Deploying digital signage can be difficult. You have to pick out the right vendor, hardware, software and content. You also have to handle many other variables such as the location of your digital signage and how often you plan to make new content.

Luckily, there are a few ways you can make the whole process a little bit easier.

1. Pick a partner, not a supplier

When you are looking for a digital signage vendor, you need to look for one who will partner with you, not just supply your equipment.

For example, let's say you run an amusement park and guests are having trouble finding your rides and concession stands and as a result, concession sales are down and customer complaints are up. In order to solve this problem, you decide to deploy displays which offer wayfinding. Rather than simply buying the equipment directly from a vendor and handling it yourself, you need to find a vendor who will work with you every step of the way such as:

• They will help you strategize on the best spots to deploy the displays for maximum effectiveness.
• They will come up with a strategy on how regularly to update content and they will give you the tools to design the content.
• They will provide training to every employee that interacts with the displays.

You need a company that is going to invest into your success, not just one that's looking to move inventory.

2. Compare and contrast

When you start looking at any technological upgrade, whether it be a loyalty program or a display, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options available. How do you decide between an LCD or LED display? Or an on-site or cloud-based content management system? These questions can lead to a lot of headaches.

In order to make things easier for you, you need to have a clear idea of what you need in a digital signage system and then compare and contrast various solutions to see how much they meet those needs.

For example, if you need a display that can dynamically respond to customers based on their demographics, you can more easily compare various packages to see what they offer. Or if you just need a basic LCD display that can run Powerpoint slides from a USB drive, you can compare based on the price and quality of cheaper LCD displays.

Luckily, there are resources to help you perform this task more efficiently. Digital Signage Today offers both software and hardware comparison guides so you can easily compare a wide variety of software and hardware solutions to find just what you need.

3. Give yourself time to plan

My last tip is a simple one: just make sure pencil in enough time for planning. Digital signage is increasingly becoming more complex as vendors integrate IoT and AI tools into their solutions. To pick the best one and plan on how to use it, you are going to need to spend some time planning.

If you rush this step, you can easily run into major problems, such as advertising campaigns that become too expensive or content that doesn't fit properly on your display. But, if you plan carefully, you can ensure your digital signage will be a roaring success.

This article was written by Bradley Cooper from Digital Signage Today. News Features and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.