7 Best Digital Signage Content Managers for Every Budget
A digital signage content manager is essential for turning any smart TV into an effective digital sign.
Whether you want to load up your digital sign with restaurant menus, school announcements, or workplace safety protocol, you'll need a CMS to make it happen.
Digital signage content managers can range from a low one-time cost to hundreds of dollars per month for enterprise software licenses.
In this guide, we dive into the top platforms no matter your budget.
We also offer some smart tips to help you make the most of your signs, create great content, and save time managing everything.
What's in this guide:
- What is a digital signage content manager
- 7 best digital signage content managers
- 5 pro tips for digital signage content managers
- How to choose the right digital signage CMS
What is a digital signage content manager?
A digital signage content management system, or digital signage SMS, is a type of software that makes it easy to manage the content you want to display on your smart TVs and other large screens.
Most digital signage software platforms have a content manager built in. You can add different content like videos and slideshows, integrate with social media platforms to automatically pull in social content, and create digital signage schedules to play the right content at the right times.
7 best digital signage content managers
Here's a list of the best digital signage content management systems for any budget or use case.
1. Juuno
Juuno is an affordable, easy-to-use digital signage content manager that offers content playlists and schedules so you can manage and automate content however you wish.
Best for: Small businesses
Features:
- Works on any smart TV
- No special hardware required
- Canva integration for thousands of design templates
- Digital signage content management system
- Content playlists
- Content schedules
- Unlimited team mates
- Workspaces for agencies or multi-location businesses
- New integration
- Social media integrations
Pricing:
Pay $19 per screen as a one-time fee and use Juuno on that screen for as long as you want. Custom enterprise pricing is available if you need multiple workspaces.
2. Scala
Scala offers a variety of solutions and features that make it the perfect fit for retailers. From assisted kiosk selling to shelf signage and full-wall signage, Scala is capable of handling any enterprise retail use case.
Best for: Retail
Features:
- Works for smart TVs or large retail signs and digital billboards
- Digital signage content management system
- Assisted kiosk selling
- Digital menu boards
- Smart pickup shelving (shelf signage)
- Media player hardware for offline play
Pricing:
As an enterprise-only solution, Scala doesn't offer self-service plan. You'll need to contact their sales team for a quote.
3. Rise Vision
With a variety of school-friendly features as well as unlimited use within schools, Rise Vision is the perfect digital signage content management solution for the education industry.
Best for: Schools and universities
Features:
- Works on any smart TV
- Can be used for in-class or office signs
- 500+ digital signage templates
- Special templates for teaching kids financial literacy
- Digital signage content editor
- Digital signage content management system
Pricing:
You can pay $83.25 per school per month and get unlimited usage within that school. Or pay $11.50 per display per month if you don't need a lot of screens.
4. Look
Look is an easy-to-use digital signage software that's great for small businesses. With its straightforward features and bulk pricing, it could be a fit for multi-location businesses as well.
Best for: Small businesses
Features:
- Built-in graphics editor
- Customizable sign sections
- Digital signage content management system
- Scene transitions
- Works on any smart TV
- Offline play available
- Content templates
Pricing:
Look typically costs $15 per screen per month, but bulk pricing is available. If you have more than 20 screens you'll pay $10 per screen per month.
5. YoDeck
YoDeck offers a variety of features that are great for multi-location restaurants, like interactive kiosks, offline play, and low per-screen pricing.
Best for: Restaurants
Features:
- Content templates
- Content playlists
- Newsfeeds
- Weather widget
- Tableau integration
- Interactive kiosks
- Hardware included for free with annual plans
- Digital signage content management system
- Enterprise-grade security
Pricing:
The Standard plan costs $7.99 per screen per month and the Pro plan costs $9.99 per month. The Pro plan is recommended for creating playlists with content tags.
6. OptiSigns
With its advanced features, OptiSigns is a digital signage content manager created for enterprises. You can use AI facial detection to display the right content for the right audiences and measure interest and engagement with your content.
Best for: Enterprises
Features:
- AI facial detection to optimize content based on demographics
- Kiosk mode
- Interactive experiences
- Hardware for offline play
- Digital signage content management system
- Manage signs from a mobile app
- Content designer
- Content templates
Pricing:
Plans range from $10 to $15 per screen per month. AI features can be added for $5 per screen per month.
7. ScreenCloud
With its user audit logs, custom user permissions, and proof of play logs, ScreenCloud is one of the best digital signage content systems for enterprise companies. You can ensure that only the right users are able to add, remove, or update content or content schedules.
Best for: Enterprises
Features:
- Tableau and other dashboard integrations
- Social media integrations
- Digital signage content management system
- Content editor
- Content templates
- User audit logs
- Single sign-on
- Custom user permissions
- Proof of play logs
Pricing:
Plans range from $20 to $40 per screen per month.
5 pro tips for digital signage content managers
Ready to take your digital signage to the next level?
Use these tips to save time, create better content, and keep your audience engaged.
1. Use content automation
It's a good idea to use content automation so you don't have to manually change the screen content throughout the day or week. You can create content schedules so updates occur manually.
For example, a restaurant might use content automation to swap out the dinner menu and lunch menu in the evening. Or, an office might have a different category of content that plays every couple of hours—changing from employee spotlights to announcements and motivational quotes.
2. Strategize your schedules and playlists
Make sure to really consider the best format for your content schedules. It's better to create one playlist for each content purpose. For example, you might have one digital signage playlist for customer testimonials and another for upcoming events. Then, you can easily add these playlists to your schedule as desired. But, if you put too many different types of content in one playlist, your schedule won't be as flexible or easy to manage, and you'll have to remove or delete outdated content more often.
3. Try content integrations
You can also automatically pull content from your digital signage content manager's different integrations and widgets. This will save you a ton of time when it comes to coming up with great content to display.
Here are some examples:
- Social media platforms for pulling in your own posts as well as user-generated content
- RSS feeds with your most recent blog articles
- News, weather, and other widgets
- Graphic design platforms like Canva for making use of high-quality content templates
4. Create content for multiple audiences
You might want to consider appealing to different audiences with your digital sign.
For example, if you're planning to showcase your cafe menu to customers during business hours, you might also consider the usefulness of displaying employee-focused messaging before your cafe opens. You might remind them of important opening procedures, recipes, safety information, new specials to promote, etc.
Because you have content automation on your side, you can easily set up your schedule and not have to worry about customers seeing workplace announcements.
If you want to make sure that your content creators are using their human creativity—not AI—to create engaging content for your audiences, just run the text through an AI detector.
5. Always keep your content fresh
Whatever kind of content you display, make sure to switch things up. You might add specials to your menu, new quotes or employee spotlights, fresh customer testimonials, or up-to-date social media content. Make sure that there's something new to look at—at least every week. Otherwise, your audience will grow tired of your digital signs, lose interest, and stop paying attention.
How to choose the right digital signage CMS
Budget is typically the most important consideration. If you're looking for a simple solution that turns any smart TV into a digital sign, find a platform like Juuno that charges a one-time fee.
Affordable digital signage is usually browser-based, meaning it operates in your smart TV's web browser. If you need offline play, opt for an enterprise-grade solution like Scala.
You might also want to make sure that your platform offers features for content creation, like pre-built templates, an easy-to-use design editor, or an integration with a graphic design program like Canva.
Check that the platform you choose offers digital signage content automation, so that the screens will automatically show the right content according to your schedules.
As long as you have those critical features in a platform that fits your budget, you can't go too far wrong.
Check out Juuno's affordable lifetime deals, pay once per screen.