How Digital Menu Boards Drive the Customer Experience
In today’s world, digital signage is ubiquitous in the restaurant industry. It’s somewhat surprising to see a restaurant that doesn’t have any digital signage. This is normally reserved small mom-and-pop restaurants.
That’s because word is out, and has been out for a while now, that digital signage brings a wide range of business boosting benefits. One of the most impactful of which is driving the customer experience from the moment they enter your restaurant.
Read about the highlights of how digital signage accomplishes this and why it’s important to know.
Digital Menus Boards Provide a More Engaging Experience
The difference between traditional menus and digital menu boards is clear enough for anyone to see. Videos and moving graphics draw attention much more effectively than static signs ever can.
Video content delivers far more information than static images can, and allows viewers to get a much greater sense of what’s being portrayed. Plus, with people constantly looking at their phones these days, static menus aren’t going to be able to draw their attention away from their phones.
Digital signs, however, have the engaging visual elements that displays on smartphones have. This is a more attractive way to present content that will simply work better in the digital age.
All of these points are obvious enough. But what isn’t quite as obvious on the surface are the things that accompany the experience of viewing digital content in restaurants. Viewing digital menu boards includes some intangible long-term benefits that can sometimes be overlooked, such as how it affects customer loyalty.
Garnering Customer Loyalty with Digital Menu Boards
Digital content allows customers to engage more and take in the information they’re being shown. It allows them to develop a deeper appreciation for your restaurant, it’s food, and its culture. Saying that ingredients are fresh on a sign doesn’t come close to being able to show the path your produce took from farm to table, for example.
And in the case of touchscreen kiosks, customers can actually interact with your content. Customer loyalty programs can be highlighted on overhead digital menu boards, digital self-service kiosks, or both. That way customers will be informed that they can save long-term by simply signing up and ordering as usual.
An enhanced and superior experience, from arriving at your restaurant all the way to eating, will provide increased customer satisfaction. And of course, the more satisfied your customers are, the more likely they are to become repeat customers.
Take Full Advantage of the Medium
One of the most common mistakes that restaurants that are new to digital signage make is displaying their old static menus on their new digital signs. While having digital signage by itself can help some, you still have to have compelling and high-quality digital content to deploy on your screens.
Be sure to use high-res video and consider the message that you want to deliver with each piece of content. That will help you create a more successful digital signage strategy.
Then, experiment to find out what works best. Use your digital screens to promote products, upsell, and cross-sell. Make a deliberate effort through your content to increase customer cart sizes through adds, promos, and tempting offers. Through this alone, you should see an increase in sales.
Easier to Manage and More Efficient
Your digital menu boards can be controlled remotely through your CMS (content management system), meaning you can amend content on the fly wherever you may be. This saves a lot of time compared to manually changing out poster boards. Plus, it doesn’t involve wasteful and repetitious printing processes.