Why Digital Signage?
It’s a new reality. We are seeing a wide range of signs, from straightforward to elaborate, static signs to ones that integrate complex systems. Digital signage is becoming more and more of a critical part of doing business, while its usage is also getting progressively innovative. Interactive kiosks are now part of the landscape. QR codes are now ubiquitous.
Right now, digital signage is typically delivered with a mix of software and hardware, either open source or proprietary, and usually in a closed ecosystem.
The global digital signage market was estimated to be 23 billion USD in 2021. For many store owners and small businesses, the first order of starting a business is to order a website and get digital signage inside the store. Usually, the digital signage in the stores reflects the same content as the website. Heck, the look and feel of the digital signage should be consistent with the website.
Why not WordPress?
WP is the face of the internet and therefore the face of the virtual world. WP professionals, either solo, through marketing agencies, or inside companies, create this virtual face. But why only the virtual face and not the physical front, too? The best approach has always been consistency in messaging between the two. When the business owner has to change content, there’s only one place to call.
We believe you can deliver digital signage using an open ecosystem such as WordPress. We have many good tools to put content onto a screen, we have an ecosystem that allows many contributors to add value, offering many options to get things done, based on the skill of the implementer and the needs of the client.
WordPress has a large ecosystem of plugins and themes for users to create content. Most of that can be leveraged to also build digital signages. If the user prefers to stay with the newer block architecture, there are generic block packages such as GenerateBlocks, Kadence, Genesis Blocks, etc as a starting point. There are also many block themes such as WordPress own Twenty Twenty Two, Tove, Ona, eStory, and many more.
Users are not limited to blocks or block themes, we have very successfully used classic plugins and themes in digital signage, usually with the “short code” block that comes with WordPress.
WordPress’s custom block capability can also be a major tool in digital signage development. Here, the user has the opportunity to use open technology such as ACF Blocks… technologies well known and supported by WordPress professionals, to develop their custom requirements.
With an ecosystem such as WordPress to support it, we should be able to move innovation even faster. WordPress developers should be able to build digital signage with open ecosystem tools and with the freedom to choose how to implement it according to the needs of the client and the team. WordPress agencies should be able to leverage the double whammy of vitual and physical world presences to build enduring relationships with their clients.
This should be an interesting and rewarding journey.