Digital Signage for outdoor use: common mistakes to avoid
In the past, communication was mainly through newspapers, leaflets, and television. Today, communication is everywhere. Smartphones, monitors, computers are just a few of the new media through which communication flows. Devices that are part of our daily lives and capture our attention. Therefore, if you decide to install a multimedia monitor or totem in a square to promote a business, it’s important to be mindful of not making mistakes that could nullify the investment made.
Every day, people are bombarded with thousands of pieces of information. Just think about the dozens of newsletters that arrive in your inbox every day or the screens that surround us when we step outside the office. So why should someone notice your business communication amidst this chaotic mix of images, videos, and sounds? Often, they don’t. Massive multimedia totems are barely noticed by passersby.
Why? Part of the blame can be attributed to the rush and hectic pace of our lives, but the remaining part is due to poor attention to the installation, maintenance, and content management of the displayed totem.
Preventing this from happening, thus nullifying thousands of euros of investment, is possible. Just follow some precautions and avoid common mistakes. Mistakes that may seem trivial but happen more frequently than you might think.
Continue reading to find out what they are.
6 mistakes to avoid for maximizing your outdoor multimedia totem
Below we’ve compiled the 6 most common errors in Digital Signage installations in outdoor environments:
- Choosing the location without carefully weighing up the pros and cons of the outdoor environment.
- Installing monitors and totems in an unstrategic location.
- Underestimating the importance of resolution, brightness and monitor size.
- Neglecting hardware maintenance and not protecting it adequately.
- Creating all-in-one content that is poorly maintained and not customised.
- Not realising a content strategy and not planning the publication of content.
1. Choosing the location without thoroughly evaluating the pros and cons of the outdoor environment.
One of the biggest mistakes in outdoor Digital Signage installation is not adequately considering the surrounding environment. Extreme weather conditions, such as rain, snow, intense sun, and varying temperatures, can negatively impact the display’s performance and its longevity. Ensuring you use totems and monitors specifically designed for outdoor use, with protections against water and dust, is the first step to prolonging your hardware’s lifespan and maintaining consistent performance even in the worst conditions.
2. Installing monitors and totems in poorly strategic locations.
It’s a hectic world. Choosing a wrong location could nullify months of effort. Indeed, placing totems or monitors in an area with poor visibility means no consideration from passersby, who in outdoor installations constitute the entirety of your audience. Busy passersby don’t have time to stop and consider whether what they see is interesting. If your monitor or totem isn’t visible, they’re unlikely to seek it out. We recommend avoiding:
- Low traffic areas
- Incorrect viewing angles
- Places with visual obstructions
Additionally, when choosing a location, you must consider the availability and quality of internet connectivity, the height at which to install the hardware, and the viewing angle. The reasons are obvious:
- A poor-quality internet connection or lack of one will create significant problems with updating content, playing videos and animations, and definitely damage the smoothness of any interactive experience you’ve planned for your installation. Whenever possible, opt for a wired connection or ensure excellent Wi-Fi reception.
- The height at which you place the hardware is crucial for effective communication. No one who is walking or in a hurry likes to squat or tiptoe to see what an interesting monitor or totem has to say. The risk of being ignored is high. Our advice is to choose a height that is comfortable for viewers but out of reach for vandals. In the case of touch experiences, remember that everyone must have access, including people with disabilities.
- The viewing angle is another aspect that requires extreme attention. The risk is making the content invisible to the public’s eyes. In outdoor locations, you also need to consider sunlight reflections and monitor size to adequately adjust tilt and rotation (where possible). To avoid these mistakes, it would be wise to: opt for LCD monitors rather than LED, as pixels are uniformly illuminated and often complemented by an anti-reflective treatment; check the specifications of the company from which you purchase the monitors and ensure there is a vertical viewing angle of at least 30°.
3. Underestimating the importance of monitor resolution, brightness, and size.
Outdoor Digital Signage must be readable and visible, especially from great distances. Choosing adequate brightness and resolution is the first step to achieving this. Low brightness and poor resolution give the impression that the display is turned off or damaged, especially if the totem is installed in a square in full sunlight. The solution? Opt for a high-brightness product (2500 – 5000 nits) to ensure that the Digital Signage content is visible even under direct light. Additionally, it’s always better to check for sensors for automatic brightness adjustment based on ambient light. This has two advantages: you avoid excessive electric consumption at times of the day when it’s not necessary and ensure that the monitor’s brightness is always optimal—neither too bright nor too dim.
4. Neglecting hardware maintenance and failing to adequately protect it.
Outdoor multimedia totems and monitors are the most exposed to any type of environmental and mechanical stress. Additionally, they are subject to potential acts of vandalism. Ignoring these risks can lead to costly damage, service interruptions, and in some cases, even the need to replace the display. These are extremely expensive consequences and require varying periods of service suspension. The good news is that you can prevent these unforeseen costs with some fairly simple measures:
- Use IP65 or IP56 certified displays.
- Verify the presence of a UV filter on the monitor panel.
- Regularly perform cleaning and inspection operations to check for damage.
- Regular software updates and periodic upgrades.
- Use steel enclosures resistant to water and dust. An armor that will protect the screen from any stress.
- Prefer monitors and enclosures with laminated glass to limit damage from vandals or accidental impacts.
- Ensure that there are fans and heaters so that the totem can withstand both high and low temperatures.
5. Creating poorly designed and non-personalized All-in-One content.
One of the good reasons to switch to Digital Signage is the replacement of paper with digital content. But here’s a secret: it’s not enough to convert the flyer you wanted to print into an image. In fact, you can do that, but if you’re looking for content that captures attention, we recommend leaving static content as a last resort, opting instead for videos, animations, and interactive experiences. Most Digital Signage systems offer a wide range of widgets and integrations with social media, weather services, and much more. Why limit Digital Signage to a static notice board? Additionally, dynamism keeps viewer engagement high and encourages the audience to learn more.
Another mistake to avoid is trying to create a single content piece suitable for everyone and any time of the year. First, because when the audience notices that the same content has been circulating on the totem for a while, they’ll stop watching it, and you’ll be wasting your money. Second, because the trend driving marketing in these years is personalization. The growing development of technologies like facial recognition, proximity sensors, and motion tracking confirms this trend. Therefore, it’s always worth spending a few extra hours creating custom content tailored to our main target audience and the time of year we’re in.
6. Not creating a content strategy and failing to plan content publication.
A content strategy and content planning are at the heart of any well-constructed communication. You can spend thousands of euros on hardware and software, but that’s not enough to achieve the goals you set out. Is the problem the totem or Digital Signage software you bought? No.
Often, communication goals are not set from the outset. You proceed on the fly, deciding the day before what to publish for the next day. This makes it difficult to have an overview of the path taken and the direction you’re heading. Consequently, it’s hard to understand what content to produce to improve campaign performance and which risks steering us off course.
Another common mistake is not facilitating the association of a well-designed and built content with the brand that created it. The users’ attention will be on the creativity, not on the company itself, which should be the main goal. Videos and images should not be mere exercises in style.
Equally damaging is improper use of CTAs. Using a vague CTA, not making it recognizable within the visual, or creating one that doesn’t generate engagement is equivalent to not using one at all. How to fix it? Use scannable QR codes, call-to-actions that encourage interaction with the totem, or involve passersby with some brief touch experience. This way, they’ll remember you, and there’s a good chance they’ll return to find you on their smartphone.
As you’ve understood by reading up to here, on one side it’s important to choose an outdoor hardware with potential appropriate to the context in which it will be inserted, as well as its regular maintenance to ensure it lasts as long as possible. On the other hand, a massive and imposing totem alone is not enough to capture passersby’s attention to messages and information. As always, there must be a systematic effort to align all components towards achieving the goals set in the briefing phase. And if this hasn’t been done, the best thing to do is to get feedback and data collected so far, take stock, and start over with clearer ideas.