This post is a recap of the first session I attended at CETW. This panel included Brian Ardinger, David Weinfeld & Janet Webster
“The first stop on your journey here over the next 3 days.” (Truly a 101 class.)
Where do you start? Going to provide you a framework. Try to avoid getting into technology first.
The 4 keys to this framework:
- Customer
- Business
- Environment
- Technology
Customer
Their journey – map it, know what else they’ve consumed to get to that point, want consistent, forward-moving messages/value
Gotta understand customer first. Put yourself in their shoes. The last thing they’re going to be thinking about is seeing more ads. Try to understand what their needs are and then try to create an experience that fits those needs.
The thing about digital signage, kiosks, mobile – make things easier for customers and provide an innate value in a physical environment.
What are your customer’s expectations of you as a business? How, really, will this improve their experience?
What’s available vs. what they’re looking for = what you deliver and how
Business
Criteria – where’s content coming from, what else can I leverage, are there infrastructure assets, content assets, database assets? What do you want to do with this particular technology? What are your objectives? And how are you going measure? Need to understand the infrastructure required. How is this going to play into everything else I’ve got going on?
Google – fast & happy
Disconnected channels just don’t work for customers. So, is your business offering an integrated solution for your customers? (Wow. Some language/verbiage.)
There is no cookie cutter anecdote/advice we can give you for measuring success.
Question – can each of you address ROI?
Ardinger – it all depends on how you implement the solution. Webster – usually a company has their defined way of measuring ROI. Weinfeld – lots of data that you can capture, it’s all useful, but maybe not right away.
Environment
What are the experiences that you want to create and what is the environment they’re going to be in?
Traffic patterns. Lighting. Noise. Weather.
Sometimes that might lead to a decision to not deploy a solution. You’ve got to be able to adjust based on the environment. At all costs.
Market tests – important. Include them in your business plans. Do them as much as you can.
Technology
If you don’t address the first 3, you’re going to get the technology wrong.
It’s straight-forward getting the content to a display. There are so many different considerations that you must consider – indepth scheduling, having content react to data, management of sending content to multiple screens.
How are you going to maintain and support the technology? A lot of times the IT groups do not have the expertise for these solutions.
What about payment options? There are requirements out there. Have you taken them into consideration? Disability compliance, too.
Bringing it all together – hopefully, this provides you a framework as you venture out on the showroom floor.
Net – nice nuances on the differences, all the things to think about without being overwhelming