The biggest digital signage challenge banks face

Branch banking is, by definition, a “local” experience, but financial institutions are struggling to incorporate digital signage to make the most of it, according to a recent research study.

Seven Canadian banks were among the 204 firms representing 32 countries featured in the 2013 Digital Signage in Retail Financial Services report published in May by Minneapolis, Minn.-based marketing firm John Ryan. While the overall adoption of interactive displays by banks was described as “skyrocketing” at 60 percent of respondents (with a further 20 percent planning to deploy digital signage in the next one to two years), overall satisfaction so far was middling at “moderate” by more than 50 percent of those surveyed.

The key challenges, other than technical problems with content management systems and the cost of content, was around localization and segmentation across digital signs. In other words, banks are having a hard time figuring out the best way to make sure what a customer sees on a sign in a given bank is highly relevant to their specific area. North American banks said this was a bigger problem than in Europe, where it ranked higher than 55 percent.

“While banks cite message localization as one of the top 3 reasons for adopting digital signage, most have yet to do so. Indeed, the number of banks that are localizing messages has actually decreased since our last survey,” the report said. “Among banks that engage in message localization, half say they have faced challenges in doing so. Targeting methods continue to be quite basic, with region- or branch-level targeting far surpassing more sophisticated, data-driven targeting approaches.”

Although the Ryan report doesn’t spell out any quick solutions to this problem, there are hints of it buried deeper in the research.

Think first, install second: Only about half of firms in the global study said they had developed a programming strategy prior to deploying interactive displays. If localization is discussed earlier on in the process, it might be easier to brainstorm ideas that can be quickly implemented.

Nothing is more local than social media: A sidebar in the report notes that not one of the financial institutions surveyed were integrating feeds from Twitter or Facebook into their digital signage. This could be a missed opportunity — why not think about Twitter lists that showcase the best financial advice from local newspapers and bloggers, or community news from key corporate customers?

Old signs are less relevant signs: 65 percent of banks said they were updating their digital signs bi-monthly, monthly or less frequently. Localized information doesn’t have to be time-sensitive, but even a weather widget would give customers more reasons to look at digital signs in their branch more frequently.

Think local, act mobile: Only five percent of banks are thinking about the impact of mobile on digital signs, even though the majority of people walking into a branch are probably carrying a smartphone. Financial institutions should get ahead of this trend before it gets ahead of them.

There’s lots more data about digital signage in banks, their challenges and short-term adoption outlook in the John Ryan report, which can be accessed here.