Making the most of every pixel on a digital signage screen is critical for getting your message across efficiently and successfully. For those utilising text on digital signage, using the right language is vital. Communication is not just about what you say but how you say it. By ignoring the importance of language in your digital display, you risk the chance of an unsuccessful digital signage campaign.
In this blog, we identify four ways to optimise your text on digital signage to elevate marketing and communications for your brand.
1. Improve Conversions With A Call to Action
When it comes to digital signage, what you say matters; you want to get results. While your message may reach many people, a digital display without a call to action (CTA) will likely suffer. A CTA is a phrase that tells the user exactly what action to take next. It creates a way to convert consumers into customers and makes success measurable for the communicator.
The most important part of a CTA is the verb, such as sign up, scan, use, call, or email, initiating an action or motion. In fact, verbs trigger the part of the brain that deals with the motor cortex, controlling movement. As a result, verbs in a CTA will generate a greater reaction than concrete nouns, improving the chances of interaction with your brand.
CTAs should personally target the person reading it and trigger an active response. In fact, personalised CTAs convert 42% more visitors into leads than generic CTAs. These ‘personalised’ actions make use of imperative verb forms, such as “you”. For example, “Sign up now for your 10% discount code” holds greater power than the impersonal “Discount code for signing up”.
A CTA optimises your text on digital signage and guides potential customers through their journey with your business. It is a necessity for getting results from your digital signage.
2. Generate A Response With Emotive Language and Text on Digital Signage
When deciding what to display on digital signage, you need to consider the response you want from your target audience. A great way to induce a reaction and increase sales is by producing an emotional response. According to HubSpot, emotional marketing refers to marketing and advertising efforts that primarily use emotion to make your audience notice, remember, share, and buy. Adjusting the text on digital signage can contribute to this.
First impressions form in a matter of seconds. Emotional marketing on your digital signage displays can, therefore, help to make the right first impression. By selecting your wording to include emotive language, you can trigger the desired emotion connected to your brand, product, or service that will ensure people remember you. In fact, research has shown that advertising campaigns with purely emotional content perform roughly twice as well as those with rational content (31% versus 16%).
For example, if an advert includes positive language triggering happiness, consumers are more likely to interact. Or, if a charity induces sadness over the cause, people are more likely to donate. This power demonstrates how emotive language can generate sales and reactions and highlights the importance of optimising your text on digital signage.
Emotive language is also valuable when displaying customer testimonials. Studies have shown that emotional expression in reviews affects sales. As a result, people are more likely to make a purchase when presented with online review text that is highly emotional. By displaying this on-screen, conversion rates will increase.
3. Stay Relevant And Persuasive With Keywords on Digital Signage
Keeping your text clear and simple is key to getting your message across. According to Microsoft, between 2000 and 2013, the average human attention span dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. This time comes in at one second less than a goldfish! This fact makes keywords critical in translating a message to your audience.
By focusing on particular keywords relevant to your message, business, or product, your brand recall figures will increase as people have less to remember and correlate those words to your brand. People also respond well to patterns, so make use of repetition, alliteration, or rhyme.
Keyword text on digital signage should also be powerful and persuasive. While “you”, “free”, “because”, “instantly”, and “new” are the most effective keywords, words like “revolutionary”, “hurry”, “challenge”, and “trust”, can also be highly effective in varying ways and make your brand stand out.
Knowing your audience is essential, however; inappropriate vocabulary will decrease relevance and persuasiveness. For example, do not use university-level language or jargon in a primary or secondary school.
The importance of brand recognition and brand awareness can be enhanced by memorable keywords, making language and text a vital factor to consider in digital signage displays.
4. Create Urgency With Text On Digital Signage
Text that creates a sense of urgency holds great importance when it comes to digital signage. When beginning a digital signage campaign, brands want to improve conversion rates, and urgency-inducing language can fuel this.
Common urgency words and phrases surround time, speed, scarcity, and sale words. These could include “limited time”, “today only”, “act now”, “instant, “last chance”, and “final sale”. Using these words and phrases, you can drive up sales with the psychological fear-of-missing-out (FOMO). In fact, Eventbrite found that nearly seven in ten (69%) millennials experience FOMO, making it a valuable feeling to consider when creating content for your digital displays.
It is essential to create urgency in moderation, however. Brands that overdo it can appear pushy, decreasing brand trust. Nevertheless, research has found that one in five customers make impulse purchases after seeing digital signage advertising. This figure could increase by optimising your text on digital signage to create urgency.
