Project Planning – Planning is made easier with a timetable of events, clear instructions to all the relevant people and good communication between all parties.

‘Too many cooks can spoil the broth.’ If possible, delegate one person who has final say on decisions for the project. Not only will this make things quicker and easier, but when the project finishes, it will be clearer and more complete than if several people all try to pull in their own direction.

Clear Goals and Measurement – Successful digital signage achieves what it sets out to do. This is an obvious statement, but it is important to remember at the beginning and throughout the project.

Write down what aims you have for the digital signage and think about ways of measuring how they are achieved. If you are using digital signage to promote the sale of a product, then monitor how sales compare without digital signage and with digital signage.

The Right Software and Hardware – Make sure your screens and player servers are up to the length of time they’ll be running and the environment they'll be used in. Digital signage servers need to be more powerful than standard PCs, being able to cope with high usage for extended periods of time. The best servers are custom built for the job they do.

Software is key to the flexibility of your signage. You’ll want to be able to change things, add things, time it perfectly and fit it all together exactly as you want. For multiple screens, think about how you are going to update them all simultaneously. Good software will drastically improve the effect of your digital signage.

Content – It’s obvious, but what, how, when and where it is shown is vital to getting the message right. Having content playing in the wrong place is a waste of your message. Poor or incorrect content where everyone can see it is also a waste of your digital signage network.

Good content takes time and planning; plus an awareness of your message, audience and environment to get it right.

Ongoing Support – Once digital signage is installed, good support will keep things moving smoothly and cope with any changes. Deployment of new content, hardware upgrades and software updates will be required and support will ensure seamless integration without disruption to your business.

Good support keeps the screens running, fixes any problems and means you end up with a continual, updated and functional digital signage solution.