Elevator Digital Signage: How and Why to Use It

When people hear the words elevator digital signage, more often than not, they think about advertisement displays. However, digital signs in elevators can serve many other purposes, from sharing information to entertaining guests. If you’re on the fence about putting up a digital sign in your building’s elevator, read on to find out all the reasons why that would be a good decision.

What Is Digital Signage Anyway?

Digital signage software solutions are a form of media technology that uses digital screens, such as LCD or LED displays, to convey information, advertise, or entertain. There is also digital signage software involved in the background, making sure that the messages are displayed correctly. Integration with building management systems, social media platforms, or real-time data sources is essential for enabling seamless content management and real-time updates on digital signage displays. While billboards might be the most popular form of digital signage, they’re far from the only one. You are also likely to find digital signs in places such as airports, hotels and restaurants, shopping malls, and more. Digital signs in elevators are also becoming increasingly popular, much owing to their wide practical applications.

4 Uses of Digital Signage in Elevators

Elevator rides are rarely something to write home about. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case, especially if you use digital signage to engage, inform, or entertain the passengers. The process of implementing elevator digital signage typically involves careful planning, collaboration with content creation experts to develop customized visuals, professional installation, and ongoing management to ensure your displays remain effective and impactful. Let’s take a look at four great ways to use digital signs in an elevator.

Digital Advertising

Advertising is one of the main uses of digital signs, regardless of the location. For starters, digital signage lowers the costs for advertisers, making it one of the favorite ad media. Additionally, unlike paper-based ads, digital advertising can be harder to miss and is more effective in fighting banner blindness. 

However, ad displays in elevators can be especially effective, depending on the types of ads displayed. For instance, an elevator in a hotel can contain ads for local restaurants, bars, and other places of interest for tourists. On the other hand, an elevator in a residential building can be used to display ads relevant to the residents, such as for local food delivery services, car repair shops, plumbers, and so on.

This unique audience targeting opportunity is another reason why advertising agencies are fond of elevator digital signage, meaning that your signs will be easy to monetize and turn into a stream of revenue.

Building Information

Elevators are a very convenient way to communicate important building-related information to visitors or residents. For instance, shopping malls often use digital signs in elevators to display directories with lists of shops located on each floor, the opening hours of the mall, and so on. Hotels, for instance, can display Wi-Fi login information, the room service offer, room numbers by floor, or interesting places and events to visit in the vicinity. 

Residents and visitors could also benefit from details such as the emergency exit displays, the building manager’s contact information, emergency phone numbers, rules of conduct, and so on.

Emergency Display

“There are approximately 900,000 elevators in the United States and the odds of getting stuck in an elevator are 1 in every 100,000 elevator ride”, wrote risk management expert Keven Moore for NKYTribune. While this might not seem like too often, it can still be a frightening experience. In such cases, elevator displays can show important information on who to call, what (not) to do, and how to keep oneself from panicking. Additionally, they will serve as a source of light if necessary.

Important Announcements

Since most building residents and visitors use the elevator (aside from those going to lower-level floors), elevator signs are also a great place to share important announcements such as scheduled cleaning and maintenance, ongoing construction, weather alerts, planned power outages, and similar.

Entertainment for Passengers

Lastly, you could use digital signage in your building’s elevator to simply make the ride a little more fun. You can entertain customers, visitors, or residents by showing music videos or short and fun video clips.

For hotels and other tourism-oriented establishments, these screens could display fun facts about the town or nearby places of interest. You could make the display even more engaging by turning it into a trivia quiz and giving passengers something to do aside from just looking at the screen.

Content Creation and Strategy for Elevator Digital Signage

You know, creating really compelling content for elevator digital signage isn't just about throwing some text on a screen and calling it a day. It honestly starts with having a solid strategy and a team that actually gets both the weird, unique vibe of elevators and what your audiences really need. Think about it—elevator rides are super short, right? So whatever info you're showing on those digital screens has to be quick to read, easy to understand, and immediately useful, whether you're talking to residents, tenants, or customers.

Here's a smart way to kick things off: figure out what kind of content will actually bring value to your users. This could be stuff like important building announcements, weather alerts, news updates, or upcoming events that people care about. Promotions and ads can slide in there pretty seamlessly too, giving you a chance to make some money off your elevator screens while keeping the content fresh and engaging. Using RSS feeds is honestly a really effective solution to get real-time updates flowing, so your digital signage always shows the latest news, weather, or notices without you having to constantly update things manually.

The location of each elevator screen really plays a huge role in your content strategy, and it's kind of obvious when you think about it. Like, screens in residential buildings might focus more on community announcements and local services, while the ones in commercial settings can highlight promotions, events, or even some live entertainment. When you tailor your messages to the specific audience and location, you're really maximizing the impact and relevance of your signage.

One of the biggest perks of free digital signage is honestly the flexibility it gives you. With the right software, you can update content instantly from anywhere—pretty cool, right? You can schedule announcements ahead of time and manage multiple screens across different locations without breaking a sweat. This doesn't just save time; it actually cuts costs compared to those old-school paper notices. Plus, when you integrate your digital signage with other systems like emergency alert platforms or event calendars, you're making sure your audiences always get the most important info exactly when they need it.

To keep your elevator digital signage engaging, you really want to use a mix of images, videos, and short text. Multimedia content is way more likely to grab attention and give people some entertainment during that brief elevator ride. But here's the thing—it's super important to choose a solution that's easy to manage and maintain, with reliable hardware and a stable internet connection to support real-time updates and keep downtime to a minimum.

Finally, the most effective content strategies are honestly built on actually understanding your users. Gather feedback, dig into engagement data, and keep refining your approach to make sure your elevator screens are giving people the information and entertainment they actually want. When you combine a thoughtful content plan with solid digital signage software, you can really turn your elevator displays into a powerful tool for communication, engagement, and even bringing in some revenue.

Benefits of Using Elevator Digital Signage

Now that we’ve covered how to use digital signage in elevators, let’s go over some reasons why you should do it in the first place:

• Monetization: According to Home Advisor, the costs of elevator maintenance and repairs can run up to anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.  Advertising is a great and relatively easy way to turn your digital signs into an additional source of revenue to offset some of these expenses. Additionally, this money can also be used for building maintenance or other building-related expenses. 
• Low Installation Costs: Although the precise numbers will depend on the number and type of displays you want to put up, the cost of setting up digital signs is low and will pay off quickly. In general, display installation can be as inexpensive as $200, while quality digital signage software can cost as little as $7/month for a single screen.
• User Experience: If you’re managing a commercial building, be it a hotel, shopping mall, or something else, digital elevator signage can vastly improve user experience by offering useful information and entertaining passengers. Certain features or tools are needed for effective digital signage operation.
• Flow of Information: Digital displays in elevators make spreading information much easier. Instead of having to post notices all over the building (or having to share the information with each resident personally), you can simply display the message on the elevator sign.
• Optimized Building Management: The previous point is closely related to the overall streamlining of building management operations, too. When everyone is aware of what is going on in the building, there will be less confusion and fewer hiccups along the way.
• Time- and Cost-Effectiveness: Whenever there is a new announcement to be made, all you have to do is use the digital signage content management system to share it through the elevator displays in real time. This is much more time- and cost-effective than having to print out paper announcements and post them all over the building or having to email everybody individually. s in real time. This is much more time- and cost-effective than having to print out paper announcements and post them all over the building or having to email everybody individually.

What Users Say About Rise Vision for Multi-Display Management

Blake Cretens from a full-service resort shares, "Rise Vision makes sharing information quick and easy. It has saved us a lot of time and allows for easy last-minute updates." This flexibility is particularly valuable for elevator signage, where content often needs to change on short notice—whether it's a weather alert, maintenance schedule, or last-minute event announcement.

For organizations managing multiple displays, Scott Boyer from a school district notes, "Rise Vision is intuitive, with great templates. We manage about 25 displays and plan to add more." The ability to control multiple elevator screens across different floors or buildings from a single platform streamlines operations and cuts down management time significantly.

Jill Stekel from a corporate office emphasizes the convenience: "Love this program! It has made it easy to manage all digital displays from one laptop." Remote management means building staff can update elevator content without physically visiting each floor, saving time and reducing operational overhead.

Steve Nielsen sums up the user experience simply: "Love it! It just works, easy to manage, and flexible for our needs." For elevator digital signage, reliability matters. You need displays that consistently show the right content without requiring constant troubleshooting or technical support.

The pattern across these reviews is clear: Rise Vision's platform makes it straightforward to manage multiple displays, update content remotely, and maintain reliable operation—exactly what you need for an effective elevator digital signage system.

Place Digital Signs in Your Elevators

By now, it should be pretty clear that elevator digital signage can bring many benefits, regardless of the type of establishment you’re running. However, setting up the LED signs in your elevators is only half of the job. You will also need a reliable, cloud-based digital signage software solution behind the scenes. 

This is where Rise Vision comes into play. With our easy-to-use program, you can remotely control your screens, delegate display management, integrate other platforms, and so much more, regardless of the digital signage player you’re using. Having connected elevator screens ensures seamless updates and real-time content management, making it easy to keep your displays current and relevant. Get in touch with our team to learn more, or start using our digital signage software for free.