Stop Focusing on the Channel: Content Is (Still) King

Focus on your content strategy above your channel strategy. This includes when discussing your marketing, your message, your branding, your impact, your overall effectiveness and your ROI.

Modern digital sign and content creators use Kitcast software to power their signs, and if you are not going to create your own program, then you should use a professional program like Kitcast too if you want to avoid the usual pitfalls of digital sign use.

 

Marketing

It should be content centric rather than channel centric. You should be focused on your product, service or content’s use/point, but your marketing should heavily lean towards being content centric. That is why modern adverts do not concentrate on the brand, they concentrate on the product. It is why modern digital signs in restaurants show images of the food and the service rather than the establishment and the staff.

 

Your Message

Embed your message in your content. It is pretty cut and dry in that regard. Just do not fall into the pitfall of embedding your message in your entire channel and your entire digital sign setup. For example, if your message is that your cars are safe, people don’t need to see that message when your digital signs are directing people to the bathroom or are telling people that they are next in the queue.

 

Branding

In some respects, your branding permeates everything your business does (if it is done correctly). For example, your digital sign that directs people to your bathrooms shouldn’t have your logo on it or offer up brand messages but should perhaps have your brand colors. It should also sit in line with your brand principles. For example, if you are running a clean-cut wholesome brand, then a dirty, poorly formatted or poorly maintained digital sign is very “Off message” in terms of branding.

 

Impact

This is where your digital signs and your content are in a world of their own. Your sign is what creates the impact. It stands out far more than a poster and is even more attractive than staff members. For example, people may look at what a digital sign is saying but may purposefully avoid a staff members who is vying for attention from passersby. The only piece of advice on this one is that you do not try to overwhelm your viewers with your content. There is a difference between getting attention carefully and cleverly and shouting for attention with flashy graphics and loud noises. 

 

Your Overall Effectiveness

When it comes to your long-term strategy, your channel is going to focus heavily on this. Your channel is a part of a larger whole. It is a section of the ambassador for your products, services and  brand. However, in the short term, and working towards the whole, your content should take priority. How effective your efforts are will often come together over the long term, ergo, you should be thinking about long-term content goals and strategies. The only downside to this long-term planning is that things often get changed around. You need to be flexible with regards to your content strategy because what is effective today may not be effective tomorrow, especially if you are working around modern trends.

 

ROI (Return on Investment)

The first piece of advice is that you actually invest real money into your content. Even if you are paying your own staff to do the job, you need to make an investment in creating high quality and effective content. This is tough and the ROI is changeable, but what is certain is that low-cost cheap content is often less effective. Do not run the risk of it having a counter effect. For example, do not run the risk of your clearly cheaply-made content scaring away potential customers. It would be like putting hand-drawn homeless people signs as posters and signs in a jewelry shop.