Case Study - Digital Picture Frames in the Hospitality Industry

By Jeffrey Oliver

Digital picture frames are increasingly being used by businesses as an affordable way to increase the value of their time with their customers.

I was recently on a business trip in Dallas, TX, and I noticed that the hotel I was staying at had digital picture frames placed in key locations around the hotel. At the front desk, in the lobby, inside of the windows of a few offices branching off the hallways, and at the reception desk in the restaurant. The digital frames weren't very large, only 7 or 8 inch frames I believe, and they looked quite classy. The hotel had setup a simple slide show on the digital frames which looped continuously, showcasing the professional photos of the different facilities and services that the hotel provided.

The brilliant part about this strategy is that it provides the business an opportunity to cross-sell to the customer, or in this case, to increase their use of the facility, thereby increasing the value of the visit and hopefully increasing the likelihood of repeat business. Even though I was at the hotel for a few days, I didn't take the time to explore it, and without seeing the pictures on the digital frame, I would have had no idea that they had a great spa and fitness facility on site. Although I didn't have time to use those facilities on this trip, the frame served the purpose of educating me about them, on my own time, and in a way that was interesting to me. I was free to walk right past if I chose, or if I wanted, I could quickly watch the whole slide show in about a minute.

You see, many businesses just focus on getting people in the door. However, once there, the next challenge is to see how you can serve them best, and therefore maximize their profit potential to you.

Let's look at a retail situation - one business owner I know is using a digital frame to educate and upsell customers that come into the store. They usually come in looking for the cheapest solution to their problem, but they don't realize that the more expensive option will do a far better job. He uses a digital picture frame (strategically placed near the cheaper product) to illustrate to the customers just how good the more expensive option would look once in action. In many cases, once the customers see what the final result will be like, they opt for the more expensive product.

The result? Improved sales of the more expensive product, which in case you were wondering, is also more profitable for him.

Setting up a slide show takes very little time on the part of the business owner, and it will function as a mini advertising node for as long as you want it to. It is not intrusive, and if done well, it will actually draw the customer's attention for a brief minute, and hopefully give them something to think about.

Successful businesses are those that continually grow and adapt to changing marketing conditions. Smart ones will learn from what is working in other industries, and find a way to apply it to theirs. This is one way to gain a competitive advantage over your marketplace.

So now that I've shown you something that is working in another industry - don't just file that away for posterity. Stop. Take a moment to think of one way you could use a digital picture frame in your business. It just might be easier to implement than you thought!

Don't even think of buying a digital picture frame until you've read the Digital Frame Guy's free Buyer's Guide to Digital Picture Frames