In the world of local marketing, engagement is the name of the game. What good is a brilliant promotion if the audience – that is, your consumers – are unwilling or unable to act on it? When that happens, you've wasted time, effort and money for no guarantee of sales growth. As a marketer, you've got to use every tool at your disposal to move customers.

Here, there's good news: Digital displays, beacons and software have all shifted the balance in favor of the marketer. With better ways to reel in the consumer and offer the most relevant information at the perfect time, businesses stand a better chance of improving engagement. For the purpose of this article, let's talk about how a digital transformation has bolstered the front lines of marketing engagement.

Digital display ads hold consumers' attention longer
When one of your customers takes a second to stop what she's doing and glance at your ad, it's a pivotal moment. Marketing blog 60 Second Marketer estimates consumers' eyes rest on the average print ad for a mere 2 seconds. That simply won't cut it. But now consider your average place of business – signs everywhere, customers milling about, no one stopping to really take in what's being promoted.

Digital signage flips the script. They're no longer passive signs, hoping to catch an eye – they can go out and grab customers' attention, much in the same way a video that plays automatically in your Facebook newsfeed has a better chance of engaging users than a static banner ad. Much like the Facebook video, digital displays are right where your customers are focusing their attention – in the store. Which brings us to our next point:

It's getting harder to make a sale
Shoppers are getting more and more savvy. Think about your own shopping experience – you expect to be bombarded by ads, you expect those ads to have little bearing on your decisions and you understand there is a distinct possibility you'll leave the store without finding what you're looking for. Forbes found that millennials, in particular, just don't respond to static ads.

Proximity marketing is here to change all that. Digital signs can be programmed to align with seasonal offerings, current promotions, popular pairings – anything that might drive sales. Crucially, this gives marketers the ability to change their message on a whim, even several times in the same day, to match demand and customer preferences. It's a level of engagement that was once just a pipe dream. To learn more about how digital signage can give your business a better way to reach the customer base, request a demo with the professionals at Digital Social Retail.

There's something to be said for the tangible authenticity that brick-and-mortar stores offer – it's something they do far better than their web counterparts. But where the classic, timeless, in-person approach can fail is in results-driven marketing engagement. No matter how quaint your storefront may be, it won't tell potential customers what they need to know regarding sales, products, hours or other actionable information.

What some of these stores are missing is a surefire way to catch consumers' attention, deliver relevant information, promote the company brand and do all that without compromising the carefully curated, aesthetic appeal of the shop. Fortunately, digital display advertising aligns perfectly with those goals – offering up the best of both worlds:

A stylistic chameleon
Sometimes, building up an in-store ad campaign for, say, a seasonal event that aligns with your brand and image can seem like an act of futility. If you're only going to keep it up for a few short months before having to change it out for the next seasonal campaign, what's the point? Not to mention there is a high cost in doing so. For a department store running out a holiday sale, that cost might be justified – but for a small, Mom-and-Pop shop, it may be harder to stomach.

Digital displays are designed for change. Not only can you place all of the same information and compelling imagery in a digital display board that you would on a static poster, that screen can be updated in real time and based on your needs.

Let's say you design a controversial or ambitious ad that falls flat. With traditional signage, you're looking at hundreds of dollars – maybe more – of sunk costs with no hope of profit generation. A total loss. With digital signage, a failed ad is not a problem. In fact, you can even experiment with a different style every week and see which one works best and be no worse for the wear.

A digital step forward
It's crucial to match your digital ads with your company brand and aesthetic, but it's just as important to embrace the modern technological wave. Some of the most compelling styles are ones that blend the old with the new – timeless decor but with a modern flair.

Embracing digital displays tells your customers you're committed to the latest tools techniques. Plus, digitization gives a level of control over your store's appearance and marketing not possible through static ads. Remember – in-store advertisement is just as much a part of store decor as the wallpaper. Everything should line up perfectly – but you shouldn't have to sacrifice time, money or aesthetic value just to change out an ad.

The bottom line is digital signage is the kind of digitization that brick-and-mortar stores should embrace – it can bring them into a new era and maintain their classic feel. To learn about how to incorporate digital displays into your business, schedule a demo with Digital Social Retail.

Digital Social Retail recently added a level of simplicity to their proximity marketing technology suite with the new Social Retail Toolkit app. The platform is designed to allow for more intuitive beacon and software implementation. Rather than requiring a complicated, time-consuming ID setup, the Social Retail Toolkit allows users to connect their beacons to the Digital Social Retail platform simply by linking the beacon to their phone.

The Social Retail Toolkit app is straightforward and easy. With just a few clicks, users will be able to setup and configure their beacons for Digital Social Retail's software, as well as manage all linked beacons through one convenient interface. The app also includes automatic security features to protect the beacon from hackers.

To get started with linking your beacons to a powerful software platform, or learn more about how proximity marketing can help your organization, get in touch with Digital Social Retail.

Digital signs sound like a technology of the future, but they're around us all the time. Already, business leaders and marketing managers across industries have leveraged digital display boards in effective and creative ways. While each industry will use these tools to suit specific needs, businesses can still learn from one another and implement tactics that yield results regardless of audience and product or service.

Four industries, in particular, jump to mind as exemplary digital signage users for various reasons. Consider how each of these four utilize digital signs in different ways and how your organization might benefit from a specific technique.

1. Quick-service restaurants
Fast-food restaurants use digital signs so commonly that it's easy to overlook them. But anytime you've gone through a drive-thru and examined the offerings before placing an order, or stood in line and perused the breakfast options at your favorite quick-service restaurant, you have digital signage to thank. You might think that this job can be easily accomplished through static, traditional billboards, but there are a few reasons why digital signage offers a far more convenient solution.

For one, restaurants change their menus all the time. Fast-food establishments, especially, need to switch from breakfast to lunch on the fly, sometimes while patrons are already in the restaurant. Digital displays allow for a smooth, fast transition. Secondly, high-resolution screens let menu items jump off the screen and appear as appetizing as possible, which can help draw patrons in, according to Modern Restaurant Management.

2. Clothing retailers
Fashion is a highly visual industry. It's important for clothing retailers to give the best possible representation of their products, and sometimes a faceless, beige mannequin isn't the best model. Digital displays can be programmed to show off ensembles on real people in real scenarios, acting as a sort of constantly running commercial for the brand.

Moreover, some retailers are using digital displays in conjunction with beacon technology to boost customer engagement and disperse the latest promotional materials. This two-pronged approach relies on digital signs to hook consumers and beacons to follow through with the special offer.

Clothes might look better in a high-res display than on a featureless mannequin.

3. Tech boutiques
When you walk into a store to buy a new smartphone, tablet, laptop or some other high-tech device, the entire ambiance of the store should be geared toward modernity. In short, it's no place for a traditional, poster-board display.

All kinds of stores are coming to that realization, including Verizon retailer Diamond Wireless. According to Retail Customer Experience, the outlet rolled out a digital signage strategy aimed at effectively providing customers with the information they needed, like products, event information and service topics.

"This is easy-to-use software with great and speedy customer service," Diamond Wireless marketing director Chad Cannon said in the announcement. "Also, the software team updates the platform with great new features all the time."

4. Health care facilities
Hospitals, doctors' offices and health centers might not seem like the best match for digital signage, but the technology is actually gaining significant popularity in that sector, a testament to digital sign versatility. In these settings, digital signs are less a marketing tool and more a means of providing useful, easy-to-read information. As touch​-screen technology merges with digital signs, the industry can also use displays to help form orderly queues.

Radiant Insights released a report that pointed to health care as a major source of growth for digital signs:

"[Health care] providers and hospitals have increasingly incorporated digital signage for numerous purposes such as sharing important registration information, conveying wellness tips for improving patients' health, and guiding visitors through wayfinding functions."

Digital displays have a function for any industry. To learn more about how to get started with your own displays and for more use-case information, contact the experts at Digital Social Retail today.

In our information-driven world, the business with the most statistical insight and best "last-mile" marketing strategy gains the advantage. Tools like beacons and digital signs – and the strategy that goes along with them – allow marketers to pull in nearby consumers and learn more about their shopping habits and preferences. Right now, the companies that leverage these powerful, growing proximity marketing devices are seeing major success. Other businesses would be wise to follow suit.

We are in the tipping point for proximity marketing – the period when marketers shift from traditional tactics to targeted, optimized, modernized ones. That has a number of ripple effects, but consider these two in particular:

• As more companies use smart device oriented marketing, more consumers will be on the lookout for those methods
• As more consumers open up to beacons and digital signs, traditional marketing tactics may lose effectiveness

Harvard Business Review describes beacons as "the missing piece in the whole mobile-shopping puzzle." Customers are already accustomed to using their phones to find deals, search a store catalog, receive email alerts – all that is left is for the retailer to be able to reach out in meaningful way. Beacons, and to a different extent digital displays, accomplish that goal.

Let's look at the way a few different companies are implementing proximity marketing to great success:

Beacon retail marketing is an obvious choice
So far, retail outlets have been some of the most ardent beacon technology supporters. That may be due to the extreme competition between retailers, the fact that many people still prefer to buy clothes in the store, or way retailers already invest a significant amount of time and energy into their marketing efforts. Whatever the case, several retailers have committed fully to beacon campaigns:

Hudson Bay Company: HBR pointed out how the company that owns Lord & Taylor, Hudson Bay and Saks was the first large retailer to place beacons in its U.S. and Canada stores.

Universal Display: This company found a creative way to use beacons: by mounting them inside the mannequins they sell to retailers. Passersby with beacon-enabled phones can receive instant info on the outfit donned by the mannequin in the window.

Walgreens: The retail giant brought beacons to 7,000 locations. These devices not only helped attract new customers but also boosted the company's loyalty program, according to Business2Community.

It may be time to update your retail marketing strategy.

Supermarkets make the shopping experience easier
Australian supermarket chain Woolworths leveraged proximity marketing to improve its click-and-collect system. Normally, customers can place their grocery order online, come into the store and have the store staff assemble their bags. Using beacons, the supermarket can determine when the customer is nearby and begin assembling the bags before the customer arrives.

That makes a difference, especially with perishable items that shouldn't be outside the cooler for very long. Woolworths used that system as a trial in one store, Business2Community reported, and plans to implement it at all 254.

Non store-specific marketing
Who says individual stores need to be the ones implementing proximity marketing strategies? HBR noted one example, in London, where an entire high-end shopping street brought in one app to allow shoppers access to the beacons up and down the storefronts.

Regent Street is a mile-long stretch of about 140 stores. Shoppers can access the Regent Street app, which allows them to choose certain retail categories and sign up to receive notifications from the corresponding outlets.

Those are just a few examples of how creatively marketers are implementing beacon technology. For more information on how to get started on your own proximity campaign, reach out to Digital Social Retail.