The Benefits of Digital Signage for Bars

One of the most promising fields for the use of digital signage technology is the food and services industry. Both restaurants and bars are seeing massive gains in foot traffic and sales after integrating this technology into their physical establishments.

It surely is not news to longtime bar owners that they are operating in a competitive industry, where the shifting desires of the populace need to be reflected in order to keep the business as successful as possible. One of the best ways to differentiate your business from other bars is the effective use of digital signage.

This article will go over many of the most important benefits that bars can reap by integrating digital signage into their business model, benefits that translate to better marketing, an improved customer experience, increased customer engagement, and, of course, a better bottom line.

What is Digital Signage

Digital signage refers to the use of digital screens, such as flat-screen televisions, LED walls, interactive kiosks, and tablets, in conjunction with a digital signage solution, which includes digital signage hardware and software, templates, and playlist functionality, to display digital content.

The type of digital content a digital signage solution enables you to show on your digital signs is incredibly diverse and versatile and can have outstanding visual appeal. Types of content can include social media walls with real-time social media feeds, eye-catching images, text, digital menu boards, animations, videos, apps, wayfinding content, and so much more!

With so many uses and such a high degree of functionality, there is no wonder that businesses around the globe are hoping onto the trend at full speed. The best part is that digital signage, when applied correctly, can truly bring about some outstanding results that both your bottom line and customers will feel.

So what is needed to set up a digital signage system?

The Digital Signage Set-up

Luckily, getting a digital signage system set up is relatively simple, especially if you get a user-friendly digital signage solution like that offered by Loop TV. Here's a brief explanation of all the tools you will need for a digital signage system.

The first thing that you will need is a digital display or multiple digital displays. These can range anywhere from TVs, to LCD video walls, to tablets, to billboards. If you are trying to set up digital signage for your coffee shop or cafe, you likely won’t need to make use of something as big as a billboard, but you may very well take advantage of multiple screens of multiple sizes in a strategic way to employ your digital signage most effectively.

The next thing that you will need is a wall mount for your digital signs. Wall mounts are great because they make the digital signs more visible to your customers and save valuable floor space. Moreover, unless you are using a digital signage kiosk, mounted screens simply look more professional than screens that are placed on the floor.

The final step is getting a good digital signage solution. Digital signage solutions are generally split up into two categories. The first is cloud-based digital signage. With a cloud-based digital signage solution, you will do things like content management, playlist curation, and image display through a remote server belonging to the solution’s company that you will have access to through the cloud.

Typically, these kinds of solutions will charge an ongoing monthly or yearly fee for their services and your use of their server space. Alternatively, the second option is a hardware-based digital signage solution. With this option, you will be sent a physical-digital signage media player with accompanying software with all the templates and functionality you need for on-base content management, content creation, playlist curation, and content display.

You will have to decide for yourself which of these two options gel best with your establishment and workflow. After getting all the hardware and digital signage solution set up, you should be all set for displaying visually pleasing images of drinks, burgers, and whatever else you sell at yur bar.

Bar Digital Signage: The Benefits

1. Increased Foot Traffic

When people pass by stores looking for a place to get some food or eat, they are often bombarded with a plethora of options. What makes someone choose one restaurant and bar over another? The answer to this question is certainly complex.

A business's web presence, as well as the reviews for the business, are certainly becoming increasingly important. However, one of the main factors is the aesthetics of the business.

When people see traditional static signs, they usually pass them by unnoticed. People are so used to seeing static signs that even a well-designed static sign will often not catch the attention of someone walking by.

On the other hand, digital signage gives bar owners the ability to create eye-catching and visually stimulating signs that are sure to capture the attention of people walking by. Unlike static signs, digital signage technology allows the user to employ images, text, videos, animations, interactive apps, and much more. You can get really creative with the sign that you put in front of the store.

The importance of having a good sign in front of your store really can not be overestimated. It's like a first impression. If the sign is attractive and enticing, then people will habitually associate that with the rest of your establishment.

Even if they don’t go into your bar at that time, the image will stick in their memory and they will be more likely to think of your store the next time they are planning on a place to get drinks and food.

2. Optimize Your Menu

Some of the most popular uses of digital signage in bars and restaurants are digital menu boards. Digital menu boards have many benefits over traditional stationary menus and paper menus. With digital menu boards, you can show your menu with a design that best fits the aesthetic of your establishment, while also making it far more visible to customers.

Another great aspect of digital menu boards is that they allow you to use pictures and videos. You can show off your offerings with mouth-watering videos, and you can help upsell products that you are particularly keen on selling.

Additionally, digital menu boards have been shown to reduce perceived wait times. Everyone knows how stressful it can be when you are at a busy bar and just can’t seem to catch the bartenders eye to order the drink that you want. Well, by creating entertaining and visually pleasing digital menu boards, people will feel like they are waiting for less time than they actually are.

Moreover, you can update your menu on the fly. Need to make a quick change to your menu? With digital signage, you can do it instantly. Whether you’re launching new specials, need to make a few price adjustments, or want to show off delectable imagery of your top sellers, you’ll have the flexibility you need to do all that and more.

Does your restaurant have different menus throughout the day? Seamlessly switch between breakfast, lunch, dinner without any hassle. (Oh, and don’t forget about Happy Hour.)

3. Better Event Promotion

A great way to attract customers to your bar is through hosting events. These could be live bands, disco nights, beer tastings, or the next big sports event. Because digitally signage is so good at catching people’s attention, it is one of the best tools that bars havae for promoting the events that they will be holding at their bar.

Moreover, if you bar holds a lot of events, then digital signage will make your life so much easier because you won’t have to keep making trips to the print shop, and additionally, you can correct mistakes in no time at all instead of having to get the whole poster reprinted.

Digital signage can also give a liveliness to the promotions that you can’t get with other mediums. You can make you events look way more appealing with the use of videos, moving text, and graphics, better giving the person looking at the promotion a feel for what the event might actually feel like.

That's a lot better incentive to go to an event than seeing a poster where one is left making a gamble about whether it's the type of event that they would want to attend.

The bottom line is, once you start using digital signage to promote your events, it is very likely that you will see the attendance at your events shoot up. This doesn’t just mean more sales.

People who attend events at a particular event are generally more inclined to become loyal customers as they feel themselves becoming part of a community. Getting people to walk in the door once is great, but getting them to come back again and again is a true achievement.

4. Create an Immersive Environment

Digital signage is large, vibrant, and can be used for a multitude of purposes beyond showing off the menu. For starters, its very presence adds a modern feel to your establishment. Using it in creative ways can act as an extension of your brand from both a content and design perspective. It adds an attractive digital element to your in-store experience, creating a more dynamic environment for the customer to be in.

5. Generate Customer Engagement with Social Media

As many businesses in the food industry are realizing, it is extremely important to have a well-thought-through online presence, which includes a website as well as social media accounts. But why not bring a bit of the digital age into the store itself?

One great functionality afforded by digital signage software is the ability to display real-time social media feeds from people posting on various accounts about your bar or your brand. This is a self perpetuating process. When people in your bar see that people are posting about your bar and tagging the bar, they will also be inclined to make posts taking the bar.

This increases customer engagement because they can see their posts appear on your digital screens in real time. Moreover, it is a great way to make use of word of mouth marketing.

Additionally, you can add the usernames of your own accounts on the screen so people can follow you, growing your base of followers that you can reach out to about events, deals, promotions, and various other updates, effectively keeping your customer base engaged and informed both inside your establishment and outside it.

6. Keep Your Customers Entertained

Bars have the freedom to display highly entertaining content on their screens. This might include TV or music videos. For sports bars, it is not uncommon to see entire walls covered with different sports matches. The thing is, you can choose the right type of content to show that you feel will best fit your brand image.

7. Advertising Revenue

A great way to make some extra money for your bar is to use your digital signage technology to display advertisements. In fact, there are many many companies that would love to get advertising space within a bar, especially if it is commonly frequented.

If you are displaying cable TV to people, they are already being exposed to ads for which your business does not reap any of the profit. It only makes sense that if you are providing the audience for the ads, you should be compensated, and that's exactly what you can do with digital signage.

Raising the Bottom Line

Digital signage is such a dynamic and versatile technology that the benefits that a business can get from its proper use are practically boundless. A successful bar is always trying to get new customers and create loyal customers, and with the improved experience that digital signage affords, this process becomes a lot easier and more beneficial.