As a Marketing Content Manager for Nanolumens, I monitor our website traffic and how people find our site so that we can provide the best, most useful, and most desired information possible. Lately, we’ve seen several of you searching for an answer to the question “What is the target market for digital signage?” The thing is, there’s an easy answer, but it’s probably not the one you’re looking for: Everyone (with an understood focus on businesses).

Why is digital signage fitting for everyone?

While impractical for the casual consumer to personally own, digital signage is becoming more and more essential for business owners in every market. From public retail stores to private defense organizations, digital signage can be deployed and effective in just about any environment, and this has a great deal to do with the nature of digital signage at it’s core. Digital signage is a vehicle for communication; whether you’re conveying brand, a message, or just a feeling, you’re using digital signage to communicate something. In every walk of life, communication is essential to progress and growth, making it an effective business asset.

Where are we seeing digital signage?

While digital signage is for everyone, if you define a target market as a market with the most opportunity or growth, there are a few front runners for the industry.

  • Retail is by far the most popular market for digital signage and the most accepting, with plenty of early and current adopters.  IHS Inc. predicts that the retail sector will make up close to 42 percent of total digital signage displays revenue from 2013 to 2017, especially in North American and Western European locations, with Asia-Pacific close behind.
  • Public Spaces – The industry started in Airports, and has continued to grow in that sector and other public spaces, such convention centers, government buildings, and more. Any location with a high amount of foot traffic is a potential space for ad revenue and consumer reach, making it an ideal market for digital signage.
  • Restaurants are a third booming market for digital displays. As a hub for static displays for decades, such as the menu board in a drive through or static advertisements on the walls, restaurants are a perfect fit for a digital makeover, with signage that can be updated with a moments’ notice and change with the flow of public demand and interest.

There are plenty of markets outside of these three, but these are the ones that we’ve seen the most interest and growth in. That being said, markets for digital signage are want to change at a moments’ notice, and can vary greatly from Q1 to Q4 in the same year. It’s always important to have your eye on the up-and-comers. One that we’ve been seeing more and more of is the House of Worship market, as mega-churches continue to grow in popularity and congregation numbers, and more churches work to take a digital approach to reach more people with their message.