Using Digital Signage to Personalise Customer Experience in Transportation
5G was purported to be ‘the future’ in 2019, with major projects planned for roll out throughout the year. Delays to a number of these projects meant the era of 5G did not come to fruition last year, but it is set to be a big part of the 2020 landscape as discussed in our recent predictions blog.
Once we have the scale of adoption for 5G, it could have the potential to completely change the digital signage industry. 5G allows increased data to be passed over networks into devices. This is both in the sense of data such as video streaming that can be broadcast from digital signage devices, as well as also sharing data about the people using the screens. By sharing data across networks, profiles of the types of people using devices and whether this changes at different times in the week or even throughout the day.
But what does this mean for companies utilising digital signage in the transport industry?
Increasing sales generation
By having access to data such as who is accessing the digital screens at certain times, companies are able to implement an agile advertisement as part of their sales strategy. Used correctly, the data collated and shared can be used to inform a flexible scheduling strategy in order to better suit the needs of customers. This is easier for some forms of transport such as rail, or integrated transport systems such as TfL, as they have more access to data through technology such as oyster cards. The data collected such as age and gender can then be collated in order to build a profile of the users of certain routes.
By incorporating behavioural data, the adverts placed in front of potential customers are more relevant and lead to more sales than the traditional pay and spray approach. Mckinsey found that the use of personalisation in advertisements, based on behavioural data, can in fact lead to five to eight times higher return on income, when compared to more traditional methods. The use of data to improve advertisement strategy can therefore increase both the satisfaction of the companies that are advertising their products through digital signage and increase advertisement revenues generated through the digital screens.
Customer-centric strategies
Consumers can also feel the benefit of a personalised advertisement strategy. People are dissatisfied with the pay and spray approach which leads to a bombardment of adverts that are completely irrelevant to them as companies attempt to make as many impressions as possible. For example, customers who regularly travel from Cardiff to London are not generally interested advertisements for deals for travel to Edinburgh. With the right amount of analytics, public digital screens can become an extension of the self. Digital profiles can be created for whoever is accessing a screen, and therefore the most appropriate action can be taken. This reduces the flotsam of adverts not pertinent to each consumer and most people welcome this. In fact, Adobe found that when it comes to personalised adverts 78% of people ‘like them’.
The personalisation of advertisements through the use of data can be used to enhance the experience of advertisers, consumers and those providing the platform from which to place the ads. The consumer gets a more personal experience that is relevant to them as a person, and the advertiser receives a better return on their income. The provider of the platform is able to charge more for the service that they provide which creates a win-win solution for all parties involved.