Projection is lending itself to impactful, informative signage without limitations.
Now more than ever, digital signage is reinventing the customer experience in retail shops, restaurants, hotel lobbies and other commercial environments. By combining creative minds with the cutting-edge technology available today, more businesses have started to make the switch to digital signage and, thus, change the way they market to and communicate with customers.
Retail and hospitality are competitive industries and, already, they’re challenged when it comes to gaining and retaining consumers. The unforeseen novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in a new world of social-distancing requirements, has just added to that. Right now, digital signage has become more critical than ever amid this need for engaging and informative displays that do not require physical touch. Consumer habits are adapting to new forms of brand interaction, and business owners are looking for the best, most effective tools to communicate with customers. There is a drive to create personalized experiences; these might entail instantly updatable content requiring just the push of a button, or they might require only a viewer’s presense to adapt and deliver timely, relevant messaging.
This is an important time in the digital-signage industry. Technology advancements are on the rise, tackling everything from small product mapping to much larger applications. Right now, new hardware and software solutions are making it more achievable to create unique experiences, and they’re making those experiences more accessible. For business owners who want to integrate experiential signage into their customers’ journey, projection is a powerful tool that can optimize existing spaces and offer equal software support for creating and managing content, without being bound by a physical frame.
As today’s restaurants, hotels and retail shops collectively shift strategies and embrace a “new normal,” visual storytellers and everyday individuals alike are turning to digital signage. The good news is that advancements in projection, software and other technologies are making it easier and more affordable to create inspiring, timely and informative experiences.
What follows are four ways in which projection technology can help small and large business owners efficiently enhance customer experiences and better connect with consumers today and in the future:
1. Changing Spaces Without Limitations: Projection enables users to change a space or object instantly by adding a layer of content, without being limited to a permanent installation or specific display shape. Available in different shapes, sizes and colors, projectors can blend into virtually any environment; what’s more, unlike other signage solutions, they aren’t limited to one location or restricted on content form and shape. When retail shops are empowered to adjust the projected display size, color and content, they can take a simple T-shirt display and flip it to illuminate an entire wall, and then direct that same projector toward the floor to provide information to keep visitors safe. With flexible content delivery and portability, users can also move projectors from one spot to another and adjust the content to suit the surrounding environment and consumers’ needs.
2. Touchless, Interactive Technologies: With people continuing to do their part to stay safe and maintain social distance, contactless technology is on the rise. Projection can deliver unique, interactive experiences—everything from immersive outdoor dining to environments that sense a customer’s presence and shift content to meet his or her needs—without requiring physical touch. Digital projection displays, coupled with digital artists and all-inone solution providers, allow consumers to interact with brands via voice, motion and mobile, all while avoiding close-up interactions. Additionally, when empowered to project extra-large images, business owners can deliver impactful and informative content that’s easy to read from virtually anywhere in the room, or even from outside. Whether organizations want to captivate passersby with a new window display or deliver an interactive sidewalk illumination, utilizing projection can help shed some light on today’s customer journey—and it doesn’t require getting up close and personal.
3. Engagement With User-Friendly Creativity: Engagement drives growth, and experiences drive engagement. Finding new ways to create engaging content to
drive conversions is more important than ever, especially given that there’s no denying diminished in-person foot traffic. Although business owners understand the importance of creating engaging experiences, many have questions of cost, maintenance, time and operational efficiency at top of mind. Understanding this, and knowing that most business owners are not AV experts, projection manufacturers are developing solutions that include user-friendly projectionmapping and edge-blending tools, while also incorporating content-management software. This offers additional creative freedom and enables easier content delivery, even on curved or irregular surfaces. With the ready availability of creative tools and remote-management capabilities, today’s projection solutions make it easier and more affordable to create and adjust dynamic content, without having to touch the product.
4. Automatic Targeting: Advancements in customer targeting continue to change the way that people interact with brands and products. An online product search leads to a mobile phone ping, which, ultimately, leads a consumer to an in-store experience. This is where projection technology can take over, delivering timely messaging every step of the way. This is especially important because that final in-store experience will ultimately drive or ditch the sale. Projection tools allow companies to shift content automatically and meet a particular individual’s product needs on the spot, rather than driving that customer in the wrong direction or, worse yet, back out the door.
The power to create experiences need not be limited to a physical frame. Projection allows creative minds and business owners to take an ordinary space or object—even a window—and evolve it into something eye-catching. This drives increased engagement, improved communication and, ultimately, better conversion rates. Offering flexible illumination and the ability to project onto almost any surface confidently, projection is unlike any other display technology. It’s worth considering if you want to deliver impactful customer interactions and experiences.
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