Reaching customers digitally is more important than ever, and requires a digital navigation strategy for your venue – that’s the takeaway from this week’s Sporttechie webinar, hosted by John Pollard from Samsung and Brandon McNulty from Fusion Tech. 

Companies of all kinds are turning to digital signage to relay information. When assessing the benefits of digital wayfinding, it’s of primary importance to have a digital navigation strategy in place that is inclusive of digital signage AND mobile. Programmable, real-time information systems are the future of signage and customer experience. 

Heads up and heads down displays allow district operators to make a more valuable connection with visitors and fans. By embracing a multi-use facility perspective, venues can unlock their true earning potential. Planning this kind of customer experience requires a strong strategy to engage customers through directions, branding and events.

Focus on a customer-centric navigation experience 

Delivering a navigation experience starts from the origin of each person’s journey. Digital directional signs reach pedestrians and drivers when they’re concentrating on what’s happening around them, and can be quickly updated to show changed routes, special event locations or parking capacities. 

It has never been more important to move vehicular traffic through districts in a way that reduces congestion. A digital map and directional system guides visitors to available parking and seamlessly engages them with brands and experiences once they’ve arrived. For the venue to produce this kind of result, the process starts with understanding parking patterns and uptake. Armed with data, venue operators can design better vehicular flow strategies, and optimize parking revenues. 

With today’s navigation software, it’s easy to gather pedestrian flow analytics from wayfinding touchpoints. Operators leverage this data to reduce visitor friction points, plus inform safety protocols. The same software can be used to re-route visitors to reduce bottlenecks and, where appropriate, guide foot traffic past revenue-generating brand opportunities.

Finally, navigation data can also make venue buildings more efficient. By tracking the popularity of routes and space utilization, venue operators can devise strategies to help tenants get more value from their properties, create safer environments, and engage more people with events and services.

A digital navigation platform for the future 

Managing these touchpoints isn’t easy if you don’t have the right software platform in place. In the digital age, wayfinding systems are made up of a complex web of physical and digital touchpoints. These touchpoints work together to connect people to much richer experiences. It’s important to choose an integrated platform that seamlessly integrates operational, environmental and experiential touchpoints across any environment. 

With the right platform, creating customer-centric navigation can work in tandem with operational and revenue goals. Venues can deliver across the board to provide a safe, frictionless journeys to the venue, faster and easier parking, and a connected event experience where every opportunity is easy to find, with the time to make the most of it.