Engagement is the coin of the realm for marketing and communication. For shopper, patron, traveler, staff or students, it is a strategic, tactical and operational imperative. The alternative is hit-and-miss or opportunistic, luck-of-the-draw marketing. Engagement means that:

• Targeted audiences of people with buying or decision-making authority or significant influence are noticing the message.
• They are entering or are on the path to purchase or decision-making.
•  Awareness, alignment with and their amplification of the brand or its message is increasing.
• Actions are being taken that will improve their knowledge of the offering(s), such as inquiry, visit to a website, mobile downloads or commerce, and the expression of their support through social or viral marketing.

Location-based display messaging is ideally suited to generating or enhancing engagement because messages are typically presented at times and locations best suited to achieving this engagement.

This benefit is realized when the right message is presented to the right audience at the right time at the right place. In audience, time and place being already in place, the key is in the messaging.

Messaging success starts with profiling audience needs and wants, and then aligning the message to satisfy these. Message composition will assure that these resonate with the viewer, while the call to action puts the person on the path to having the benefits. It is all engagement, toward achieving those marketing and communications goals.

This column was reprinted with permission from the Digital Screenmedia Association and originally appeared here.

Image via Duke Energy