Top 10 Ways to Foster Engagement in Digital Signage
Digital signage is more than just a screen—it's a dynamic platform that, when used effectively, can foster innovation, boost collaboration, and enhance organizational engagement. Across industries like hospitality, healthcare, retail, and corporate environments, digital signage adapts to meet diverse communication needs. To create impactful engagement, organizations must combine behavioral psychology with strategic content tailored to specific use cases. This article presents 10 proven methods to spark interaction and participation across sectors.
Top 10 Engagement Methods
1. Personalization at Scale
Human behavior responds better to relevant messaging that feels personal
- Corporate: Tailor leadership messages by department.
- Retail: Customize promotions by store location.
- Healthcare: Share department-specific protocol updates/patient-relevant information based on location and time of day.
- Hospitality: Personalize training tips by property or role / promote customer-first communication that speaks to the brand's personal relationship with the consumer.
2. Interactive Experiences
Use touchscreens, QR codes, or mobile prompts to engage staff and customers
- Retail: Lead Magnets and time-sensitive product offers
- Hospitality: Real-time service polls.
- Healthcare: Training Simulations, Symptom Explorer, Scan-and-Learn
3. Visual Storytelling
Use short videos, animations, or graphics to highlight goals, values, and updates
- Corporate: Culture and DEI storytelling.
- Hospitality: Guest experience highlights.
- Healthcare: Patient Journey Storyboards
4. Real-Time Updates
Display KPIs, compliance alerts, or schedule changes
- Corporate: Live dashboards.
- Retail: Flash sales and targets.
- Healthcare: Emergency alerts and Digital Whiteboard / Digital Health Surveys or Mood Check-ins
5. Recognition and Gamification
Showcase top performers, reward systems, or leaderboard metrics. Spotlight customer successes
- Retail: Sales contests.
- Corporate: Team achievements.
- Hospitality: Service excellence.
- Healthcare: Wellness Trivia and Games / Recognition Boards and Shout-Outs
6. Consistent Branding
- Maintain visual and tonal consistency across all displays to reinforce values and credibility.
- Aligns brand identity internally and externally.
7. Omnichannel Integration
Sync content across mobile apps, email, digital signage, and desktops. Unified messaging has a mission and speaks loudly to purpose
- Corporate: Weekly Culture Themes, Recognition Campaigns, Pulse Survey Nudges
- Retail: Flash Sale Countdown Alerts, Product Drop Sneak Peeks
- Healthcare: Link break room screens to mobile compliance reminders. Promote a WellnessBoost Campaign or moral messaging.
8. User-Generated Content
Invite staff to submit photos, stories, or ideas
- Hospitality: Staff tips and guest stories.
- Corporate: Culture moments.
- Retail: Store celebrations.
9. Localization of Content
Adapt content to language, location, or team culture
- Healthcare: Multilingual safety messaging, Unit specific education, and storyboarding
- Retail: Market-specific promotions. Promote community and family values.
10. Scheduled and Contextual Programming
Time messages for relevance—e.g., shift changes, start of day, break periods
- Hospitality: Training before busy check-ins.
- Corporate: Motivational starts to the week.
- Healthcare: Nuance the delivery of Wellness messaging around meal times
Driving Engagement Through Innovation and Collaboration
Digital signage networks aren't just for broadcasting—they're a medium for two-way communication, idea sharing, and creative collaboration.
Fostering Innovation:
- Highlight innovation challenges, ideation contests, or staff-submitted ideas.
- Create "Innovation Corner" segments featuring new processes, technologies, or success stories.
- Rotate inspiring content from R&D teams or employee-led pilots.
- Display QR codes linking to internal feedback forms or innovation portals to collect ideas in real time.
- Showcase visual prototypes, beta test results, or interactive product maps on digital displays.
Innovation often happens at the behest of perspective. Don't be afraid to look outside the organization for new and unique ways to enhance your communications strategy.
Promoting Collaboration:
- Use signage to recognize cross-functional projects and team efforts.
- Feature rotating "Team of the Month" spotlights with photos, success metrics, and shared goals.
- Announce collaborative training sessions or workshops and prompt sign-ups via QR codes.
- Use digital signage as a unifier across multi-location operations by synchronizing collaborative themes, goals, or internal campaigns.
- Share progress updates on company-wide initiatives and show how different departments are contributing.
Here are a few other industry-specific examples of Promoting Collaboration:
- Corporate: Broadcast internal innovation accelerators, intrapreneurship challenges, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
- Retail: Display customer insights contributed by sales teams or feedback-driven product enhancements.
- Healthcare: Highlight nurse-led improvements in patient care protocols and cross-department care coordination.
- Hospitality: Feature new service design initiatives inspired by front-line staff.
By using digital signage networks as a hub for innovative thinking and team synergy, organizations can create a culture that celebrates progress, encourages contribution, and builds momentum across every screen.
Getting Started with Engagement
- Start Small: Pilot a high-impact area (e.g., staff lounge, entrance).
- Track and Adapt: Use engagement analytics to refine.
- Build Feedback Loops: Include QR surveys, comment prompts, or rotating UGC slots.
There are two distinct types of signage networks: the ones people care about and those they don't. I have installed signage for enterprise clients who only put them up simply because they were expected to (just part of the construction process). I have read that 55% of companies don't have a dedicated team or a specific strategy. They are very happy to get a few simple slides up that rotate some static messaging, all while being secretly relieved that no one is asking anymore why the TVs aren't on.
Our opinion is to make the most of every interaction and embrace the truth that it's a journey, not necessarily a destination. "Track and Adapt" is a constant, and if you are doing it right, you have developed a self-perpetuating model that embraces constant refinement and change. If you don't make things interesting, trust me, they won't be…
The previous examples have been some simple ideas for promoting engagement. For MSNY, "Promoting Engagement" means getting folks to participate in full-duplex interactions. If your expectation is to engage people at this level, you should know your messaging needs to be authentic, genuine, and to the point. You need to be clear about your value proposition from the outset while demonstrating the utmost respect for the audience's time.
This type of engagement is as much about listening as message broadcasting. Asking folks to share their opinions, concerns, successes, and pain points all needs to be part of a greater purpose. We would all like to achieve greater compliance, more sales, and greater efficiency, but deep down, those successes mean so much more when they are tied to the betterment of the world around us. A big part of your messaging should always be to empower your teams or clients. Start by letting them know they are part of something bigger, something special, and that they belong; these feelings are at the core of our decision-making process and can help motivate and inspire real action. Keep it simple; "Find the good and pick a goal" this is a great place to start.
A personal favorite at the top of our tool list is Photo Engagement. MSNY provides a variety of custom photo engagement solutions for brand activation and event entertainment. We offer selfie kiosks, photo booths, or roaming brand ambassadors to promote events like weddings, restaurants, trade shows, and nightclubs. Photos are branded for the events or locations and delivered to the users via SMS or email. We find this to be a great tool for developing an open dialog with potential clients and customers.
Need some help getting started or refreshing your digital signage strategy? Are you looking outside the organization for innovation and fresh ideas? Our team offers guidance and support tailored to your industry needs—whether you're in corporate, healthcare, retail, or hospitality. As a primer, try launching a Photo Engagement Wall to spotlight people, moments, and milestones. We provide turnkey campaigns that include concept development, sales, installation, and service. All of our campaigns include quantifiable metrics to refine delivery and measure success, this approach is baked into every project we get involved with.
Looking for a deeper strategy? Check out our companion article:
Developing a Digital Communications Strategy and Effective Execution Plan
Our Mantra is "Technology Made Simple". Our goal here was to provied an intuitive list and roadmap that can be adopted by busy stakeholders who have more responsibility than experience. Please give it a quick read; it highlights our simple approach.
