Digital marketing and advertising technologies will soon be a mandatory component in every marketing strategy. Businesses that don’t adopt digital advertising methods will soon watch their customers buy from the competition.
If you’re already using digital advertising technology, you’re moving in the right direction. However, it’s not enough to embrace the tech – you have to use it correctly. If you’re not getting an increasing amount of customer engagement from your digital efforts, the following tips will help.
1. Optimize your digital content as if it were a print ad
While digital ads are automatically more engaging than print ads, they need to be optimized to reach your target audience. You can’t just blast a ten-minute video and expect people to watch the whole thing just because it catches their attention. To retain attention, you’ve got to show a clip that’s meaningful to your audience.
Catching attention is easy. Retaining that attention, however, requires work. To retain attention, put a concentrated effort into targeting your audience with your digital ads, especially when you’re using digital signage to display influential messages. If you’re using a digital signage vendor like Visix, you’ll have access to all the resources you need to put together a compelling ad display. All you need to do is implement your marketing expertise.
2. Utilize templates as much as possible for digital ads
Wanting every ad custom designed from scratch sounds good, but it’s not budget-friendly. If you want high-quality custom ad formats, you need a professional graphic designer. However, highly skilled designers can be expensive.
Trying to make your own graphics isn’t a good idea. You might end up with low-resolution images that can’t be displayed on bigger screens without major pixelation.
Templates solve all of these problems. The good news is you may not need to find templates outside of your digital signage vendor. Most companies provide hundreds and even thousands of customizable templates for just about every occasion you can think of. Whether you’re broadcasting a countdown, the latest stock information, or messages to influence a purchase, there’s a template for your needs.
3. Optimize your digital ad placement
Where you place your digital ads matters. For ads online, your platform is part of your placement. For example, you can run ads on Instagram and Facebook, but depending on your target demographics, Instagram might not be the best platform to run ads for your industry.
For digital ads displayed on monitors, the physical location of your ad matters. For instance, it makes the most sense to run ads on a monitor located in the same area as the product you’re advertising.
If you’re running ads on digital highway billboards, you should drive by the location to make sure it’s visible from the road. During fall, you should double-check that bushes and trees aren’t obstructing the billboard.
4. Utilize the right text-to-image ratio
Humans perceive messages more effectively with imagery present rather than plain text. Studies have shown that 65% of people are visual learners, and that’s why people process information faster when it’s presented as an image.
You’ve probably seen a few bad restaurant menus that are hard to read because there are no pictures. The menus that have pictures are considered easier to read.
Avoid using too much text. Your digital ads should use a similar text-to-image ratio as a PowerPoint presentation. More graphics, less words. Text in advertising follows the same general rules for what makes infographics effective.
5. Invest in touchscreens
A great way to increase engagement is to use touchscreens with ads that ask people to engage with the screen. If you haven’t already, get a touchscreen display to experiment with and see how people in your industry respond. If you don’t want to invest in a large screen, you can use an iPad – many advertisers already use tablets to engage customers.
Interacting with a touchscreen creates a connection between the customer and the brand. When a customer physically interacts with a device or product, they form a slight attachment. If you can get a customer to enjoy your product while they’re engaging with it (even virtually), you’re much closer to a sale.
Driving customer engagement is easier with digital tech
Thanks to digital technology, driving customers to engage with a brand is easier than ever. While there will always be a place for print ads, digital ad technology drives more engagement and is a game changer for profitability.
