Digital menu boards are slowly taking over restaurant chains Nationwide. Some digital adopters are deploying with strategic goals and sales targets in mind, while others are simply jumping on the digital bandwagon.Regardless of which type of adopter you are, you need to have a basic understanding of digital menu boards, and what they can do for you, before you move forward.Digital menu boards can drastically increase your brand identity and recognition. Your brand extends beyond your color palette and logo. Not only does a digital menu board allow you to create brand-specific content, but the entire package and integration of the hardware (custom screen surrounds, cabinetry, etc.) also plays into your overall brand. You want a complete system that both complements and reinforces the existing décor and brand identity.When you think of a digital menu board, think POWER. Not only the power to effectively communicate with your customers, but also the power to communicate with every digital screen in your network. This power gives you the ability to change the content on a display in California, all from your laptop in your office in Florida.Save time and money with digital menu boards. Traditional “poster” menu boards require you to frequently print and ship insert updates, which becomes costly and takes time. No need for any of that with digital – just update the content via the dedicated portal and push it out at the click of the mouse.Educate your customers with a digital menu board. Instead of just reading a line item on a static menu board, digital technology allows you to educate customers by incorporating sound, marketing copy, food imagery – even video of how a menu item is prepared – all while the customer is at the critical point of deciding what to order. This education and understanding (that a menu item is made with fresh ingredients, or why 10 burgers for $10 is value purchase) helps to drive sales.Increase sales and keep inventory low with a digital menu board. Update pricing and products easily and quickly to benefit your bottom line. Keep track of product performance throughout the day and run a special promotion; push excess inventory or menu items with high margins at the click of a mouse.Digital menu boards are a powerful marketing tool. On the same “power” concept as mentioned above, digital menu boards give you the ability to display engaging, dynamic content and push it out wherever it needs to go, within minutes. You can also daypart your menu through scheduling features, so content is always relevant according to the meal time. Communicate more, to sell more.Digital menu boards allow you to target your customers’ needs. By quickly creating and promoting specials, you can speak to a specific audience, time of day, even the weather. So when it’s below zero outside, a special on nice hot soup will sound great to your customers, and your bottom line.A digital menu board gives you all the space you need. Digital menu boards instantly, and drastically, expand your menu real estate. Because digital menu boards are constantly running different content – second-to-second, minute-to-minute – you don’t need to worry about trying to fit all your menu items, promotions and LTOs into the predetermined footprint of a static menu board.Your menu boards don’t have to be “all digital” to be effective. Creating a hybrid system using both digital and static menu boards gives you the flexibility of updating content anytime you want AND provides more space for static branding and regular menu items that don’t change as often. You still get a highly branded system that now includes a lot more real estate for menu items and promotions.Control your customers’ focus with digital menu boards. Using a hybrid system and strategically placing digital screens within your static menu boards creates a focal point for your customers, so their focus is exactly where you want it to be.Digital menu boards allow for consistency. Because content can be driven from a central location, you don’t have to depend on, or worry about, on-site employees keeping up with price changes and specials. You control it… everywhere.Digital menu boards can easily integrate into your overall visual communications system. In addition to customized content, using branded surrounds and custom cabinetry allows your digital menu boards to match existing branding and décor. They will then seem less out of place and more like an intended part of the atmosphere, so you can easily integrate them into your overall visual communications system – including freestanding fixtures, countertop displays, counter graphics, etc. – for maximum messaging power.One important thing to keep in mind when considering a digital menu board is no matter how much you invest in the screens, technology, network software, etc. – everything fails if the content and message isn’t continually refreshed, reworked and refined.