Digital Signage Today released a list of its top 10 downloaded publications (see below).

It’s interesting to note that Choosing the Right Digital Signage System is at the top of the list. This fits with what we uncovered in our soon-to-be-published survey of more than 60 European and South African banks.

In the survey, we asked bank marketers about their digital signage plans and experiences. What we discovered is that marketers’ biggest headache in managing content was in the area of localization. Nearly half (48%) of respondents identified this as their greatest content challenge. Other obstacles included “technical challenges” (16%) and “keeping content fresh” (16%).

It’s no wonder these banks are having such a hard time. Two-thirds of the same respondents reported that they use external agencies to produce their digital content.

In theory, there’s nothing wrong with using agencies. However, having agencies produce the bulk of your content and trying to be locally relevant in your messaging is a surefire recipe for trouble. Unless your bank is limited to a small number of branches in a limited geographic area, it’s simply not practical to use a manual process to create, produce and schedule localized content.

Just do the math. If your bank is typical, your setup may look something like this:

• 500 branches
• 5 screens in each
• 20 states
• 4 regions
• 3 time zones
• 3 languages
• 15 product lines
• Quarterly and monthly campaigns
• Centralized and locally based marketing and sales initiatives

Now, how many spots would you need your agency to create (and at what cost?) in order to have adequate localized content for a bank network like this? And what would it take to schedule all these different spots? Finally, how could you possibly hope to keep it all straight?

This is why it is not an overstatement to say that your choice of digital signage software may be the single most important decision you make in setting up your digital signage network. Far more important than flat-panel monitors or network wiring. Simply put, if your software doesn’t directly support and automate your localization efforts, you may not be able to invest enough agency dollars or internal FTEs to make your digital signage effort a success.

Please contact us for a copy of our European Digital Signage Survey when it becomes available later this month.

Digital Signage Today’s top 10 downloaded publications

1. Choosing the right digital signage system
2. Advertising with Digital Signage
3. Software for Digital Signage
4. Digital Signage: Frequently Asked Questions
5. Digital Display Technology
6. Digital Signage and ROI
7. Digital Signage: The State of the Art and the Promise for the Next Five Years
8. Measurement and Analysis for Digital Signage
9. Large-Scale Digital Signage Deployments
10. The Rise of Digital Signage and the Psychology Behind It

Photo credit: jphilipg