Neil Bell owns New South Outdoor which operates 5 digital billboards in Auburn and Opelika Alabama.  He also owns Ripple Feed, a company which provides software to allow customers to automatically load ads into a digital sign’s content management system.  The system costs $29-$65/month, depending on the number of ads which are run using the system.

Neil, what gave you the idea for Ripple Feed.

 It started because I was struggling to find a more elegant way to have advertisers update templated content. We were either using a google docs spreadsheet or an XML file that they could edit which was saved in Dropbox. Often the advertiser would make a mistake and create errors on file and the content would not fill into the ad properly.  Most of our customers were small business owners and just didn’t have the time to learn how to operate this properly. More often than not, it just didn’t get used.  

How does Ripplefeed work?

First, you would add your advertisers email and it sends them a request to create a password. Next, you set up different text and photo fields that you want to pull into your advertisers art template. You then use your content management software to define where those fields fill on the approved template. Once it is set up, the advertiser can change their text and photos easily in a way that is “dummy proof”.  It even lets them crop photos so it will be sized right on the board. 

What benefits does the system provide to advertisers and digital sign owners.

• For advertisers, they can change their offerings as often as they like. For example, we have car dealers that now update car model, prices and photos without having to design a separate piece of art. We also have realtors that can change listings without having to call us for art changes.

• For sign owners, they can now push the use of dynamic content knowing that there is a simple way to set it up and easily train their customers to use it. Customers that get engaged with the media, using its features to their full potential, tend to renew their advertising agreements. 

Why do I need Ripple Feed if I have content management software from my digital sign provider?

RippleFeed is not meant to replace your current content management software. It is a separate, inexpensive tool that can be used to get your advertising customers to change their content out easily… and by themselves. We have had a number of advertisers who are not very tech savvy.  RippleFeed was designed with them in mind. If they can update their Facebook status, they can now update their billboard content. 

Digital sign security is a hot button right now.  What features does Ripple Feed have to keep a digital sign secure? 

• This brings me to my favorite features of RippleFeed.  First, the way we were handling XML and RSS updates before was not very secure because the links to get to those changeable files were public. That content could be altered by anyone who got a hold of the link.  RippleFeed requires user login credentials to make changes, which would cut down on this concern.

• Secondly, my other big hangup with using advertiser edited feeds was that there was no way to filter what they had added or even know when they made a change to the content. With RippleFeed, every time your advertiser updates their text or photo, the operator gets an email immediately showing the ad that was altered as well as what text and photos were changed. It does not ask you for permission to run it, but it does keep you in the “loop” of what is being displayed on your board. 

For more information visit Ripple Feed’s website or contact Neil Bell (neil@newsouthoutdoor.com, 850-766-0624)

Paid Ad