Branding is far more than creating a logo or choosing a tagline. Your brand should represent a particular quality of service that promotes a narrative. Marketing efforts led by core values constitute successful branding efforts. Take, for example, Coca Cola. Since its launch in 1892, little has changed. The colors and the brand value remain almost the same.

Digital signage helps in building and maintaining that consistency all brands are looking for. This will help you distinguish your brand from your competitors. Establishing brand identity is a massive initiative. Going for traditional mainstream media for advertising is time-consuming, labor intensive and costly. On the other hand, choosing a LED out-of-home advertising option allows you to present your brand right in front of your target audience. It boosts visibility and promises a certain quality that your target group is looking for.

Say goodbye to “wallpaper” content

Choosing the right content is critical for digital signage. Many companies often resort to "wallpaper" quality images. Their aim to keep the content fresh and mobile. However, these "wallpaper" images are standard. There may be ten other brands, which are using the same images or similar images. These pictures harm your brand image. They curb the effectiveness of your branding efforts.You should not compromise on the quality of content for want of fresh content.

Make your content riveting

It is quite simple – if you have 15% general content, 15% of the times your viewers will see content that does not directly relate to your brand. This promotes distraction. Your target audience is more likely to look away from the screen when relevant information shows up. It is indeed difficult to make sure all slides and images point directly back at you. However, you must remember that the presentation does not have to be riveting throughout. You can pick something as simple as your Facebook link or website link at the bottom of the page containing your brand logo.

Add consistency in variety

How do you manage TVCs [Television Commericals]? You usually go for the same ad film for multiple channels and multiple slots. Think of different out-of-home ad locations as your multiple TV channels. You need to make sure; you are promoting the same content throughout. Familiar signage is critical for reminding your audience that they are in a familiar company. Using a common theme throughout will help you establish a common identity.

Free themes are not interesting enough

Steer clear of ready to use themes from online sources. You may have a theme that came free with your digital signage software, but your customers will see it as lousy. It may also be boring, and that is an adjective you don't want your brand to relate to. You need to keep your theme relevant and crisp just like your brand.

Here, we again go back to the idea of consistency. You need to maintain parity between the fonts, colors, and filters between all your slides. Even if ten different people are involved in creating ten slides, you need to make sure the entire ad looks continuous. You do not want the look to vary between each slide. That is plain ugly!

Establish consistency for your brand

You should invest a little time and money for customizing your slides. Each brand should have its style guide. A detailed study of fonts, colors, logo designs and placement. Depending on what your company does, you can select appropriate fonts and colors. For example – if you are advertising for a dance studio, you definitely cannot go for a TV menu board. Checking all fonts with character sets is very important for designing successful out of home advertising campaigns. Include the CMYK and Pantone codes for each color in addition to Hex codes.

Get your styling guide

Logos can have different forms for different uses. Logos can lose their effect if you reduce the size too much. In most branding events, companies choose a simplified form of their logo for constricted places. Judge your options before you set out on your branding venture. Can the logo come in alternate colors? Can the designer put the logo within a box?

Copy-writing guidelines are crucial, however not very specific for digital signage. It is imperative to define how your public perceives your brand. There are certain negations, strong words, and exclamations you should avoid at all costs. Sometimes, you should simply avoid a few catch phrases because they strongly associate with a competitor. Always keep the text short, catchy and upbeat. Study your target demographic before you grab their attention with select words they are likely to use daily.

The key to creating a great content guide is making it readily available for use. They should be in an easily shareable format. While creating them consider sharing them on Google Drive and Gmail. This is true even if you are trying to revamp your old brand. Share your style guide for new designers to get new branding ideas.

Infuse some social media for sure

Branding is not complete without social media. Most brands have established social media guidelines that integrate digital signs to social media marketing. Your Facebook pages and Twitter updates should find a place on your digital signage. Modern digital signage allows display of API that can develop a custom module for each user. This means you can directly display posts from your followers, customers, and reviewers. This establishes the idea that the brand is personable and relatable. It adds a tangible quotient to your brand name. Almost 55% of Americans state that they are likely to be loyal to a brand they follow online.

Branding and consistency closely complement each other. Stay away from the general content. Create content that is unique and truly reflects the personality of your brand. Always strive to create an on-brand experience for your customers.

Author bio: Trudy Seeger is an advertising expert. He specializes in new-age advertising methods like TV menu board, digital signage and narrowcasting. His research sheds new light on the effects of new modes of advertising on ROI and penetration.