WE’VE ALL SEEN digital signage displays that have been running the same tired content for weeks, or even months, on end. Obviously, this doesn’t produce a good return on investment, nor is it an effective way to help your customers promote their products and services, tell their stories, and engage their audiences. Savvy organizations are aware of this, and are increasingly incorporating livestreaming into their digital signage content plans to keep their displays fresh. Savvy channel pros have an opportunity to capitalize on this trend by helping customers do just that.
Jason Ault, COO of Coffman Media, a digital signage solutions designer and integrator headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, explains that organizations are using their digital signage systems to broadcast live content such as keynote speakers, religious services, sporting events, and more. For example, food vendors in stadiums often integrate displays to livestream what is taking place on the field so that fans won’t miss anything while waiting in line.
Organizations operating on a hybrid work model can use signage to display Zoom meetings companywide, while delivering that same content to employees who are working off-site, Ault adds. “Especially in the work-from-home setting, a lot of content management software is able to deliver the same experience that people were getting in the building on their home screen––whether it’s on their tablet, their PC, or their mobile device,” he says.
Jason Ault
Another use of livestreaming is personalization. For instance, using Navori Labs‘ QL platform in conjunction with its camera-based, AI-enhanced Aquaji solution, companies can livestream individualized content to those passing by digital signage displays. In a retail setting, cameras that identify a woman of approximately 35 years entering the store could trigger advertisements on skirts or ladies’ footwear.
Jordan Feil, marketing director at Navori, compares this experience to the personalized messaging people receive whenever they access the internet. “The days of simply creating a generic loop or content playlist and running it for a year straight without changing anything are going to start to become less and less relevant,” he says.
The technology can also gather data on where customers are spending the most time, what merchandise is receiving the most attention, and how long people are waiting to be served. “All of this data can be used to optimize your business and optimize how your physical space is run,” Feil adds.
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While public venues such as sports stadiums and houses of worship require complex infrastructure to support livestreaming signage––including a video switcher and multiple cameras––smaller organizations can achieve the desired results with a simpler system, according to Ault. “It does require a little bit of expertise if you have more of a complex, professional setup, but there are also plug-and-play [solutions] for the average business, or for someone who doesn’t want to invest heavily in hardware,” he says. A K-12 public school system that wants to broadcast a baseball game on its digital signage network, for example, can leverage user-friendly services such as BoxCast or Livestream.
That said, Ault notes, integrators should help clients choose the right codec to encode and decode their streams prior to investing in digital signage equipment. “Not all media players accept all codecs, so we want to understand whether they’re using YouTube, BoxCast, or another solution so then we can reverse-engineer the hardware selection,” he explains.
For Ault, livestreaming offers organizations in a multitude of industries another way of attracting additional eyeballs to their digital signage displays—one that can be more effective than running static content. “The biggest driver behind digital signage is [drawing] attention to your screens, and livestreaming can be that mechanism,” he says.
Image: Courtesy of Navori Labs
