Have you conducted a Google search recently for “interactive marketing?” I did, and in .29 seconds more than 21 million results were delivered. By comparison only half of that number was delivered for the more broad and more consumer driven key phrase “touch screens.” How frustrating it must be for marketing agencies who focus on interactivity when the idioms “interactive” and “touch screen” are seen as nearly interchangeable concepts. Agencies of all sizes have spent the entire dot com era perfecting the relationship between web and man. This has been a more profitable and more provable form of interactivity – and yet the immeasurable industry of digital signage has hijacked the word and applied it to any screen that has the power of touch. The new hot thing in business is Interactive Digital Signage…

And I am ecstatic about it! Interactive digital signage finally commands the large scale projects that touch screen experts like Horizon Display are proven to be best at managing. With limited apologies to the aforementioned agencies, interactivity via touch screen technology makes metric based ROI analysis for digital signage possible. It goes beyond the ubiquitous “content is king” statement, and reminds us that experience and utility are the Zeus and Athena of interactive marketing. The very tenants which web geniuses have mastered have now been brought back to life with display based “signs.” Digital signage proliferated itself 100 times over in just a matter of 3 years, became so fragmented, so commoditized, and for 298 of 300 of those digital signage software companies, became so unprofitable.

Interactive digital signage has the most potential for successful integration of multiple messages for multiple brands, and most importantly, multiple interactions. If the goal is to build vertically integrated marketing campaigns whereby large format touch screens, tablet devices, and smart phone applications all deliver the same experience, and tie seamlessly back to web and TV, there are few better options than leveraging touch technology for your interactive digital signage strategy.

With all of this said, you can expect that the 298 businesses that didn’t realize the market potential of standard digital signage will be back and ready to convince you that repurposing their software for interactive digital signage is just as effective as meticulously selecting a partner & product focused on touch. Stuck five feet deep in the conundrum of content management and scheduling, their assumptions couldn’t be any less true. The partner you want to select for interactive strategy and experience is likely more versed in web and app development – they are likely one of those boutique agencies I relegated in my opening. See guys, “interactive” and “touch” can be synonymous, and with your eye for effectiveness and design, you can probably salvage great value from the digital signage market that once abandoned you.

The best news to take from this article is that while several hardware and software vendors have entered the market, and have begun the compression of price and profit for the most common applications, there are still 1000\’s more opportunists that have waited on the sidelines for the interactive digital signage market and touch screen hardware & software to mature. Do your homework, plan your attack, and wow your customers.

Horizon Display specializes in interactive digital signage hardware and touch screen software solutions for more information visit Horizon Display

Horizon Display specializes in interactive digital signage hardware and touch screen software solutions for more information visit http://www.HorizonDisplay.com

Author Bio: Horizon Display specializes in interactive digital signage hardware and touch screen software solutions for more information visit Horizon Display

Category: Business Management
Keywords: large touch screens, interactive digital signage, mulit-touch LCD