Technology is an indispensable tool for increasing business and growing brand awareness. However, just like any other tool, technology is only as good as the people using it.

When you are focused on an event and your goal is to grab the attention of potential customers you can put up the largest video screen there, but if you don’t bother to create effective, exciting content, the technology won’t have the positive impact you’re hoping for.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when creating content for their digital signage is not keeping it simple and readable. No matter what the goals are for your event signage, it needs to be easy on the eyes. In other words, readable. So no matter what your message always avoid trying to cram in too much information or too many images, and never put in too many font types or colors.

Tips for Creating Readable Digital Signage Content

• Know what distance from the sign the viewers will be standing and adjust your fonts accordingly.
• The copy and images should make it clear exactly how your products or services will help solve one of their problems or achieve something that is important to them.
• Be brief. Just because you can fit more into digital content than you can into print or traditional signage doesn’t mean you should.
• The images and videos you use need to support your message. In other words, they should have some purpose that ties into what you are saying.
• Make your content relevant to your audience.
• Group like concepts together.
• Use a call to action! Don’t be afraid to ask your viewers to do something. You’ve probably seen digital signage that gives you some information about a company but it never asks you do to anything. Make your call to action clear and concise.
• The most important parts of your message should be at the beginning and the end. People often remember the last thing they have seen.

Remember, going for high impact messaging during trade shows or other events requires well thought-out simplicity which makes everything easy to read.

One of the second biggest mistakes in creating digital signage is being boring. Keeping things simple and readable, does not mean you have to be boring. The core of your content absolutely needs to engage the viewer’s attention and cannot be overly repetitive, or they’ll just tune it out.

Tips for Creating Engaging Digital Signage Content

To help you create truly interesting content for your digital signage displays, here some ideas you can use.

• Utilize your PowerPoint or other presentations. Even if you don’t have tons of time to prepare your content, you can take some of your high-powered presentations and incorporate those into your digital signage.
• Put up announcements. These can be company announcements or, if you are exhibiting at an event, they can be special event-related announcements.
• Display local weather. Everyone wants to know what the outside weather is so this is both relevant and helpful.
• Use unique animations. Animations are always good for capturing attention and, if they have been designed specifically for your company and message, even better.
• Display web pages. If you have a particularly powerful and streamlined webpage that is relevant to the event, you can use that as part of your signage.
• Provide profiles and speaker bios. Like the weather, most event attendees want to know more about speakers when deciding which talks to attend. And often, they don’t want to read the fine print in the event booklets.
• Company value proposition. Pull quotes from press releases that highlight how your company benefits its customers.
• Provide a “how to” segment. This can be anything that relates to the attendees at that event.
• Loyalty program information. The more people can understand the benefits of being a customer the better.
• News clip feeds. Most people are interested in keeping up news outside of the event they are attending, so this can be viewed as a service you are providing.
• Transportation. Bus or shuttle schedules that can help attendees get to local attractions and restaurants can also be useful. And once event attendees know they can find that information at your signage they’ll pass the word along.
• Stream social media feeds. These can be all event related or company related, and even the feeds from some of the popular speakers.
• Share feedback. Show survey results from the event or presentations. Company testimonials are good to intersperse into your content.
• Health tips. Even if your company does not deal in health-related products or services, health tips are hot items.
• FAQs are always popular. You can provide FAQs and answers about your company, the event, or the surrounding area.
• Show menus. When you display local menus as part of your content, your signage can become the local gathering spot for people deciding where to eat their next meal. And this means you have more time to interact with more potential customers.
• Highlights. Event highlights are often a good attention getter.

Digital signage is insanely versatile. So why would you not want to take advantage of this versatility when creating your content?

A digital signage solution from SmartSource Rentals enables you to create and display not only your own engaging content, but also event information and messages from sponsors at your next event.