BROADCASTS.com

Driving through at a fast-food restaurant or other business is a familiar process for many people. But it also can be one filled with pressure. There’s the voice on the other end, the line stacking up behind, and, at times, it all leads to a panic order or a customer forgetting to order an item they had in mind.

It shouldn’t be like that, said EcoDigital Media CEO Kimberly Brecko. EcoDigital and Peerless-AV partner to create turnkey solutions for businesses that keep content, hardware and software in mind, but without strong content, the whole operation may not yield anywhere near as high an ROI as it could.

“Content is a huge part of a digital signage deployment. It obviously is the thing that keeps people engaged, so starting from the standpoint of content-first to inform what type of hardware and software you’re going to suggest for a client is really key,” she said.

EcoDigital asks customers about their near-term and long-term goals to better understand what sort of things they want to do with their content. Whether it’s day parting, displaying different things at different times throughout the cycle, or displaying a seasonal promotion or the price with tax included, working out content up front is important.

Having AV experts who understand what sort of content the board will be displaying and how it will get there also is critical, said Rob Meiner, Technical Sales Engineer with Peerless-AV.

“Operators need to understand the upfront cost of that menu board, which is going to include a digital screen, the equipment needed to properly and safely hang the system, the program software, which would be the CMS connected not only to the audio but the order-entry system within the place of business, as well as whose hosting all this, where the content operates and putting in a replacement,” Meiner said.

With so many factors to consider, working with companies who truly understand drive-thru content will help businesses with drive-thru services get the highest possible ROI from their menu boards.