The placement of digital signage screens plays a vital role in their success. While it's true that the saying “content is king” has never been as true as it is today, your content still needs to be seen, the screens need to be on (but that's another story), and well-positioned (to be seen by a target audience).
Regardless of where your screens will be installed, two areas can be identified with different target audiences. These areas will also influence the type of on-screen content that will be used. Hallways will win with short, high-impact messages, while waiting rooms can afford to broadcast longer, more detailed messages. Discover the details on the different types of areas to choose the best location for your digital signage screens in our last article. More practically, the following questions will guide you in identifying the locations with the greatest potential.
The right questions to ask yourself for the placement of your digital signage screens to work perfectly
Where is the sun?
And more generally, where are the light sources located? In relation to the screen and the visitors? And how do they change during the day? Will the screen be exposed to the same amount of light in the morning and in the afternoon? Should you create an automatic brightness change in the screen settings based on the time of day (a feature to look for when choosing screens)? If the screen faces light, will reflections affect the visibility and readability of the message? In this case, is it possible to dim this light? Or to prevent reflections? If the screen is turned against the light, will it still be possible to read everything if it is against the light? Maximize the visibility of your messages by taking into account the lighting problem when deciding where to place your screens.
Who is the target?
Since each person moves, stands, waits, and evolves in different ways, it's impossible to reach everyone with the same screen. It then becomes crucial to identify the (main) target of a certain area and a screen to broadcast the right message. If the objective is to inform your employees about current developments, should you place screens in the window? If the objective is to inform students, is it useful to place a screen in the teacher's room? If the aim is to show colleagues the traffic on the roads on the way home, a screen near the exit of the building and facing inwards is probably a good idea. Make sure you correctly identify the target of your messages. Beyond the guarantee of creating tailor-made content, it is also a useful guide for the placement of your screens.
Where is the target audience headed?
Once the goals are defined and the target audience is identified, one of the first things to do is find the places where that audience moves and stays. On the one hand, this will allow you to identify areas where more people pass by than in others (statistically, screens in these areas are more likely to reach the target audience than in others), but you could also look for the paths preferred by the target audience (for example, avoid the central lobby patio by going through the right rather than the left). Analyzing the movements of the target audience could also reveal movement patterns that may seem difficult to understand at first. For example, colleagues enter the company by going around the lobby from the right and leave by going around it from the left. In this case, it would be a good idea to adapt the angles of the screens (for example, one on each side of the reception patio) to face the entrance on the right side and away from it on the left side. In the same way, the path customers take in a store can become quite clear: it's up to you to find them and place the screens in the right places AND point them in the right directions. Make it a priority to observe the habits of your target audience in order to discover the ways in which they move and circulate in your establishment, as well as the direction of their movement : your screens will be more likely to be seen and your messages will have a better impact.
Where is the target audience waiting?
It is often more cost effective to show a message to people who are waiting than to show people who are on the move. In truth, the messages can be longer, more detailed, the information broadcast is more complete and therefore better remembered. Plus, people who wait are more receptive to any message, whatever it may be. It's crucial to identify where people (especially those you want to target) are waiting. To get the most out of the message, prefer screens in waiting areas : the content broadcast can then contain more information and the audience will be more receptive.
Where are people looking?
In general, even more important for screens in a passageway, where people move, it is rare for them to look for the screens installed at all times. It therefore becomes necessary to identify areas that attract the eye. An ideally positioned screen should be in the field of view of each position in a certain area. Since our eyes are naturally attracted to other humans, and especially their eyes, a screen placed in such a way as to intercept these glances seems to be a good idea. In the same way, when we move, we usually keep an eye on our next steps. A screen that is too high and requires looking up would rarely be seen, or looked at for a long time. Intercepting the natural gaze with screens is how you give your messages the most chance of being seen.
The correct placement of a screen is above all a question of the human aspect
The best content in the world will only have a very limited impact if it is broadcast to a wall! As a rule, if the target audience is not looking at the screens, your efforts will be in vain. For the optimal impact of your messages, a good knowledge of your target audience is necessary. Understanding your state of mind will guide the creation of relevant messages, while understanding your movements will guide screen placement. If a big part of this question is identifying this target audience, it's because the question is not finding the best location for a screen, but the best location for a screen for a target audience (and type of content).
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