Many integrators are aware of the year-over-year growth expected in the digital signage arena. According to Commercial Integrator’s 2012 State of the Industry Report, 66 percent of integrators see digital signage as a growth sector for their businesses in the next year, with over half of those stating that it will make up a substantial portion of that growth.

The challenge for those ambitious integrators, however, will be in competing with manufacturer-direct sales and with big-box stores. The solution is to move the conversation beyond the screen and into the area of content. I teamed up with Jim Nista, creative director of Insteo, a Long Beach, Calif.-based interactive and social media content creator, to generate five things every integrator needs to know about selling digital signage.

Digital Signage is a Marketing Tool
Be prepared to wage your sales effort on the marketing front. If you find yourself starting the conversation with the IT director and talking about hardware, you are probably in the wrong place. “The smartest integrators are realizing they need end-to-end solutions that include, most importantly, the creative and messaging on the screen itself,” Nista says.

Marketing is About the Message, not the Technology
Companies have a story to tell and a message to deliver. They don’t care about things like nits, resolution and I/O ports, except in the context of how their message is received by their potential customers. In Insteo’s experience, clients “don’t care about what’s making the screen work,” Nista says. “They [just] want to know what results the content will deliver.”

Interactivity Breaks Through the Noise
“It’s time to go interactive everywhere,” Nista writes in the-123 Blog. I agree and I have been preaching this frequently for A/V systems in general. The more senses you engage, the more people remember the message and the stickier it becomes, creating revenue and driving ROI , which can be a great closing tool when talking to decision makers. With PCs behind almost every screen now, content and hardware that enable touch, gesture tracking, eye tracking, text to screen, social media posts and check-ins and the like should be a major part of every proposal.

Content Providers are Strategic Partners, not Competitors
At least, they’re not typically competitors. Integrators should reach out to content providers and develop relationships that enable collaboration on future projects. They are well versed in telling the “content” story and in dealing with marketing departments. Taking a representative from the content provider’s firm to your meeting with a client will increase your own credibility; it shows you understand that this sale is about the message, and that your hardware components are the conduit to deliver that message.

“Sometimes accounts approach us directly, looking for a full service solution,” Nista says. “In these cases, our first outreach is to an integrator, since we know we won’t win the project without a strong technical partner. Other times, integrators approach us. They have the account, but their expertise is getting the system up and running, not developing a winning content strategy.”

Recurring Revenue is Essential
Nista knows from his experiences with integrators that many are focused on increasing their revenue through service contracts. “Sophisticated integrators know they have to stand out to win both the project and the ever-important recurring revenue opportunities. We are pioneering a content-as-a-service model to help reduce initial setup fees for clients, and our partners take advantage of recurring commissions.”

By understanding and acting upon these items, integrators can assure that they’re telling a story that will resonate with marketing executives. That increases the value of what integrators offer them. This strategy will increase revenues for the integrator in initial hardware, installation and recurring revenue as well as increase revenues for clients by delivering an uber-effective marketing system.

About the author

Mark Coxon

Mark started his technology career at IBM in 2000 before migrating into AV integration in early 2002. He currently works at Orange ProAV, a division of Mad Systems Inc., where he helped the company transition from the niche Museum marketplace to the corporate, education, government, and retail markets. Mark lives in Orange County with Lesley, his wife of 11 years and his 3 children.

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