Why Digital Signage is a Must-Have Internal Communication Tool

Internal communication in modern businesses is essential for conveying notices, events, training requirements, meeting availability, and other key forms of outreach. Effective communication tools can enhance engagement in the workplace, make employees feel connected, and improve productivity. Conversely, employees who don't get regular information can feel much less engaged, overlooked, and left out.

For this reason, it's important for companies to invest in the best internal communication tools. Today, digital signage is becoming one of the more powerful tools for companies of all sizes.

Why Digital Signage Stands Out as a Must-Have Internal Communication Tool

Digital signage is a top internal communication tool for several reasons.

Visibility and Reach

The first is increased visibility and better reach. You can reach a significantly wider audience segment, accounting for things like disabilities or language barriers in a much easier fashion compared to traditional notice boards or email.

Real-Time Updates

The second is real-time updates. With the right content management system, you can push real-time updates automatically, ensuring that the information you link to your display gets updated automatically based on key data metrics like emergency notifications.

Engagement

You can increase engagement with a digital sign, ensuring that people don't overlook the messages in a crowded inbox but instead see something that is visually appealing with key information.

Flexibility

Finally, using a digital communication tool like digital signage offers great flexibility because it provides a single place where companies can share internal information, update company policies, post emergency notices, and even highlight employee achievements. 

Comparing Digital Signage with Other Internal Communication Tools

Email vs. Digital Signage

Email used to be an important internal communication tool. Today, however, it is no longer positioned as one of the best company internal communication tools for several reasons.

1. Sometimes, employees are cc'd on so many emails that they don't read any of them, and there just aren't enough hours in the day to clear out an inbox, which means important information goes overlooked.
2. Sometimes employees overlook key pieces of information because it gets lost in an inbox despite their best efforts, with all the content from different emails blending together over the span of a day or a week.
3. Sometimes employees don't have individual company emails that they check regularly in which case it can be difficult to extend important company information to people like seasonal employees, temporary employees, or even visiting staff who are working on single projects.

Company internal communication tools like digital signage are becoming more effective than email because they are eye-catching, they don't get lost in the daily shuffle, and they present information in a more visually stimulating and memorable fashion compared to an email.

Traditional Notice boards vs. Digital Signage

Traditional notice boards were an earlier iteration of email and are still used in many cases. However, these are no longer the best internal communication tools because they are easy to overlook.

1. Internally, traditional notice boards can quickly become overwhelmed with too many posters or advertisements. If things get crowded, it can be difficult to see key information, and employees are more likely to simply walk by that notice board.
2. Not all employees can see traditional notice boards. They may not walk by the location of a traditional notice board, and if they do, they might not notice that a new piece of information has been displayed.
3. Moreover, notice boards are not as easily updated or controlled, so information might be outdated, and having a single piece of outdated information leads employees to consider that the majority of the information might be outdated or incorrect as well.

Key Benefits of Digital Signage in Internal Communication

So what are the key benefits of investing in digital signage as internal communication tools for your company? You can improve the flow of information, increase your transparency, and use the tool as a way to highlight things like employee recognition, and emergency information, all while saving money.

Improved Information Flow

The best internal communication tools will help improve information flow within your company. By ensuring that everyone knows all of the pertinent data will be displayed on a regular basis and updated in real time, employees can trust that the flow of information on that display is accurate and timely. 

This makes it easy to keep information shared within your organization no matter how last minute it might be.

Increased Transparency

You can use digital signage in internal communication as a way to increase your transparency. This serves as a message board not just for improving information about training requirements or IT issues but a way to share company news and updates. By sharing company news on a regular basis, you can promote a culture of openness and build trust within your organization.

Employee Recognition

Digital signage for internal communication can provide a place to share employee information, particularly highlighting achievements and boosting morale. 

• Employees who are recognized have been shown to be 2.5 times happier with their jobs.
• Nearly 84% of employees say that being recognized increases their motivation to do well at work.
• Almost 80% of employees are more productive if they are regularly recognized for their achievements.
• 82% of employees say that recognition of the way they contribute improves their engagement with their company and makes them feel more connected to their organizational culture.
• When employees are recognized, they are five times less likely to leave an organization, which decreases turnover and the costs associated with it.

Crisis Communication

With the right internal communication tools, your company can disseminate critical information during emergencies. Display boards can be automatically changed to push updates during an emergency, linking federal emergency data, state emergency notifications, or local emergencies.

With visual displays you are more likely to catch attention compared to another email or a text message reporting an emergency as well. 

Cost-Effectiveness

Relying on paper-based communication brings with it significant waste especially that generated after regular activities or events are over. This waste increases carbon footprint and internal costs for communication. Your company can save money on all of this by switching to digital company internal communication tools where displays can be managed remotely and updates or new information can be shared without any additional paper cost.

Conclusion

Overall, finding the right internal communication tools within the workplace can help keep employees engaged, pass on critical information in a timely fashion, and save your company money. Companies should consider digital signage as part of their internal communication strategy and work toward the future of workplace communication using digital tools.