Identify the ideal position for your digital signage screen allows you to effectively boost the impact of broadcast messages, especially when this location is correlated with the target audience and the content strategy. On the other hand, poorly positioning screens can, much more easily, convey a poor brand image, have very little impact on the messages broadcast and, of course, waste the effort, time and money invested in a project of on-screen communication. After asking yourself the right questions when choosing the location of your digital signage screens, the avoidance of harmful areas is therefore a necessity.
Avoid placing screens that are too high
Although placing screens high up seems to be a good idea, since they are then visible from a greater distance, they are generally not seen! Indeed, due to the natural tendency of our eyes to focus on others, or to check where we put our feet, we rarely look up, and screens placed too high are then invisible. In addition, the position in which they are visible (head back) is not very comfortable (which gives a negative impression), so, even if the screens are seen, they are only watched for a very short time, regardless of the quality of the content broadcast.
Avoid areas that are too bright
Unsurprisingly, the brightness of the screen and the environment can affect the readability of messages. Incorrectly positioned, a screen can suffer from reflections, or backlights which, in both cases, interfere with readability. Likewise, a screen that is too bright in a dark environment (evening/room with low light) can glare (especially if the background of the content is white) and on the contrary, a weakly lit screen can be invisible in a very bright environment (sunny day, bright room...). So identify the bright areas and how they change during the day., and avoid placing your screens in areas that could be affected by light.
Avoid positioning a screen due to technical constraints
Of course, it is often easier to position a screen where sockets already exist, where there is no need to do any work, or to pull a bit of cable. At first glance, it seems more economical as well. But, unless the sockets were installed for that specific reason, it's often a bad idea. As well as letting the installer decide the best location for your screens. If a well-placed screen can be very effective and improve the impact of the messages they broadcast, on the other hand, a poorly placed screen can degrade the brand image, in addition to bringing no visibility to your messages and thus wasting your efforts, your time, and the costs of setting up the system. Refraining from effectively reaching your target audience to avoid pulling a little cable is a shame. Include the positioning of the screen in a global strategy, and carry out a real reflection at the time of installation, is, in the long run, much more profitable.
Avoid showing the wrong message on a well-positioned screen
Broadcast a 15-second message on a screen in an area where people spend an average of 3 seconds is not really effective! To maximize the impact of your messages, you should identify the type of location of your screens and to correlate it with your target audiences and your goals. Each location is good for one type of message and bad for all others.. It is then necessary to find the right message for each screen location!
Avoid positioning a screen in the “decompression zone”
The term “decompression zone” describes the few meters just after the entrance (of a store, an establishment...). In fact, screens or posters located in this area (and for newcomers) are generally invisible : visitors usually arrive quickly in a store, or, at the very least, change the environment abruptly between the outside and the inside. They also change their mental state (especially if they come from outside), they decompress, which requires a few seconds, so a few meters, during which the mind is not really receptive...
Avoid “overly sophisticated” content
In particular, at the stage of creating (or validating) content for screens, it is important to keep in mind the conditions under which these contents will be broadcast and especially seen. Depending on the location of the screen, the distance of the visitor, the target, their level of attention, attendance, time of day... the conditions may not always be optimal to guarantee a perfect vision. Maybe a head will be in the field of the screen, that it will be viewed from an angle, that a small reflection will hide part of the screen, that it will only be visible for 2 seconds, or that the target people will be busy with other things while passing in front of the screen. While it is obviously best to avoid placing a screen in this type of location, it is important to keep these considerations in mind when creating content. (You can then rely on simple elements: solid colors, large font sizes, large images, strong contrasts... and don't judge the quality of content sitting in front of your computer 30cm from the screen in ideal viewing conditions.)
The screen positioning error: to commit or not to commit?
While avoiding these mistakes is essentially common sense, they are nevertheless common, and difficult to correct once committed. (difficult to move a screen already installed, complex to convince the hierarchy that 30cm on the left and 10° on the right will make all the difference). On the other hand, these mistakes, which are costly in the long term, in terms of money, time and effort, can be very easily avoided in advance, by integrating the choice of the location of the screens very early in the communication strategy on the screen, and by correlating the content to be broadcast, the targets to be reached and the screens to be positioned throughout the project!
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