The attention span of the average adult ranges from just 8 seconds to a more focused attention span of up to 20 minutes. And typically, the average person will spend just 1 minute looking at a digital sign. The whole purpose of digital signage is to relay the message or information through an attractive medium. With this short time frame, you need to get right to the point. What better way to do this than with video?
Just like magpies are attracted to shiny objects, people are naturally attracted to motion, and it is a proven fact that video increases the ‘stay rate’ by 30 percent and stay time by 200 percent. It all makes sense. So why aren’t more people incorporating video in their signage? They will once they’ve read this post.
Video will draw eyeballs to not only the video itself but also to the accompanying image and text elements of your signage. So now you know how important it is to incorporate video into your signage, but how do you do it?
Now when it comes to including video, you want to start with the best quality video possible. High Definition (or Hi-Def, or just plain HD) is now basically considered standard and anything less is considered not good quality. When you are getting videos from your motion graphics team (if you have one), ask them to make sure the videos are HD. If you want to get technical, ask them for MPEG-4 H.264 videos. Yeah, I know this sounds super technical, but in layman’s terms, these videos are the best for file size and quality.
You also want to let your team know what resolution to produce. Find out the output resolution of the screens you will be using for your signage. 1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high is considered best, but 1366 pixels wide x 768 pixels high is a commonly used resolution. If you have a mix of content, go with the 1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high option. The resolution will scale on the smaller screens.
You also want to decide on the ‘correct’ length videos. While there is no real “right” or “wrong” length, 10-15 seconds is best practice with static graphics. However, videos can get more info across using quick bursts of information. Even if the video runs longer than the 10-15 span window, you can keep the viewer engaged by utilizing messaging that makes them want to see what is coming next.
Once you have your videos, you need to determine how you want them to be used. You have many options here. You can do full screen, partial screen, with text, with images, or a combination of everything. This is entirely up to you. We recommend using a variety of each throughout your campaigns.
When adding text, keep a couple things in mind. Avoid using a lot of text for each frame or scene in your video. And, when previewing the content, make sure you can read through it before the transition. A good practice would be to read the text aloud.
Using photography in your videos can also be very effective. Adding a slight tween (“tweening” is a technique where an animation program generates extra frames between the key frames that the user has created) of motion to the image as it is displayed on the screen makes it feel more “video-like” and less like a boring, stationary photograph.
If you keep these things in mind when creating your signage, it will grab and keep your viewers’ attention faster and for longer, and ultimately help get your message across.