Scheduled digital signage content is most effective by being on-time. By ‘on-time’ content, we mean scheduled content such as videos, promotional items, ideas, and images. Nothing is better than having catered content served up to your customers at the perfect time. Ah, sheer bliss. You know your hard work has paid off at this point. Users are engaged, presenters benefit, and your brand image skyrockets.

But how do you get there? Maybe it’s easier than it sounds. Here’s what we’ve learned over time as we’ve scheduled content out.

The location determines the timing.

Where is your screen located? If it’s located in a university hallway, consider displaying information for classes, announcements, or maps at key times during the day. If you want your screen to be useful, make sure that it’s timed to fit a need of your user. Students may need to be able to see upcoming events during break times from classes. New visitors to a hospital might need maps available to look at. Anyone from potential customers, new visitors, or loyal fans, can be your user.

Keep content relevant and up to date.

There’s nothing worse than Christmas banners and events still showing up on a hallway screen in February. Remember to update your content at least once a month. Your users will see the signage as a reliable source of information for this frequency. Plus, they’ll keep coming back to check for events or information that might appeal to them.

Time multiple regions on one screen to match up thematically.

Use this to your advantage! You may have one screen that can play videos, and show promotional information at the same time. You might even have a ticker at the bottom to show additional feeds. Theming each region to match up with one promotion, can create an additional ‘wow’ factor for your viewer.

Content doesn’t need to play for 24 hours a day.

Lastly, we recommend leaving the screen off for an hour or two every night when there aren’t any people around. This helps give the screen a break and prevent content burn-in from damaging the screen. So feel free to turn off the screen for a little while. Your hardware will thank you (and possibly your IT team as well).

Keep scheduled digital signage content relevant for the viewer, practical for the time, and simple for the user.