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When considering a fully integrated merchandising strategy, there are a few reasons why you might need to quickly set up a network of digital display screens. Maybe you’ve acquired a number of stores with an existing retail media network. Maybe you’ve grown and waited to bring your new locations on board. Or maybe you’re just adding retail media into your merchandising strategy for the first time.

Whatever the reason, if you’re looking to cohesively manage a lot of screens, the operational team and resources needed to get it up and running can be challenging. Here’s what you need to know.

Choose your resource.

If you’re going to roll out a new network, you’re going to need a “scrum team” to manage the onboarding process. Your first step should be to identify that team, whether it is an internal resource or a third-party specialist like Shep Digital. This team will spend 30 days or so deploying the hardware and software needed so that you can either manage the network yourself or work with that third party to manage it along with your shopper marketing strategy.

Either way, be ready for issues that might arise in the rollout process. With variations in hardware, software and networking requirements, it will likely take some development work to homogenize a disparate network.

Identify the players.

In this case, the players are endpoints—or display screens—instead of people. To be effective, you will need a planogram or a snapshot of the store that identifies where every player will be positioned and a CAD drawing of the store to provide a marketing or merchandising perspective. Then, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the software running all of the players. Once you know all of the different types and locations of your various screens, you’ll be able to better manage them with a fully integrated, cohesive shopper marketing strategy.

It must be cohesive.

You may currently utilize different digital signage vendors—like Convergent, Stratacash and Broadsign—in different locations, and to top it off, you may also have multiple pump-based media systems, depending on your pump manufacturer. As you can imagine, managing all of these networks quickly becomes untenable, and you will find yourself consistently duplicating your efforts.

To execute on a cohesive shopper marketing strategy, you will need to develop or use a third-party software system that can easily manage content across your different networks and vendors to create a centralized, cohesive network. One user interface that interacts with all content management systems being utilized to manage your interior and exterior screens simplifies the process greatly.

This is where Shep Digital can step in and manage all of your distribution channels, saving you time and money, whether it be hardware costs, human resources or the capital required to replace all of the screens.

So, if you’re going to make digital display screens a part of your marketing strategy—and you should—you have to dedicate the necessary resources to make managing your display screen network easier. And once you get your technical operations house in order, you can figure out what to air on the network in support of your shopper marketing strategy.