Due to its variable nature, digital signage can be optimised to boost your campaign according to your advertising needs. It comes in different formats from multi-screen video walls and single large format screens to shelf edge displays, free standing kiosks and tablet form. All of which can be mixed and matched to help you engage with your target audience and reach your goals.

A report by Infiniti Research Limited predicted the global digital display market to grow by 15% in 2019. Recent statistics also show that digital signage increases overall sales volume by 31.8 percent.

With its steady growth and significant benefits, digital signage is clearly here to stay, but what does the future hold?

2019 Digital Signage Trends

Over the years, digital signage has evolved from being a medium for disseminating basic information about certain products and services to being a multi-component powerhouse digital marketing tool. Digital signage is increasingly integrated into the lives of every consumer and remains one of the most effective ways to communicate your brand on the high street and at trade shows and expos.

For you to be able to maximise digital signs for your business, it’s important to remain updated as to what the current trends are. This will allow you to keep up with your competition and tailor your marketing strategy according to what would likely to be a hit in the industry.

Let’s look at some key trends emerging in 2019 then.

  • A Continuous Shift Towards Personalised Content. With the growing demands of the modern consumer comes the shift towards content that is tailored fit to their expectations. This rings true across all forms of media, including digital signage. Your audience expects you to figure out what they want from the get go, and they want it to show in the signage you produce.
  • More Artificial Intelligence Advancements. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are making waves across all manner of industries this year—may it be in digital marketing, project management, or in this case, digital display. Utilising this technology allows you to gather data with intricacy and precision so you can more easily design your digital signs with the consumer in mind.
  • Interactivity. More and more digital signages are becoming interactive to empower customers to choose what they want to see. Apart from making its content more engaging, interactive digital signage allows companies to derive more relevant consumer data that they can use for their business plans in the future. Social media driven signage are also set to make its mark this year.
  • Augmented Reality and Personalised Learning. We are bound to see more businesses in the education industry use digital signage in Augmented Reality (AR) format to make subjects like history more compelling and interactive. Digital signage with specialised audio and visual treatments will most likely be used to provide a personalised learning experience for those with special needs.
  • Digital Signage for an Upgraded E-Commerce Experience. Digital signage that functions like a virtual assistant for e-commerce shops is also one of the trends that we will see more of this year. This type of digital signage takes the consumer through the various range of products and services and assist them throughout the buying process just as a human staff would typically do.Queues are also likely to be avoided with e-commerce systems providing the option of automated payment systems which allows shoppers to checkout their purchase with minimal effort.
  • Recognition Systems Predict the Next Move of Consumers. The integration of recognition systems will enable business owners to process the user’s personal data and use them to curate a selection of products or services he or she may want to look into. Smart displays will aid in predicting what he or she will want next after availing a particular product or service.
  • A More Eco-Friendly Approach. A trend across all industries and areas for the last few years has been reducing the business’s impact on the environment. It goes without saying then that using digital signage results in less wastage because there’s no need for physical reproduction and disposal. But sign manufacturers have gone all out in making digital signs more environmentally sustainable. This includes:
  • Low-Power Options. Recently, low-power outdoor digital signage options have become available. This option is perfect for those who want to reduce cost and environmental impact at the same time. More and more screen manufacturers offer intelligent brightness controls which adjusts the screen depending on the weather, allowing you to save power in the long run.
  • Temperature Regulating Screens. There are also screens that can regulate temperature on its own which also come out significantly cheaper in the end due to lower ownership cost. Then, there are digital signages with embedded media players that allows you to save on energy consumption due to its automatic power off feature for the screen.

Digital Signage and the Future

According to a study by Hexa Research, the global digital signage market is anticipated to hit $20.1 billion USD (£15.4 billion) by the year 2020 – a huge leap from $13.3 billion in 2013. This development is mainly due to the reduction in prices of display panels, better user experience and economical promotion.

Around the world, digital signage is increasingly being considered as the biggest influential media for displaying information, whether it information pertaining to transportation, healthcare, education, retail or corporate messaging. It is also being widely adopted in leisure and hospitality, telecommunication, industry public, to name a few. Growth in digital-out-of home applications is expected to increase market demand for digital signs as well.

Finally, technological innovations by companies all over the globe are expected to contribute to the digital signage market’s steady growth. These companies include: Microsoft, Cisco, Panasonic, LG Electronics, Samsung, and Polk Audio among others.

Wherever in the world you may be, there’s no denying that digital signage is here to stay. It may take on other forms as the market and methods evolve in the future, but its basic premise remains. And that is to provide an easy and convenient way to promote your content on a larger scale. In a digital sphere wherein people wants everything quick, digital signage can provide your audience that fix.