Why use a headless CMS as digital signage software

Brands need to connect online and offline messaging and branding more seamlessly than ever before. Digital signage helps with that at physical locations, live events, popup stores, and brick-and-mortar locations. In fact, the digital signage market is booming, and according to ReportLinker, The global digital signage market is expected to hit $29.8 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2018 to 2024.

Digital signage is a great way to promote your brand and get in touch with potential customers. If you are not sure how to go about this, we recommend using a headless CMS for digital signage software. Headless CMSs offer some significant benefits that will help you create an effective digital marketing campaign. 

With the use of headless CMS software, these large displays are managed and updated from remote locations with ease. This post discusses how a headless CMS platform can deliver increased productivity and greater efficiency in managing data across multiple devices.

What is digital signage software?

We have all seen digital signage in action. Walk into any airport, and you will be greeted by a series of screens displaying flight information, advertisements, or even the latest news headlines. 

A digital sign can display text, animations, or videos using digital signage software. Remotely managed displays, such as TVs, computer monitors, and networks of electronic signs, provide content delivery. A sign like this is usually intended for the public, like on a billboard outside a restaurant, and advertising with digital signage has become a popular marketing strategy to enhance the customer experience.

Here are some sectors that can leverage digital signage in their business:

• Restaurants: Chain restaurants use digital displays to showcase menus, wait times, and special offers. With digital signage displays, consumers can view something more attractive than the head of the person in front of them. Plus, restaurants can also leverage digital signage to gather feedback from customers and learn their preferences.
  

• Fitness centers: Digital signage can be a great way to communicate with customers and entertain them at gyms and other fitness facilities. Digital displays are used in thousands of gyms and fitness centers to inform users about upcoming events, demonstrate proper use of fitness equipment, and make workout routines more enjoyable with fun, interactive elements.
  
  

• Retail: Digital signage in retail stores helps customers find items, informs them about sale prices, and enhances the customer's experience. Kiosks and interactive shop windows enable an innovative product showcase and delights customers.
  
  

• Hospitality: Digital signage makes the use of interactive technologies possible. For instance, in digital signage devices equipped with cameras, it's possible to use face recognition to provide personalized information to guests or visitors before they interact with the display. Also, digital signage can help guests find relevant information to enhance the customer experience.
  

If you have a headless CMS, you don't need digital signage software

Display screens and internet connections have made it possible for companies of all sizes to create digital signage areas that can reach a wide audience. Additionally, these platforms can be used for targeting specific market segments, either based on region, income, age, or some other economic or demographic factor

While shipping to various digital formats through signage and multimedia is hard, creating compelling brand experiences shouldn't be. It doesn't matter how many permutations and installations you have to do; a headless CMS can jumpstart your digital signage and sharply reduce the need for third-party software to deliver information to your customers and consumers. 

Let's take a look at why a headless CMS can supersede traditional digital signage software:

• API-first content delivery: One of the benefits of an API-first headless CMS is that it can fulfill many web content management and delivery roles, including the role of digital signage software.
  
  
• Content hub capabilities: A headless CMS acts as a content hub for all content, and it can deliver content via APIs to any presentation layer; this includes digital signage, screens, and projectors. 
  
  
• Holistic solution: A headless CMS opens the door for other channels besides traditional digital signage such as IoT-powered devices and in-vehicle displays. 

• Simplified omnichannel content delivery: A headless CMS makes omnichannel easier. If this is part of your broader strategy, it only makes sense to have a CMS that can handle all current and future channels you plan to add.

• Less moving parts and costs: Using less software will definitely net you some savings. A headless CMS makes traditional digital signage content obsolete and reduces the implementation time.
  

How Storyblok simplifies digital signage content management

Marketer-friendliness

Storyblok helps marketers deliver great digital content and experiences across every platform in a consistent, coherent journey. Storyblok is a marketer-friendly CMS that fulfills the "create once, publish everywhere" promise headless CMSs make. Standalone digital signage software isn't made with marketers in mind. It can provide content delivery, yet lacks features that would give marketers more visibility over the signage.

API-first architecture

Storyblok's API-first architecture separates content from presentation and enables content delivery through API calls to different interfaces. For digital signage, this means that you can create content once in the backend and display it to different signage across your company or business. Plus, in an era of increasing voice-activated interactions, API-first architecture enables companies to deliver content to IoT devices like Alexa. Digital signage software, on its own, lacks the power to connect with next-gen devices to deliver connected digital experiences.

Improved flexibility

Storyblok enables users to store and deliver content coming in many different media formats. Plus, the CMS can handle content in every possible display resolution, enabling businesses to build all kinds of digital signage or work with the ones they have with confidence. Unlike traditional digital signage software that struggles with new screen types and sizes, Storyblok can display almost anything.

Visual editor

Storyblok's visual editor enables content editors and marketers to edit content in context. One of the drawbacks of the headless architecture is that it lacks content preview features. Storyblok enables headless delivery of content but takes it to the next level by enabling live content previews that won't alter the content structure of the actual website.

Content scheduling and content playlists

Using Storyblok's interactive editor, you can set a schedule for your releases after you've created them while also specifying to which device they will go and when. Storyblok's visual editor enables marketers and content editors to create and schedule content and create playlists with different media formats. This is something with which digital signage software struggles as many tools enable you to create and create playlists but lack advanced scheduling capabilities for content delivery at specific moments of the day.

If you want to learn more about how Storyblok enables you to connect next-gen IoT-powered products, read more here: Storyblok: A headless CMS for all IoT your needs.