AUTHOR: Peter Alberti
The oft-repeated phrase, “Content is king” does not apply to digital education technology in veterinary practice waiting rooms. Sorry, it just doesn’t. In reality, it doesn’t apply to any digital signage system, but we specifically support the veterinary industry here so we’ll focus on that.
Why People Think Content is King
The intent of the phrase is to emphasize that poorly-designed content is ineffective, and well-crafted content delivers results. Well, these statements are both 100% true. But in order to evaluate “poorly-designed” versus “well-crafted” there needs to be some sort of objective or goal against which we measure. Content that is “poorly designed” for one purpose may be completely suitable for another. Which brings us to…
Objectives or Goals are the “King”
The king rules the kingdom, right? The king decides what’s what, what’s right, what’s wrong, etc. So in digital education systems, the directives for what to say, how to say/present it, when to say it, and so forth originate with the objective of the system – NOT from the content.
Pet Cause Media has a simple goal that accommodates both of its stakeholders (veterinary practices and sponsors/advertisers): Educate pet owners so that they drive conversations with their doctors about important pet medical topics. For the practices this saves precious time during exams; for sponsors this encourages pet owners to ask for products that otherwise might not have been discussed. In both cases, revenues are boosted for both stakeholders when clients ask the doctor and more services, prescriptions, etc. are provided.
Our goal is different from other digital signage goals, which include:
- Brand awareness/reinforcement
- Wayfaring (giving directions)
- Menu boards
- Corporate communication
- Entertainment
- And more…
If you think about these other uses of digital signage, it’s almost self-evident that the content – created properly – would be different for each of them. The timings, the words used, the images and other elements shown, would all vary to accomplish the goal.
Properly Integrating Content is Essential
One common error in digital signage deployment is combining content segments that are incongruous. Run separately from each other, the segments might be super-high quality, but shown back-to-back with each other they might be distracting, alarming, confusing, etc. This should be a key consideration, not only to those running content (in our case, the sponsors) but also for those operating the network (in our case, us!). Some collaboration is required to ensure the content works well when combined with everything else so there is a consistent, enjoyable, effective viewer experience.
In summary – if you are looking to utilize any digital education system, be sure that you and the network operator are aligned with your goals or objectives for using the system. Otherwise, King Content may not get the rapt attention and respect it deserves.
About Pet Cause Media
Pet Cause Media is the national leader in veterinary pre-education and digital out of home marketing in veterinary offices. We work closely with our veterinary and sponsor partners to ensure full compatibility and maximum results. Visit our website (petcausemedia.com) or contact Marshall Akita (marshall@petcausemedia.com) for more details.
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