It's 2025, and you wake up with a low-grade fever and a runny nose. Time to take a trip to your local doctor's office or Urgent Care.
Once you get there, you need to check in using one of the stand-alone kiosks, before your name enters the system. As you take a seat, you notice your name and check-in time on the waitlist monitor and a second monitor showing various bits of information.
In a matter of seconds, you seamlessly interacted with three pieces of digital signage.
We know you're probably tired of hearing this, but the pandemic changed everything—including our reliance on digital signage. And this rapid shift has also evolved the way in which we use these technologies today, making them more important than ever before.
With so many different types of digital displays, how can we ensure they are being put to use in a way that provides better experiences? The key lies in understanding which internal and external KPIs to track.
TLDR Key Takeaways
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively an organization is achieving its business objectives. In the realm of digital signage, KPIs are crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of your digital signage content and determining if your audience is engaging with it.
By tracking KPIs, businesses can measure the success or failure of their digital signage strategies, identify errors and shortcomings, simplify A/B tests, and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. This deeper understanding allows businesses to make informed decisions and optimize their digital signage effectiveness.
The S.M.A.R.T method is a proven approach to identifying effective KPIs. S.M.A.R.T stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
This method ensures that the selected KPIs are accurate and relevant. Specific KPIs are directly related to the process they are measuring. Measurable KPIs can be quantified in any unit, allowing for clear tracking. Achievable KPIs have a value that can be realistically reached within the normal course of the process. Realistic KPIs are relevant and appropriate to the process in question.
Time-bound KPIs have a specific period of time to measure target achievement. By applying the S.M.A.R.T method, businesses can ensure their KPIs are well-defined and actionable.
In the context of digital signage, there are several key performance indicators that can provide valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns.
Examples include average dwell time, session count, customer engagement, conversion rates, sales, and brand awareness. Average dwell time measures how long viewers spend looking at your digital screens, while session count tracks the number of interactions with your digital displays. Customer engagement KPIs assess how effectively your content captures and retains audience attention.
Conversion rates measure the percentage of viewers who take a desired action, such as making a purchase. Sales KPIs track the revenue generated from your digital signage campaigns, and brand awareness KPIs measure the extent to which your brand is recognized and remembered by your audience. By tracking these KPIs, businesses can gain valuable information about their digital signage campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimize performance.
We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but the days of static digital content are numbered. And while some of you might make a solid argument in its favor, the writing’s on the wall—no pun intended.
Interactive digital signage is a powerful tool for brands to interact and engage with their customers in new ways. In retail environments, digital signage can be integrated with augmented reality (AR) technology to enhance customer experiences and improve operational metrics such as ROI. And you’re seeing it pop up everywhere—across every industry.
Since the uses for this dynamic content are limitless, it’s an integral part of our future as we race toward building that perfect customer experience.
But how are we measuring the success of our digital signage? The answer depends entirely on the level of customer interaction.
Let’s go back to that Urgent Care.
There are three separate types of digital signage in the waiting room alone. There’s the self-check-in kiosk, the real-time waitlist monitor, and another monitor that filters through a static slideshow of office information and best practices.
Two of those three digital displays are designed to actively engage the customer during their experience, which means that measuring KPIs for them will differ from measuring for static slideshows.
For example, the self-check-in kiosk needs to have a fast dwell time. If patients have to come in and wait in a long line to check in, then they’ll end up interrupting the reception staff, who is busy checking individuals out, thereby disrupting the whole process.
On the contrary, the static slideshow should have a longer dwell time because you want the customers to see the messages multiple times and be able to recall the information. Additionally, you’ll want to track other KPIs to measure the effectiveness of that display.
It all boils down to what the intent or purpose of the individual content. The definition of a successful KPI will vary depending on how the customer is meant to interact with the digital content.
With loads of KPIs to choose from, how do you choose the ones that will really gauge the success of your different digital signage?
Many businesses use the S.M.A.R.T. ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) method to choose their KPIs. Some of the most common KPIs digital signage experts use are:
But just because these are the most common ones, doesn't mean they are the right metric for every scenario.
For example, do you really need to measure the conversion rate of that self-check-in kiosk? What about the session count of the static display? Or the screen traffic of the real-time waitlist?
While it's possible to measure these metrics for each display, the results would be useless. You already know that everyone who completes the check-in process is converting to a patient—that's why they're there in the first place.
The best way to identify the right KPIs for your display is to make sure that the KPIs are relevant and meaningful for measuring whatever goal you have in mind for the display.
For example, the goal of the self-check-in kiosk is to have patients fill out the information and enter it into the system in a timely manner. You want to measure the average dwell time and the session count.
If these processes take too long, you'll want to find ways to streamline this process. Perhaps you could add drop-down menus and auto-fills that allow users to make selections instead of typing out every section of the check-in form. Or maybe you need to add another kiosk.
The bottom line is that you want to make sure your KPIs are actionable and allow you to enhance customer experience.
While KPIs are primarily used for internal teams, there are times when they are displayed directly to customers. But why would you want to give this intimate information to your customers?
Believe it or not, these metrics actually provide a sense of comfort and help build trust in your brand.
For example, the real-time waitlist display allows patients to see the check-in times, appointment times (if applicable), and how long other patients are waiting. This lets them gauge how long they can expect to wait before being seen.
Let's face it. The waiting room is the last place you want to be when you feel sick. So when you see these simple metrics displayed, it's a silent reassurance that the staff is working efficiently and you'll be back home soon enough.
On the other hand, if there are complications that are causing longer wait times, then patients will have direct access to that information which could cause some problems for your staff. So be cautious about which KPIs to share with your customers.
While the KPIs you share with customers will depend on your business and goals, some other popular customer-facing KPIs include:
Like customer-facing displays, digital signage is increasingly being used as a tool to unite teams and improve communication within businesses.
This allows everyone in the company to see how the business is performing and what areas need improvement. It also gives employees a sense of ownership over the business and its success, creating a more positive work environment.
The most common KPIs to display in for internal teams include:
In order to make sure these metrics have maximum impact, make sure the KPIs you choose are relevant to everyone in the company, are updated regularly, and are displayed in clear and concise language so everyone understands them.
Revenue-oriented performance measurement is essential for businesses focused on the financial impact of their digital signage. This method involves tracking KPIs that directly relate to revenue growth and customer acquisition.
Examples of revenue-oriented KPIs include average sales, revenue growth, and customer acquisition costs.
Average sales measure the typical revenue generated per transaction, while revenue growth tracks the increase in revenue over time.
Customer acquisition costs measure the expenses associated with gaining new customers.
By setting up and tracking these revenue-oriented KPIs, businesses can evaluate the effectiveness of their digital signage campaigns in driving financial performance. This data-driven approach allows businesses to make informed decisions and optimize their digital signage strategies to maximize revenue and customer loyalty.
It's easy to build stand-alone displays that feature static information or even some dynamic content and track the KPIs for that digital content. But building a complex network of digital displays that communicate with one another is a whole other ball game.
Let's take one last look at that Urgent Care system.
The whole system starts with that self-check-in kiosk. Once the patient enters their information, it simultaneously connects with two different systems: the real-time waitlist display and the main administrative CRM system.
KPIs like dwell time and response times are recorded and displayed for both internal teams and patients. Once the patient moves back to a room to be seen by the doctor, the systems instantly update, remove the name from one display, and new KPIs are recorded in the admin system.
In order for these systems to effectively communicate with each other, they need to have a software solution, like Wallboard, that allows them to do so.
Wallboard's digital signage solution lets you create and manage intricate systems with ease. All of your digital signage content is housed in a cloud-based CMS that you can access and update from anywhere, making KPI tracking a breeze.
Find out just how easy it is to connect your systems, drive engagement, and get data-driven insights. Schedule a demo.
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