheduled content is playing correctly at the intended time.
How it works:
- Navigate to the Screen settings within the Look CMS.
- Click on the Screenshot button to capture a real-time image of what's currently displayed on the screen.
- All captured screenshots are displayed in a list within the CMS. You can download or delete them as needed.
- You can set up automated screenshots for specific times throughout the day.
Tips for Effective Digital Signage Scheduling
Know Your Audience
Tip: Tailor content to fit the viewing habits and preferences of your target audience.
You can gain demographic information simply by observing traffic patterns and dwell times. But there are also more sophisticated approaches that use technology and analytics to go much deeper.
And of course, you can include interactive content like polls or quizzes that ask for feedback and provide valuable insight into your audience.
Leverage Data Analytics
Tip: Use data to understand peak viewing times and content effectiveness.
Your signage CMS and internal feedback mechanisms such as polls are your first data sources. If you want to dig much deeper, integrate your signage with third-party tools such as Google Analytics, POS systems, or social media analytics to inform your scheduling patterns.
Data combinations from various sources result in a holistic view of your audience and their interactions with your signage so you can schedule your most important or relevant content during peak times for maximum impact.
Mix Content Types
Tip: Balance informational, promotional, and entertainment content to keep the audience engaged.
To prevent viewer fatigue and maintain a high level of engagement, display a well-balanced mix of informational, promotional, and entertainment content in your digital signage schedule. If you have a bigger screen, you can create layouts with different content types that can cater to diverse interests at the same time.
Plan for Special Events and Campaigns
Tip: Schedule content around holidays, sales, and special events to maximize impact.
There’s no reason you should be racing with the clock to keep your signage content in sync with major holidays, events, or campaigns. Within Look CMS, you can customize templates specific to your campaign, create playlists, and schedule them for display well in advance.
Test and Adjust
Tip: Regularly review and adjust your schedule based on performance metrics.
Treat your digital signage schedule as a living document by regularly reviewing and adjusting it based on performance metrics. Key indicators such as audience engagement, dwell time, and content performance will pinpoint what's working and what's not. Experiment with different scheduling patterns, content combinations, and display layouts to find the best mix for your audience. Don't be afraid to make adjustments based on real-time feedback and changing trends.
Tricks to Maximize Your Digital Signage Impact
Use Dynamic Content
Trick: Incorporate real-time updates and interactive elements to enhance engagement.
Real-time data creates urgency and relevance with your audience. You can generate greater engagement by using real-time data feeds as the content backdrop on your digital displays. This could be anything from news headlines and weather updates to social media trends.
Interactivity and engagement go hand in hand with signage content. Consumers love to be a part of your brand story by actively participating. You can achieve this through gamification, QR codes, and social media walls.
Optimize Visuals
Trick: Ensure your content is visually appealing and easy to read from a distance.
Your signage content is supposed to be eye candy to your audience, so high-quality, eye-catching visuals are a must. High-resolution images and videos optimized for the screen size and display resolution will do the trick.
Ensure text is large enough to be easily read from a distance and choose fonts that are clear and legible. Use contrasting colors to make your content pop and avoid cluttered designs that can be overwhelming.
Keep Content Fresh
Trick: Regularly update your content to avoid viewer fatigue.
Viewers easily get accustomed to seeing the same content, and they tune it out. That’s why general guidelines suggest that:
Short Messages/Images: 5-10 seconds
Videos: 15-30 seconds
Complex Information/Promotions: Up to 60 seconds
But this greatly depends on the location and audience and it doesn’t necessarily mean creating entirely new content every time. You can refresh existing content by updating statistics, changing layouts, or adding new elements.
Utilize Playlists
Trick: Create playlists to organize and rotate content efficiently.
When it comes to content scheduling, playlists are your best friend. They help you stay on top of content delivery by bundling up relevant content items and playing them in a specific sequence or at designated times. This translates to smooth playback and prevents viewers from seeing the same content repeatedly.
Best Practices for Digital Signage Scheduling
Maintain a Content Library
Best Practice: Keep a repository of ready-to-use content to streamline scheduling.
Supposing you’re at a point where you understand the traffic patterns of your audience and their content preferences, a well-organized signage content library is a lifesaver.
Your repository should include a content types variety categorized by topic, season, or target audience. When the time comes, it’ll be so much easier to find and schedule appropriate items for specific campaigns or events.
Align Content with Business Goals
Best Practice: Ensure your content supports your overall marketing and business objectives.
Where most digital signage goes wrong is forgetting to align the content with business objectives. Yes, eye-catching visuals and entertaining content will capture attention, but they won’t necessarily drive results if they don’t serve a clear purpose. For example, a retail store should promote its products with a clear and prominent call to action to drive sales. A hospital, on the other hand, might display patient testimonials to build trust and credibility.
Monitor and Evaluate Performance
Best Practice: Continuously monitor your digital signage performance and make data-driven adjustments.
If you set your schedule and forget it, it defeats the entire purpose to begin with. That’s why at Look, we give you the power to improve your signage delivery through continuous adjustments. If you create QR codes on the Look portal, it’s possible to use Google Analytics to track web traffic originating from your QR codes.
There are also API integration capabilities you can set up with your POS system to help you correlate sales data with specific display content, among others. With the help of this data, you can identify trends, optimize your playlists, and make informed decisions about future content updates.
Conclusion
There’s more to digital signage scheduling than getting the content on screen. You need to target your audience at the right time so that they can view the content when they are most receptive.
Look CMS is a digital signage tool that can help you achieve all this and more. It allows you to easily create, edit, and manage your digital signage playlists without any hassle and deploy them to specific screens. Sign up today for a 14-day free trial of Look DS and see how easily scheduling can boost your brand communication and engagement.
