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Drive Employee Engagement with Digital Signage

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To be brand adovcates, your employees must be engaged.

Good communication around your company’s message and purpose is critical to employee engagement and email is increasingly ineffective at reaching them.

Making Sense of Digital Signage 2 1

Download our white paper now and learn the benefits of using digital signage to share your company’s message, including:

  • Ensuring your company’s message is seen and heard
  • Building a connected workplace
  • How one client successfully used digital channels to build excitement around a new corporate brand

DOWNLOAD NOW

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The Color Connection

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CVGBlog The Color Connection

Human beings prefer our lives to be colorful – literally. As The Ultimate Guide to Using Color Psychology in Marketing says:

“Color is an essential tool because it has an impact on how we think and behave. Color directs our eye where to look, what to do, and how to interpret something. It puts content into context. It helps us decide what’s important and what’s not.”

Understanding how we react to color is, not surprisingly, critical to design. But it may interest you to learn that there appears to be an evolutionary component to our color preferences, which is even more compelling when it comes to how color affects our buying decisions.

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First, one general note about our biology: we are visual beings. “Your brain is really one big organ for making sense of the world, and it does that almost entirely through vision. Yes, we smell, taste, touch, hear and such . . . but seeing is our primary sense, by a long distance. About 20% of your brain is there purely for vision,” says neuroscientist Andrew Tate .

When it comes to visual design, infographic creators Venngage reinforce that point. “People are visually oriented: 90% of information transmitted to our brain is visual, presentations with visuals are 43% more persuasive, and 65% of us are visual learners. In fact, 93% of all communication is nonverbal. Visuals attract our attention, enhance our emotions, and affect our attitude.”

Along with movement , color is a key element of what attracts us visually. And as is true with the way we react to motion, evolution also may play a role in our color preferences. Tate cites a 2010 study from the University of California at Berkeley that looked at our color likes and dislikes. Back when we started to evolve, for example, browns and yellows were colors we wanted to avoid when foraging for food, as they indicated spoilage.

Today, when people are surveyed about the colors they like, brown and yellow aren’t high on the list, so we still may have an unconscious bias towards them – a holdover from our earliest days. However, Tate says, “Because our brains are starting to catch up with the fact that we do not have to go out looking for food anymore, this phenomenon is starting to shift so that we can think that good colors are ones that we have a personal preference for, even if that is brown.

Along those lines, when it comes to color, interpretations are somewhat subjective. They vary from one culture to another, though are largely consistent within them. For example, western minds such as ours most likely would interpret the following four common colors as follows, according to one source :

  • Red: powerful, dynamic, passionate.
  • Orange: energizing, friendly, fun.
  • Green: balanced, peaceful, healthy.
  • Blue: reliable, trustworthy, soothing.

However, red also can signal danger and anger to us, and blue can seem cold and unfriendly when overused. The trick is understanding the potential connotations of color and using it wisely. For example, red might be an accent, rather than the main color, in a design if the creator wants to avoid it being perceived in a negative way.

Color interpretations also can be influenced by personal experience, both positive and negative. “The conclusion is that color preferences derive from our preference for the objects that typically have these colors,” says a Psychology Today blog about the same Berkeley research Tate references. “Everyone has a somewhat different life experience, and so as people increasingly experience pleasure in something they bought in a particular color, they will tend to choose similar objects in the future with the same color.”

In other words, if you love green apples and your favorite shirt is green, you’ll be drawn to the color green in general and are more likely to paint a wall that color.

Why is understanding color preferences (and other elements of color theory we haven’t mentioned here) critical to marketers of all types? Because of the enormous impact color has on what we’re attracted to and what we buy.

Almost 93 percent of people say that the visual dimension is the most influential factor in a purchasing decision. “Studies suggest that people make a subconscious judgment about a product within 90 seconds of initial viewing [and] . . . up to 90% of that assessment is based on color alone,” this guide to customer psychology explains.

Of course, in our work, we’re most often presented with brand standards that dictate the colors we use. However, there’s usually room for creative choices that fall within the guidelines, and we can apply our knowledge of color and color preferences to our digital signage designs. But the importance of color to consumers means that marketers need more than a working knowledge of color theory. Many could benefit from taking a deeper dive into the topic to make better choices about logo designs and product colors. Your bottom line might depend on it.

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Do Your Customers Know More Than Your Employees?

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retail-store-clothes

Retailers are the number one users of digital signage . All those video walls, kiosks, endless aisles, sales assist tables and other forms of signage add up to some 40% of the market. And retailers are expected to retain that position in the foreseeable future. 

Stores blanketed with digital signs mean customers often are well-informed about sales and product features. The question is, do they know more than your average retail employee? Given typically high associate turnover, the answer could be “yes.” 

retail store clothes

And the irony is, the same type of digital signs that benefit stores on the sales floor can provide similarly positive results when they’re used in the back of the house, too. Better employee communication, training and engagement – all of which can be improved through digital signage – can lead to measurably reduced turnover and increased sales. 

First, let’s consider the role communication, training and engagement play in the retail workplace.

With cramped back rooms, different shifts, tiring work and the understandable focus on the sales floor, communication in a retail environment is a notorious challenge. However, excellent communication makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations. As this article says, “Well-informed management teams and associates are the ones who make the service-profit chain work … Basically, great employees make satisfied customers and satisfied customers make profit.” 

Great training also makes a consistent difference to retailers. With turnover approaching or exceeding 60 percent each year in many stores, the time and expense of training new employees is a top operational issue. But it’s also critical for store performance. In a study  conducted in conjunction with University of Pennsylvania professor Marshall Fisher, the consulting firm Experticity found that sales by knowledgeable, engaged store associates brought in 69% more money on average than sales by those who weren’t.

As this retail blog  points out, “Just because an employee has previous experience does not mean they will understand what makes your store different. You have to tell them explicitly what you are trying to do with your customers and how it is different from every other retailer on your block.” 

Finally, part of the problem with retaining retail employees is connecting them to a company and its culture when they often work in widely dispersed locations, far from headquarters. Understanding employee engagement and creating workplaces that motivate associates for maximum performance is always tricky, but it’s even harder in companies where the workforce isn’t centrally located.

While a variety of elements  factor into engagement, positive relationships, recognition, a sense of purpose, opportunities for growth and concern for employee well-being are high among them. And as with communication and training, efforts to create an engaging culture pay off – literally. “Retailers that treat their employees as more than just an expense on the balance sheet tend to have higher retention rates, higher sales per square foot and lower store return rates,” the Experticity study showed.

So that brings us to the question: How can digital signage help?

Back-of-the-house digital solutions can’t create company culture. But they do provide a great delivery system for a wide variety of communications, training and engagement efforts that can.

A simple display on the wall and/or a kiosk in a break room can:

Convergent Wall Display & Kiosk breakdown table

Taken together, better communication and training and improved engagement help create a great employee experience. And to paraphrase one expert, a great employee experience can lead to a great customer experience, which is, after all, what retailers are after.

That isn’t news. But using digital signage behind the scenes might be. If you haven’t considered it before, think about it now. What do you have to lose? With employees and sales at stake, quite a bit, actually. 

Want to learn more about how to use digital signage to create a great customer experience in your stores? Download our white paper, Brick and Mortar Still Matters .

 

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Tips From DSaaS Experts

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Chances are, you already have some guidelines that come to mind when designing creative content: stay away from red, ensure your content is engaging, know your audience, etcetera, etcetera. But what would the experts say are the non-negotiables when creating effective content specific to digital signage?

Is it the layout of the messages?

Possibly.

Is it the color scheme or clever wording?

Could be.

How about the eye catching branded content that really draws the viewer’s attention?

You’re getting there.

We sat down with one of our experts to discuss some of the secrets of the trade. Here’s the skinny, it is more involved than just using a special layout or clever wording. To create successful digital signage, here are 5 things to think about before booting up the screen.

1. Define your goals, scope and resources: What good is a message without a strategy? In our opinion, the strategy is the pinnacle of all digital signage projects. So where do you start?

Here are some questions to think through when kicking off your digital signage solution:

1. What are your overall business goals?
2. What are your goals specific to the Digital Signage as a Service (DSaaS ) project?
3. Do these specific goals align with your overall business goals?

The answers to these questions are your backbone. As you begin to hammer out the scope of your project, always come back to these answers to stay on target.
Additionally, it is also important to understand the budget, resources, and timing it will take to execute on this job. For easy prioritization, determine the most important aspects of the project. Maybe your scope is key, but timing is not a huge issue. Modify your project so that you can execute to the scope you desire but flex a bit on the timing. As these key elements become defined, it is important they work together to make a realistic scope and deadline that will later back up to your project goals. This way, your digital signage project won’t become delayed or known as the “dreaded never-ending, budget-spiraling project from the depths of…” well, you see where we’re going with that one.

2. Define what success looks like: It is imperative to understand how this project will be successful. How can you determine success if you haven’t defined what success means to you? It’s simple.

Here are some questions to think through.

1. What’s your end goal?
2. How can this be measured ?
3. What measurements would be attainable but challenging?
4. Do these measurements line back up with your defined goal(s) ?

There are different ideas of what being successful actually means, so it is crucial to determine and align here with the stakeholders. Without the definition of success, it’s difficult to get you where you want to be.

3. Brainstorm with key stakeholders

Gaining “buy-in” from your stakeholders is imperative as you kick off this – potentially – new initiative. With their support, alignment, and * ahem * money, you want to be sure you can prove the value in your digital signage solution. As you modify and measure, you can make optimizations to increase your solution’s effectiveness.

4. Ensure all your messages align to your brand values, the project and the environment

To tie it all together, we believe it is crucial to ensure that all of your messages align. The media you create must have synergy with your brand messaging. Take a look at the environment you will be placing your signage, are you duplicating any promotions or sending any conflicting information? Additionally, think through your other strategies. Are you missing any key information your company would like to push? Only once you are confident on the content messaging can you begin to develop the motion graphics.

5. Ensure your brand has been set

How could you expect to align your digital signage to your brand if your brand doesn’t have a clear voice, look, and feel? In the eyes of the experts, this is an absolute must. Knowing and defining the character of your brand is critical in helping you create effective digital signage. When your brand is clearly outlined, and your digital signage follows suit, your brand will transcend in the digital and live spaces. Without this component, you and your digital signage will become obsolete, potentially creating a negative effect.

So how do these tips help lead you and your business to success? Well, with aligned messages, full support, and consistent branding you know you are on the right track.

In the eyes of the experts, your overall strategy can be a tough cookie to crack. When you spend time on strategy and setting goals , you can track and report the success . Based on benchmarks, you can make adjustments to your signage which will only increase your message’s effectiveness. Now that you’ve got some tools in your belt, go and dream big. Using these expert tips, we hope your c-suite is beyond impressed.

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8 Ways That Digital Signage Improves Employee Engagement

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Modern office or apartment area through the hallway

It’s no secret that Employee Engagement is critical in the success of any organization. Now, with Big Data and Analytics offering greater insight into the key elements determining success, it has become increasingly evident that incremental improvements in Employee Engagement drive dramatic improvements across a wide range of metrics. These include productivity, customer satisfaction, employee retention, defects and accidents, absenteeism, revenue growth, and stock performance.

This has led many organizations to invest in improving their employee engagement. These are most often multi-pronged strategies aimed at establishing strong bi-directional communications, while also establishing and reinforcing the corporate culture, mission, and values.

Digital Signage offers a highly-effective channel in implementing a blended engagement strategy, helping improve communications, culture, and the workplace environment .

Here are eight ways that digital signage helps improve employee engagement:

A Visual Medium – Roughly 65% of humans identify themselves as visual learners. This helps explain the limited effectiveness of email and other text-based forms of communications. With digital signage, your message is integrated with graphical elements to produce a more impactful result that better resonates with your employees.

Message Retention – The digital signage format allows your messaging to be clear and concise. It also allows your message to be repeatedly reinforced in a non-intrusive manner. As in advertising, the cumulative result of these micro-immersions is an increased awareness and retention of your message.

Immediacy – In critical moments, digital signage offers immediacy for rapidly communicating a message across your organization. This helps remove ambiguity, providing accurate information to your organization, allowing it to better perform.

Reaching Non-Digital Employees – In many industries – including retail, manufacturing, and transportation – large subsets of the workforce do not have regular access to digital devices. Signage networks allow you to overcome this technology barrier and better engage with these associates.

Cross-Departmental Utilization – One issue confronting many large organizations is that departments, or regions, become isolated and unaware of news and accomplishments from other groups. Digital Signage platforms allow diverse regions and departments to contribute content, resulting in a better informed workplace. This improves moral, performance, and cohesion throughout the enterprise.

Direct Communications – Surveys indicate that poor communications is the most common driver of employee disengagement. This is not always the company’s fault. An organization can be executing a flawless corporate communications strategy, but if an individual manager is a poor communicator, their direct reports are more likely to become disengaged. Digital Signage helps mitigate this risk by establishing a direct channel to reach those employees.

Social Integration – Employees are better engaged when they believe that their voice matters. Integration of social media into a signage platform allows for a bi-directional dialogue that is beneficial to all stakeholders. Note that care needs to be given in the selection and governance of these platforms to optimize their positive impact.

News & Entertainment – Digital Signage also allows your organization to address your employee’s desire to be connected to happenings outside of the workplace. It also provides a platform to entertain and enlighten, helping produce a happier, better-performing workforce.

As businesses of all sizes look to improve their competitiveness and performance, the need for successful strategies to engage employees is proving essential. Digital signage offers a valuable tool in achieving this success.

The post 8 Ways That Digital Signage Improves Employee Engagement appeared first on Blog by Convergent .

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The Value of Employee Signage is Driven by its Content: Part 1

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Bad CorpComm Digital signage Example

When meeting with businesses to discuss Employee Signage , I often open the conversation with a slide depicting the typical content found on tens of thousands of employee-facing displays. After letting the slide breathe for a few seconds, I pose the question: “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Bad CorpComm Digital signage Example

The responses tend to focus on the display layout. “It’s too busy.” “My eyes don’t know where to look.” “The date and weather take up too much space.” “The video section should be larger.”

What I find most curious is that people tend not to question the content itself. Sadly, we have come to accept that weather, 24-hour cable news, and a smattering of company information is reasonable content for the workplace.

I then offer a critique of the content, pointing out items that include:

• The unintended consequence of 24-hour cable news in the workplace is that it introduces discord into an environment where you want to promote harmony.
• Items such as date and weather are readily available on smart phones, diminishing their value on the signage.
• Meaningful content – such as Employee Recognition and Company Events – is not being presented in a format that engages the viewer.

I conclude by pointing out that the Return on Investment (ROI) of this display is negligible, offering little value in engaging employees, or in driving successful business outcomes. Those I have met with almost unanimously agree.

Three Key Items to Consider When Developing Your Content Strategy

Content strategy is critical when it comes to Employee Signage (Part 1). Check out our perspective on three of the six areas to focus to drive better results: (psst: stay tuned next week for Part 2 where we unveil the rest)

Shaping Your Corporate Culture – Employee Signage is highly effective in helping establish and reinforce your corporate culture. Your content strategy for shaping this culture should revolve around items such as brand, vision, values, and heritage.

As these constitute foundational pillars of your corporate identity, we strongly recommend that this content be professionally produced. This will ensure that the content is dynamic and engaging, while conveying a sense of quality and importance that will translate into your employee’s performance.

Investing in corporate culture results in incremental improvements across a wide range of business metrics, with considerable data demonstrating that modest investments in your corporate culture produce sizable returns in business outcomes.

Focusing on Core Objectives – We recommend that part of your content strategy formulation process include meeting with your executive leadership. In this meeting, you should extract an understanding of the performance metrics that matter most to the company.

By understanding leadership’s dashboards and metrics, you can better design your content strategy for optimized effectiveness.

For example, increasing sales performance is a critical measure for nearly all commercial organizations. Designing Leaderboards – and other visualizations – that heighten awareness of these performance metrics have been proven to successfully motivate sales associates, resulting in better outcomes.

It is important to note that care should be given to the quality of tables, graphs, and other visualizations. You want them to appear in an attractive and compelling form. Simply rendering an exported file from your CRM or Microsoft Office may not optimize the content’s desired impact. This is easily remedied with the use of Motion Graphic Templates.

Reinforcing Best Practices and Learning – Repeated immersions of concise content is an excellent strategy in the reinforcement of Best Practices and Learning. Its effectiveness is measured by learning organizations in Knowledge Retention, producing outcomes in areas of reduced defects, lower operating costs, and other business efficiencies.

More advanced Employee Signage platforms allow for interactivity, adding elements of gamification to the learning experience.

Continue reading part 2 of this blog.

The post The Value of Employee Signage is Driven by its Content: Part 1 appeared first on Blog by Convergent .

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