For me, a lot of what I see on these out-of-home screens is wasted. By wasted I mean there’s nothing relevant reaching me – the consumer or viewer sitting in that seat, in that space, at that time. Now I don’t expect to have personalized content for me and me alone. I can get that on my phone.  However, it gets me wondering, how is engagement best created when you’re dealing with multitudes of people of varying races, genders, and ages?

Be smart and Strategic: Engagement is about reaching people with relevant messaging

It has to start with having a strategic programming plan for these networked screens that’s making an attempt to impart videos/ clips/ programs that are “offering” something. That something needs to be entertainment of some kind, or topical and relevant information.  Have a plan on what to program based on your demographics, and know how to change it up with different media to target different people at different times of the day. What I want to see at 8 am is vastly different from what I want to see at 8 pm.  Would I be more inclined to look up at a screen if I could watch let’s say a comedy highlight, sports re-cap, lifestyle tip or cooking hack? Yes. Even better, would I be more engaged if say my auto dealership was showing me something cool and useful about the car I drive every day – absolutely.

I don’t expect that engagement works the same way for everyone. But we have to at least start with making what IS showing relevant and topical and timely. Keep it lighthearted, but informative. Make it personal in that it’s speaking to a subject or category that means something to the demographics watching. Talk shows and news aren’t gonna work when a doctor’s waiting room is full of Moms and young kids. Know your audience. Maximize your viewership, and your ROI will increase when those screens work for you, and not against you. Be smart about how you program your screens. In the end, your customers will thank you for not boring them and will walk away from their visit feeling that much better about all the time they spent waiting around.

Written by Joellen Jacobs