10 Digital Signage Content Tips That Actually Work

Why Most Digital Signage Gets Ignored

The average passer-by gives a screen 2–3 seconds of attention before deciding to keep reading or move on. If your content doesn’t capture interest in that window, the investment in hardware and software is wasted. Here’s what works.

1. Use Motion

Static images are ignored. Even a simple Ken Burns pan-and-zoom effect on a photograph or a subtle animation on a headline increases dwell time by 48%. The Alliance’s built-in animation tools let you add motion to any template without video production skills.

2. Show Real Numbers

“Sales up this week” gets scrolled past. “Sales: £47,230 — up 12% vs last week” stops people. Live data widgets pull real numbers from your CRM, POS, or spreadsheet and display them automatically. Numbers build credibility and create daily curiosity (“What’s the number today?”).

3. Use People’s Faces

Human faces trigger an evolutionary response — we look at them. Employee spotlights, customer headshots in testimonials, and team photos all perform better than product shots or abstract graphics.

4. Limit to One Message Per Slide

The most common mistake is cramming too much onto one screen. One headline. One supporting sentence. One call to action. That’s it. If you have three messages, make three slides.

5. Keep Text Minimal and Large

Text smaller than 30pt is unreadable from more than 3 metres. Use headlines only. Put the supporting detail in the visual. Test your screen from the furthest point a viewer would stand.

6. Match Content to Context

A screen in a gym should feel energetic. A screen in a law firm should feel authoritative. A screen in a children’s hospital should feel warm and friendly. Content that matches the environment’s emotional context feels right; content that doesn’t creates dissonance that makes people distrust the message.

7. Respect the Dwell Time

If a person stands at your coffee bar for 4 minutes waiting for their drink, your playlist should be 4 minutes long before looping. If your screen is at a reception desk where visitors wait for 2 minutes, design your content for 2 minutes. Too long and they’ll see the same slide twice. Too short and they’ll miss your key messages.

8. Update Regularly

A screen showing the same content for more than two weeks becomes invisible. Set a content calendar. Assign someone ownership. Use the Alliance’s scheduling tools to swap content automatically on a date and never miss an update.

9. Use Bright, High-Contrast Colours

Digital screens are luminous. Dark text on a dark background, or pale pastels, disappears. High contrast — white text on a vivid colour, or rich dark text on a light background — reads from a distance and in variable lighting conditions.

10. Include a Clear Call to Action

What do you want the viewer to do? Visit a URL, scan a QR code, ask a question, check a date, make a booking? Every slide should have exactly one next step. Display the QR code large. Keep the URL short. Tell them exactly what they’ll find.

Templates That Already Do This

The Alliance’s 800+ templates are built on these principles. If in doubt, start from a template — the design work is done for you.