A Swift Guide for Delivering Effective Digital Signage Calls To Action

It's a given that digital signage should provide valuable information to staff, customers, or the general public. It should aim to do so in an engaging and interesting way. There is a vital third success element in most, if not all, cases.

That's to provide an effective call to action (CTA); making it clear how you want those viewing the content to act, why they should take that action, and how to do so. Sadly, our truDigital signage team often see examples where this doesn't happen. This is like delivering an effective sales presentation to a client - and then neglecting to ask for the order!

Understanding what the CTA needs to achieve

Appreciating the key purpose of the call to action is a clear starting point. To achieve this, considerations start with understanding the audience for the digital signage, what they need to know, how they expect to be spoken to, how best you can persuade them to take the action you wish. Consider the benefits viewers might wish to gain, problems they would be keen to avoid, questions they would want to be answered.

It's also vital to know whether the CTA content needs to be amended for different times of day, days of the week, or throughout the time period covered. Audiences might vary throughout, therefore amended messages help keep the CTA fully relevant. Thankfully, using a cloud-based management digital signage content management process makes this flexibility so much easier to achieve.

With these aspects clear in your mind, you can now consider the actual content presentation.

Make effective use of language

Use vivid, persuasive, action-requesting language. Keep it simple and active - verbs and nouns rather than superbly crafted but ultimately attention-diminishing adjectives! The language used might also alter when you need to reach different age or social groupings in a variety of locations and times. Seek out and use words which can act as an 'instant trigger' for the action you need taken and to the people you're reaching.

Key tips for delivering effective digital signage calls to action

Your aim is to make it as easy as possible for digital signage viewers to understand exactly what they need to do, and where, and when. These tips will help:

- Ensure it is clearly visible - both through screen positioning and then that it's not lost amongst a wealth of graphics, images, text content or any other bells or whistles.

- Make it clear, specific, and as concise as possible - so it can be fully and quickly understood. Consider inviting viewers to take a picture of the screen for reference or add a Twitter #hashtag as an instant aid as they take such action.

- Show how the requested action is easy to take; but that it's also urgent (consider adding time limits, limited product or audience capacity numbers). Using words such as 'now' - 'hurry' - 'before' can also add immediacy.

- Offer some kind of reward for swift action - perhaps a 'win' of some kind or a freebie for fast response.

Crafting and measuring effective CTA

Our truDigital signage specialists, here in Sandy, Utah, are happy to answer any questions about both the creation of effective calls to action and how to measure ROI to help maximize their efficiency. For an obligation-free consult, please call us on 1-801-852-9898...