Content is recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing the digital out-of-home sector, yet problems with quality, affordability and availability have plagued the medium since its inception. Don Pierson – founder, president and COO of Flypaper Studio – takes a tour of the most serious pitfalls.
Content development is a passion of mine. I’m going on two decades of starting business in this space, and I’ve learned that there are a few major no-nos that haven’t changed. I’ve lived both sides of the client/provider relationship and have felt at first hand the frustrations of trying to create highly engaging content within the constraints imposed by budgets and time.
Because the digital-signage world is still young and the advent of highly-engaging Flash content even younger, there are many of us sinning out there without even knowing it. If we can’t solve the challenge of creating meaningful content that not only meets today’s standards but looks towards exceeding them, we’re essentially wasting time and money. It’s certainly never easy, and over time I’ve developed a list of the top sins committed when it comes to content creation.
Sin 1: poor quality
When time and budget are tight it’s often quality that gets sacrificed. Remember, today’s visual standard is broadcast television and film. Effective solutions must provide high-quality and visual impact, with no exceptions.
Sin 2: unavailability
Downtime is a killer. Dead air (or a dead screen) is like throwing money out the window for your customer. If you don’t have engaging, ever-changing, and perhaps even interactive content on the screen at all times, you are losing eyeballs and money.
Sin 3: choppy/broken display
Broken content is just as bad as dead air. If your content does not display correctly, no-one is going to pay attention. Reliable playout is a must. Flypaper relies on Flash as a proven delivery medium for this reason.
Sin 4: content fatigue
The digital-signage industry is especially at risk of this one. Content fatigue sets in quickly if the content is boring and repetitive. You need to constantly refresh the content your viewers see, and make it interactive whenever possible. Or vary your approach to creating your content. That way viewers don’t feel like they’re watching the same thing over and over and over and…
Sin 5: spending too much
Digital-signage content creation cannot be an expensive proposition any more, especially given the amount of content that needs to be created to meet the challenge of delivering fresh and updated material at all times. Meeting this need has always been in conflict with sin number one, providing quality content. Inexpensive always meant settling for inferior quality. (With Flypaper, though, you don’t have to settle any more.)
Sin 6: missing deadlines
Late delivery of new or updated content affects your reputation and your company’s. With digital signage, missing a fast deadline can mean lost sales and branding opportunities. Here’s another need that’s always been in conflict with providing quality content – rapid production also meant settling for inferior quality.
Sin 7: no measurable return on investment
Digital-signage content that is created for visual aesthetics without a purpose is good for the fine-art world, but does not work in business. If the results cannot be measured to provide a justifiable return on investment, you are setting yourself up to fail your clients. Analytics and measurement are the keys to business communications.
www.flypaper.com
