Q&A from our Digital Signage webinar with Rolls-Royce

The minute our webinar with Rolls-Royce ended last week, we have received awesome feedback and inquiries about using digital signage in corporate communication. I was blown away not just by the interest but the types of companies who listened in. But due to some technical difficulties, we weren't able to answer any of the questions at the end of the webinar.

As promised, here is the list of questions asked. A few of the questions were very similar so I've combined them in the Q&A below. The answers with CG at the start are mine and LJ's answers can be attributed to Lisa Johnson, our special guest from Rolls-Royce.

Can we leverage our own screens and just purchase the content management solution?

CG: Most likely yes, but it does depend on the screens. If they are current LCDs, Plasmas or other 16:9 video devices, then we can retrofit those with our component player. The component player has all of the same features that our all-in-one digital signage provides but uses your existing screens.

Did it take some time for employees to pay attention to the boards? We have a similar system up and running, but many employees ignore it.

CG: At initial installation, getting attention was not a problem. But over time, just like other communication vehicles, it's up to the communicator to maintain those interest levels. But there will always be employees who ignore various communication methods. Not everybody picks up a newsletter. Not everybody looks at the intranet. The idea is to provide content that's easy for employees to notice.

Do you use your digital board to cross-reference your other communication vehicles?

LJ: Of course. Because no one communication method is perfect, we use each to tease content to the other. When a newsletter comes out, we let our employees know on our digital signage network. And when more information can be found on our intranet, we let people know on our digital signage. This is easy to do since all employee communications gets funneled through us.

Is there any approval process you go through for your content, before it's posted or are you, Lisa, given "free range."

LJ: For the most part, I am given free range. But I know what's allowed to be communicated and what's not allowed. Content for our digital signage network isn't treated any differently than we would treat content for our intranet or other publications.

Can you different content to different monitors?

CG: Most definitely. This is a key feature that some customers take advantage of, but others don't. You can simply broadcast the same message to every screen if you want. Or you can deliver certain pieces of content to certain screens. It's all about getting the right message to the right employees at the right time.

Is there a presentation on ROI to get a buy-in from senior management?

CG: Not right now, but we'd be happy to have the conversation with you. And also that's a great idea for a future digital signage webinar.

What evidence/stats do you have of employees reviewing the snippets and then following through to full item on intranet?

LJ: The evidence we have is a very soft ROI that ties back to employee engagement. We look to see if a focus on certain content (no matter which vehicle) improves any of our key performance indicators.

CG: This is the million dollar question for not just corporate communicators. While there is no direct calculation that can take place (like retailers can at point of purchase), you can look at various metrics to see if there is any improvement. I also highly recommend conducting focus groups with employees to discuss content on the screens and whether or not they like it. At the end of the day, it's not important if they like it or not. It's more important if they notice it.

If you missed out on the webinar altogether, don't fret. You can watch a replay of the session.