By Tim Vaughan
— May 29th, 2023
In a world overflowing with information, capturing attention is harder than ever. That's where engaging digital signage content comes in. Whether you're running a retail store, managing a hospital, or leading a corporate team, digital signage transforms how you communicate—turning passive spaces into dynamic touchpoints that engage, inform, and inspire action.
But here's the challenge: creating fresh, relevant content for multiple screens across different locations is complex and time-consuming. Poppulo solves this by giving you one easy, cloud-based platform to create, manage, and deliver content—without messy workflows or manual updates. In this article, we'll explore 27 digital signage content ideas proven to drive results, plus show you how Poppulo makes managing it all effortless.
The global digital signage market is set to reach $45.3 billion by 2030! Companies are utilizing digital signage and creative digital signage content to make immersive experiences for their employees and customers.
Digital signage uses LCD, LED, and Projection technology to display images, video, social media feeds, and more. Whether it’s retail stores, museums, airports, restaurants, or corporate offices—digital signs are used almost everywhere we look.
And as it continues to replace traditional sign displays, digital signage has changed how businesses communicate internally and externally. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of digital signage and suggest some engaging digital signage content ideas for retail, healthcare, and internal communications.
Benefits of Digital Signage Content Creation
Creative, targeted digital signage content boosts customer engagement, increases sales, and improves employee productivity—while reducing costs.
Some of the main benefits of a digital signage display include the following:
- Provides cost-effective content creation
- Engages and grabs attention
- Increases sales
- Showcases a wide variety of content
- Allows you to update content in minutes
- Creates world-class events
- Entertains and informs customers or employees
- Distributes content to multiple locations
- Makes content scheduling easy
- Reinforces brand recognition
- It can integrate with smart building technology
Enhances Brand Awareness and Recognition
Digital signage keeps your brand top of mind. While traditional signs can feel static and easy to overlook, dynamic displays create memorable visuals that stay with people. When your brand shows up consistently across screens—through promotions, values, or product highlights—recall increases significantly. That consistency builds trust and strengthens how your audience perceives your brand.
Improves Customer and Employee Engagement
Engagement thrives on relevance and novelty. Digital signage allows you to update content instantly, respond to trends, and tailor messages to specific audiences. Whether it's highlighting a time-sensitive promotion in retail or celebrating employee wins in the office, dynamic content captures attention and encourages interaction. The result? Higher engagement, stronger connections, and more meaningful communication.
Increases Information Retention and Recall
People retain visual information far better than text alone. Digital signage combines compelling visuals, targeted messaging, and strategic placement to improve how information sticks. Whether displaying training videos, KPIs, or product information, visual communication enhances retention by up to 83%—significantly outperforming static methods.
Digital Signage Ideas for Retail
Turn your retail space into a dynamic sales engine with content that captures attention, drives urgency, and transforms browsers into buyers. (new)
Here are 9 digital signage ideas for retail that are bound to increase your sales.
1. Advertisements
Digital signage content with high-impact digital displays can help you improve sell-through rates on your products and services, drive revenue by offering advertising space, and build brand awareness.
Your signage can do double duty as a place to engage with local businesses. Create an additional revenue stream by selling targeted advertising space.
2. Product Demonstrations
One of the simplest but most effective forms of digital signage content for retail. Encourage customers to make a purchase by showing proof of how a product works. This is also the perfect opportunity to hone in on your product’s unique features and benefits.
For examples of how brands use digital displays to showcase products effectively, explore Poppulo’s digital signage product catalogs
3. Discount Codes, Sales, and Events
Digital signage content that promotes discounts, sales and events can be a game changer. Target customers with promotions based on local trends. Promote exclusive discount codes, sales, or offers you’re currently running in-store or online. If your business runs events, such as in-store demonstrations, workshops, and sales, these will also interest shoppers in the catchment area.
4. Customer Reviews
Almost 93% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase. Bring favorable customer reviews and testimonials right to your customers by placing digital signage in key strategic locations. Positive quotes and five-star ratings from fellow customers will help build trust, credibility, and brand recognition.
5. Behind the Scenes
Digital signage content for retail doesn't always have to be pushing products and promotions. Grant customers a backstage pass to your business, showing how products are made, who your team is, and your company culture. This is a chance to reveal aspects of your brand that the customer wouldn’t ordinarily engage with, for example, the inspiration behind designs, artisan techniques and expertise, employee experiences, sustainability initiatives, etc.
6. Social Media Feeds
In today’s social-media-obsessed world, displaying your live feeds, including customer posts and reviews, demonstrates the buzz around your products and stores and may also boost followership numbers. This is a popular form of digital signage content.
7. Digital Product Catalogs
We have become used to viewing images on our small smartphone screens; displaying attractive, creative images of your products on large screens creates an immersive experience for shoppers. Allow customers to explore features, learn about product specifications, and even make a purchase right from the display.
8. Real-Time Analytics
Try some dynamic digital signage content to make things interesting. Dynamically display sales numbers, customer traffic patterns, inventory data, and other key metrics to empower a deskless team to make informed decisions—in real-time and on the go.
9. Navigation
When in an unfamiliar setting, people want intuitive access to directions. Wayfinding digital signage and directories help anyone to navigate your retail space.
Digital Signage Content Ideas for Healthcare
Healthcare environments demand clear, reassuring communication. These 9 ideas improve patient experience and staff efficiency:
1. Welcome Screens
You can share a warm welcome message with patients and visitors by placing digital signage in your lobby. You could also include information on hospital policies, procedures, and safety measures, plus real-time updates on weather, traffic, etc., to help keep patients and visitors informed and safe from the outset.
2. Check-In Kiosks
Self-service kiosks are becoming increasingly popular for patients to check themselves in for their appointments and update their information. Encourage patients to use this method and save your staff valuable time.
3. Positive Testimonials
Hospitals are scary places for many people. Sharing positive testimonial videos from past patients and visitors is a great way to reassure current patients that they are in good hands.
4. Menus
Patients may need to grab something to eat while waiting for their appointment. Use digital signage to display your café and restaurant menus and prices. Display information on ingredients, allergens, and nutrition to help customers make informed decisions and accommodate special dietary needs.
5. Waiting Room Entertainment
Waiting rooms are never an enjoyable experience, especially for patients in physical discomfort. Provide real-time updates on wait times for appointments and procedures, helping patients to plan their visits more effectively. To help take their mind off their appointment, you can use digital signage to inform, entertain, and provide helpful resources.
6. Directions
Prevent patients and visitors from getting lost by setting up wayfinding kiosks at various locations around your facility. Why not provide a mix of interactive and directional wayfinding solutions to better help your audience navigate your space? Change routes based on the time of day and traffic patterns to keep people moving efficiently.
7. Donor Walls
With an electronic "donor wall," you’ll be able to display information about your facility’s financial contributors, including photos of donors and information on the foundations they represent. You could also highlight community outreach initiatives, special events, and fundraising efforts to engage patients and visitors in the hospital’s mission.
8. Education
Placing digital signage in your healthcare facility is a simple way to provide practical and educational medical content to patients and visitors. You could also highlight the achievements and accomplishments of hospital staff to promote a positive, supportive work environment while simultaneously drawing attention to the caliber of your healthcare professionals.
9. Marketing
When you implement digital signage at your healthcare facility, you’ll never need to worry about ordering new posters and signs again.
You have a captive audience! Promote the full range of hospital services and specialties, including new and innovative treatments and procedures.
Digital Signage Ideas for Internal Communications
Employee engagement thrives when communication is timely, relevant, and accessible. These 9 ideas strengthen workplace culture and drive alignment:
1. Company News, Notices, and Announcements
We all have different preferences for how we receive information. Some employees no longer take the time to read an internal communications newsletter or update. However, you might be able to reach this cohort via a different channel—digital signage.
You can make these comms two-way by encouraging employee feedback and engagement through interactive polls and surveys displayed on the signage.
2. Employee Recognition
Employees like to feel appreciated and recognized for their hard work. According to Gallup, regular employee recognition results in more productive employees. Digital screens are a simple and cost-effective way to shine the spotlight on employees. Celebrate and acknowledge employee achievements, birthdays, and anniversaries to complement your office culture and foster a positive work environment.
3. Digital KPI Dashboards
Displaying your organization’s KPI dashboard tools on digital signage will help improve your internal communication. Segment departments for highly personalized performance metrics and goals to keep each team informed and motivated.
4. Wayfinding Digital Signage
Leverage digital signage to improve wayfinding. Help employees navigate the office, find co-workers, and locate available meeting rooms.
(You could also display real-time updates for public transportation to help your audience plan their commutes!)
5. Meeting Room Booking
Meeting rooms can fill up fast throughout the day. Keeping track of when they’re free can be confusing without an effective booking system. With a tablet or small screen displayed outside your meeting rooms, you can offer employees a real-time schedule of room availability and an efficient way to reserve a space.
6. Company Mission and Values
By displaying your mission and values on your signage design in high-traffic areas, such as lobbies, break rooms, and hallways, you can effectively communicate these important principles to all employees—regardless of their role or department. This can help to nurture a more coherent and cohesive company culture by creating a sense of shared purpose and unity among employees. It can also give guests a little insight into the organization they are visiting.
7. Training Videos
Employee training shouldn’t stop after a few weeks—it should be an ongoing process. When taking in large amounts of new information, it takes time for employees to absorb everything. You can keep employee training fresh in the mind of team members, and demonstrate your organization’s commitment to growth and learning, by showing training videos on digital signage screens throughout the office.
8. Company Benefits
If your organization has established partnerships with retailers and receives discounts or special offers for your employees, here is an excellent platform for shouting about that! In addition to promoting external perks, you can also highlight internal benefits, such as health insurance plans and attractive retirement options. By reminding employees of these advantages, you can help reinforce the value that the organization places on well-being and financial security.
9. Inspirational Quotes and Messages
Finally, not every communication has to be strictly professional or 100% work-related. Give your employees an inspiring, uplifting start to their workday. Make them think outside the box. Or simply make them smile.
Poppulo’s Digital Signage Platform
Poppulo’s platform is built for scale, flexibility, and ease. It empowers organizations to manage and deliver content across screens—whether in corporate offices, healthcare, or retail.
The statistics speak for themselves. Digital signage captures 400% more views than static displays and has a recall rate of 83%! If you want to increase sales, build brand recognition, or communicate in a more creative way—digital signage is the solution you need. (existing )
27. Signage Design
Content templates make it quick and easy to create engaging pieces of content for your signage systems. Simply select a relevant template and tweak it to make it your own. See more about Poppulo's digital signage platform here.
Centralized Content Management
Managing content across multiple locations, departments, and time zones is complex. Poppulo's cloud-based platform centralizes everything. Create content once, schedule it across your entire network, and update in real-time from anywhere. Effortlessly create, schedule, and distribute rich media content, live data feeds, and corporate messaging from a single location.
Poppulo powers over 600,000 screens globally.
Templates and Scheduling Automation
Poppulo's AI-enabled designer empowers organizations to effortlessly produce engaging, dynamic content. Pre-built templates for retail promotions, healthcare information, and employee communications help teams launch professional-quality content in minutes.
Scheduling automation handles the heavy lifting. Set up recurring content, time-sensitive promotions, and rotation schedules once—then let the platform manage the timing. Perfect for brands that need consistency across multiple locations.
Real-Time Updates and Analytics
Poppulo integrates with platforms like Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, and Google Analytics, allowing businesses to display live data and KPIs directly on digital signage. Connect your business-critical systems—CRM, inventory, weather data, social media feeds—and display live information automatically.
Track screen performance with built-in analytics. See what content resonates, which screens perform best, and where engagement is strongest. Use these insights to continuously improve your content strategy.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Digital signage isn't just about displaying information—it's about creating meaningful connections that drive engagement, build loyalty, and strengthen your brand.
The companies winning in today's market understand this. They're moving beyond static communications to create dynamic, personalized experiences that meet audiences where they are. Whether you're engaging customers in retail, reassuring patients in healthcare, or building culture in your workplace, the right digital signage content makes all the difference.
The challenge isn't knowing what to display—it's managing it all efficiently. That's where Poppulo comes in.
See how Poppulo helps you manage engaging digital signage content across all screens and departments. With centralized management, AI-powered design tools, real-time data integration, and 24/7 support, Poppulo makes scaling your digital signage network effortless.
Ready to transform how you communicate? Join over 4,500 global organizations, including over 40 of the Fortune 100, who trust Poppulo to drive audience engagement and business results.
FAQs About Digital Signage Content
What Type of Content Works Best for Digital Signage?
The most effective digital signage content is visually engaging, timely, and relevant to the audience. This includes promotional messaging, educational information, and product or service highlights. Use high-quality visuals, concise copy, and clear calls to action. Tailor content to each location and audience to maximize impact.
How Often Should I Update My Digital Signage Content?
Update frequency varies by industry and use case. Retail displays may require daily or weekly updates, while employee or facility communications may need only a few updates per week. The priority is to maintain content freshness while ensuring consistency.
What Are Some Creative Ways to Use Digital Signage?
Digital signage can extend far beyond standard promotional messaging. Organizations use it for interactive product experiences, social media displays, real-time data dashboards, wayfinding, recognition programs, and targeted content based on time or location. It can also support training initiatives or generate revenue through advertising partnerships.
How Can I Measure the Effectiveness of My Digital Signage?
Effectiveness can be evaluated through metrics such as dwell time, interaction rates, foot traffic, sales impact, and direct audience feedback. Built-in analytics tools also provide insights on top-performing content, peak engagement times, and location-specific performance, enabling ongoing optimization.
How Does Poppulo Make Managing Digital Signage Easier?
Poppulo provides a comprehensive cloud-based platform for creating, scheduling, and publishing content across all screens. Features include intuitive design tools, AI-driven templates, centralized governance, real-time data integrations, and dedicated support. This ensures a streamlined, scalable, and efficient digital signage operation.