GETTING STARTED
Digital signage is transforming the way many industries are communicating with their audience. With so many innovations, it is easier than ever to grab your audience’s attention and engage them with fantastic content. As a result, government agencies are beginning to adopt digital signage solutions as a means to communicate with their communities. Effective signage implementation can increase community engagement, boost efficiency amongst employees, increase participation in community events, and even ensure safety in emergency events. Of course, there are some apps you will use more than others, and these apps can be crucial to getting your content started. As some of the most used apps within our software, it’s important to familiarize yourself with these functions. This article will go over what you need to know about 3 of our most used apps in government and how they can benefit your institution. Not signed on and looking to try digital signage yourself? Click here to request a free demo or click the button below to begin talking to an expert.
PLAYLISTS: YOUR FIRST AVENUE OF COMMUNICATION
Not only is the playlist application one of the most used applications across all signage industries, it is also one of the most flexible. By creating content playlists, you can display multiple announcements, videos, promotions, and other events all within a single zone. For example, you can promote a community event in one announcement, and then transition to another reminding people about safety during flu season. Or a police station can show some basic self-defense videos one moment, and then promote a community parade the next. Regardless of what you decide to display, playlists help get multiple messages out at once within a single space. No longer will you have to pay printing costs or waste time sending people out to update bulletin boards or posters. With digital signage, you can capture up to 400% more attention than with traditional bulletin boards. This is because the dynamic nature allows you to display messaging in more exciting ways while keeping content fresh. Once you have their attention, digital signage also makes it easier to spur action. Promoting community events or registration deadlines through your playlists can motivate viewers to sign-up early, increasing participation in community events. This can extend to camps, town hall meetings, voting dates, and more!
CALENDARS: STAYING BUSY
In a lot of common layouts, the next most prominent zone you will notice is often the calendar zone. Digital signage calendars are great as they provide all the flexibility of a signage solution without taking up as much space. Hence, they are great supplementary content that fills out your layout and provides a quick way for your audience to gain information. Third-party calendars can also be integrated. For instance, if you already have a calendar built out in SharePoint or Google, you can synchronize those calendars with REACH’s CMS and use them in your layouts. These calendars can also be grouped, allowing you to organize them based on similar themes. For example, you could group all your “fire station” calendars together to separate them from “local government” or “police station” calendars. This helps avoid confusion and makes placing each calendar in its proper layout an easier process. Not to mention, it makes searching for calendars easier as well, allowing you to quickly track down events or information you may need at a moment’s notice. Lastly, whenever you make a change, those changes are reflected in real-time on your displays. That way, if you need to make any last-minute changes to an event, you can do so even as the event is occurring. This ensures you are always presenting the most up to date information to your viewers.
SOCIAL MEDIA: GETTING PEOPLE ENGAGED
Did you know that 60% of all people in the world use social media? That’s 1.2 billion potential users out there. While it’s unrealistic to assume you will reach all of them, that does mean it’s safe to assume that the majority of people in your community will utilize social media. That’s why, more and more, we see government agencies adopting social media as a communication method. With digital signage, you can expand your digital footprint to physical locations. By integrating your social media accounts with REACH’s CMS, you can share social media posts, pictures, and timelines to your digital displays. Doing so can help you leverage user-generated content, allowing you to share posts from the local community as well as your own. By designating certain staff as “approvers” you can have complete control over what is displayed through signage, allowing you to monitor posts and hashtags. This lets you get in on the ground level with rising trends and current events. By combining the digital and physical realms, you provide a cohesive user experience that leaves them confident in government communication.
BONUS TIP: DATA LISTS
One more commonly used application we’ll queue you in on is the data list application. Using this app, you can share a variety of info in a concise, easy-to-read manner. These tables can then be converted into menus to be used in restaurants or cafes, directories for office spaces or large campuses, or even to track certain objectives. Each data set can be shared across all your facilities, and Microsoft Excel integration allows you to pull pre-made data tables. To learn more, ask about our complete data list tutorial!
ABOUT REACH
REACH acts as both a hardware and software provider for digital signage. When you partner with REACH, you join a network of industry professionals committed to your success. A strong belief in evolving technologies runs throughout the company, resulting in robust digital solutions. To begin your digital signage journey, click the button below to request a free demo from REACH today!
