How to prepare your digital screens for Christmas

Summary:

Start preparing your Christmas screens now to avoid stress later. External screens should focus on opening hours and service, while internal screens can be more playful with countdowns and competitions. Plan and schedule all content in advance so it runs automatically. Mix vitamins (opening hours, schedules, important information) with candy (Christmas rhymes, recipes, competitions) to create engagement. Don’t forget to thank those who work over the holidays.

Create Christmas spirit that actually engages

As Customer Success Manager at PLAYipp, I see every year how companies prepare their screens for Christmas. Some start as early as November, others wait until the last week. But those who succeed best are those who plan well in advance and build up expectations gradually. Here I’ll share how you can prepare your screens so they create real Christmas spirit and engagement.

Think about both internal and external

When you prepare your screens for Christmas, it’s important to think about where they’re located and who sees them. Screens in your reception or shop are directed at customers and visitors. There you can show opening hours during the holidays, Christmas greetings and information about any campaigns or offers. Keep the tone professional but warm.

Internally, in break rooms and offices, you can be more playful. Here, countdowns to the Christmas holidays work perfectly. It creates excitement and gets people talking about Christmas. We use countdowns ourselves at PLAYipp before our own Christmas happenings, and you can immediately notice how the atmosphere lifts. Here you can also dare to have more fun content like Christmas rhymes, competitions and personal greetings from colleagues.

Use scheduling smartly so that the right content shows in the right place. External screens can have longer information rotations focused on service, while internal screens can switch more frequently between practical information and Christmas atmosphere.

Plan content in advance

Now, a few weeks before Christmas, is the perfect time to create and schedule your Christmas content. Think through what’s happening during December. Do you have a Christmas party? Mulled wine gathering? Special opening hours during the holidays? Add all of this well in advance.

Use the scheduling function so that the right information goes out at the right time. Maybe you want information about the Christmas party to start appearing three weeks in advance, while opening hours during the holidays can wait until closer to Christmas. When you plan now, you won’t have to stress at the end of the month.

Mix vitamins with candy

This is especially important during Christmas. Sure, important information about closed days and schedules should be on the screens, but don’t forget the fun stuff. Here are examples of content you can mix:

Vitamins (must-have information):

• Opening hours during the Christmas holidays
• Important information from the company board
• Last working day and first day back
• Information about Christmas party or mulled wine gathering
• Closed departments or limited service
• Contact details for on-call staff

Candy (what creates engagement):

• Christmas rhymes that appear daily
• Tips on the best days to take off for maximum holiday
• Recipes from colleagues for their best Christmas treats or mulled wine
• Christmas competitions, like hiding Santa figures around the office
• Fun Christmas facts or trivia
• Countdown with festive design
• Christmas greetings from different departments
• Photos from last year’s Christmas party

At PLAYipp, we’ve sometimes done Christmas competitions where we hide small Santa figures around the office and use the screens to launch the hunt. That kind of thing creates engagement and makes people actually look at the screens instead of just walking past.

Want to learn more? Check out this article by Emil Lindblad