Taking Advantage of Captive Audiences

No matter how good the content on a digital signage display is, there can never be any guarantees that people are reading the message displayed on the sign. Many digital signs around shopping malls, retail parks and other locations often go unnoticed by the people passing by, as do most static adverts in such locations.

For outdoor digital signage, getting content noticed is even harder. Adverts and outdoor screens get barely a glance by most passersby, and that’s if the screens are noticed at all.

Certain locations, however, provide opportunities where screens are almost guaranteed to get viewed, and that is when they are before a captive audience.

A captive audience is an audience that is forced into a place and has no (or very little) option for leaving. We all become captive at certain times of the day: when on a bus or train, waiting in line, or sitting in a doctor’s surgery, and it is these sorts of locations that provide digital signage displays with guaranteed views.

Digital signage and captive audiences

People can’t help but view content in these areas, but the content still needs to be engaging enough to provide enough recall for viewers to engage with what is being promoted.

Another advantage for advertisers in areas with a captive audiences, is that there is often a prescribed demographic. Doctor’s surgeries, for instance, are ideal locations for advertisers to sell pharmaceutical or medicinal products, while a screen in a gas station can display content from motor oil manufacturers with the knowledge that most people who see it will be a car owner.

Captive audience locations are also perhaps the only method of establishing the return of a digital signage investment; few other digital signage installations can guarantee the display is seen. With a captive audience, not only can advertisers be sure the content was viewed, but in many cases, estimations of the number of people that viewed the screen, such as how many people visited a doctor’s surgery, can create  a fairly accurate picture of how effective the display was at boosting sales.

Even outdoor locations can take advantage of captive audiences. People waiting for buses, trains or waiting in line at a theme park have little else to do, which makes these locations perfect for outdoor advertising screens.