By now everyone has heard the term "Digital Signage". What most of us don't realize is that Digital Signage is not a daunting buzz word, we are probably selling into this market already. Our customers don't purchase 46in displays to use as a computer monitor, they are buying it to display in a public area to get a message out there. Are you cashing in on the rest of the solution?  If not, you can easily start with the tips listed below. "Why do you want to get involved?" you might ask.... well, because digital signage in indoor venues alone accounted for $704M in Q4 2006 and is projected to grow to $7.2 billion in 2011.  While the price, and therefore the profit, on large displays keeps falling, here is a high margin market that is growing! Why wouldn't you want to be a part of it?

Tip 1 - NEVER EVER EVER EVER put a consumer grade display in a public place… the reasons are too many to mention. First and foremost warranty and performance, consumer TVs are engineered to run 6 hours a day, not 24/7. Most Commercial displays come with a 2 year ONSITE warranty!

Tip 2 - You should never sell just a display. Every display over 32in should be accompanied with AT LEAST a wall or ceiling mount. Mounts are high margin.

Tip 3 - Dare to ask your customer, "what will you be showing on your display?". Remember, content is king. If they haven't thought about it, make some suggestions. Where is the image coming from? A TV receiver? A pc? Do you need to schedule content? Here is an opportunity to sell a thin profile media player that can mount behind the display rather than bulky cables running to the closest PC. Do they need to schedule? Consider a media player/software bundle such as Scene Studio or Viewsonic's DisplayIt!.  

Tip 4 - Is your customer nervous about creating their own content? For most small deployments of 1-4 displays, a user friendly Content Management software is more than ample. You can bill your services by setting up some play lists for your customer. Service is all margin.  Prepare and familiarize yourself with at least one Content Management brand and lead with it.  Stampede can provide the training for you if you are not sure where to go.

Tip 5 - Every solution will need cabling. There is no reason that you have to have ugly cables running up and down the walls. Vision TechConnect module packages help you create the professional multimedia cable hookups close to the display that look great and are expandable for future projects. Or try RapidRun for an all in one digital signage cable solution. Look for more Digital Signage products and opportunities from Stampede this quarter.

Christina Smith
Product Manager