In the past, digital signage used to be limited to a user uploading content to a sign and scheduling when that content played. That workflow had a lot of great use cases and helped many companies create a more engaging customer and employee experience. However, in many situations, that workflow was too limited and too slow, as it was not able to incorporate real-time content and real-time scheduling.

Now, those limitations are a thing of the past. Enter Screenly & Zapier. It’s now possible to integrate with almost any app quickly and easily. With this integration, users can automatically display new content and trigger when this content displays.

Why we built our digital signage Zapier integration

Screenly has been in business for over a decade, so we have received almost every integration request you can imagine. In many cases, these requests provided useful guidance for our product roadmap, and we built these requested integrations for thousands of users.

In other situations, integration requests were more obscure and had a very limited user base. Without a large potentialuser base, it was hard to justify allocating developer resources for requests with small target markets. Nonetheless, while it was hard to make a convincing business justification for these integration requests, they were still very important for the customers who requested them.

That’s why we built our integration with Zapier. Zapier makes it easy for users to connect and transfer data between software tools. So, building our Zapier integration was like building thousands of integrations at once. With our new Zapier integration, users can easily integrate their Screenly digital signs with thousands of popular software tools and business apps.

Example use cases with Screenly and Zapier

With our Zapier integration, you can use Zapier triggers to initiate actions on your digital signage deployment. You can trigger asset uploads, playlist creation, screen content assignment, and more. Anything you can trigger with the Screenly API, you trigger within Zapier’s interface.

To get a better idea of what is possible with Screenly’s Zapier integration, check out the example workflows below:

• Use Zapier to trigger automatic content uploads when new files are added to Google Drive, Dropbox, or a SharePoint folder.

• Use Zapier to trigger content to display when particular data conditions are met, such as when a sales rep meets their monthly quota or when a team reaches a new weekly revenue record.

• Use Zapier to change screen content based on third-party data, such as weather data. Retail stores can then display coat and jacket promotions when it is cold out and promote summer wear when it is warm out.

The above list is just for inspiration! You can connect any of Zapier’s thousands of apps to trigger and build your Screenly-powered digital signage.

Preparing digital signage for workflows and AI agents

In 2025, AI agents have been and will be all the rage. This year, teams will be able to use AI tools to not just complete one task at a time but instead to complete an orchestrated workflow of several tasks that all interrelate with each other. In some of these agentic workflows, users will want to incorporate digital signs.

With Screenly & Zapier, users can get to work with this upcoming trend in digital signage and technology at large. Instead of digital signage content being something that needs to be planned weeks in advance and changed one piece at a time, users can start to innovate new ways of interfacing with their digital signs and displaying content that will best drive business results.

For example, a past workflow (or soon-to-be-disrupted current workflow) for listing a new retail item would have included creating new marketing collateral, sending it to different team members, and then uploading it to digital signage software. With new AI-enabled workflows, it’s possible that all these steps happen automatically when a new SKU and product description are added to a business’s inventory database. AI agents and workflows enabled through Zapier and Screenly will allow all of that work to happen in the background. It’s possible that moments after a new SKU is added to an inventory system, beautiful digital signage content for that item starts displaying in stores.

In need of more custom integrations? Try Screenly Edge Apps

Screenly’s integration with Zapier makes it easier than ever to integrate your digital signs with other business tools and software. Zapier’s point-and-click interface also opens up this integration work to anyone on your team - digital signage setup no longer has to be the sole task of the IT department. However, the ease-of-use that Zapier provides does have some limitations on customization.

When Screenly’s integration with Zapier is not enough, users can write custom digital signage applications that are editable line-by-line at the code level. This is possible with the Screenly Edge App framework. With Screnly Edge Apps, we take care of all the behind-the-scenes work so that developers can focus on building only the parts of their application that add value to their business. All the complicated parts of digital signage, including content formatting, device management, operating system choices, and digital signage security are taken care of.

How do I get started with Screenly and Zapier?

You can get started with Screenly and Zapier right now. The first step is to get a free 30-day trial with Screenly. Next, get a free trial with Zapier and check out our integration page. That’s it - you can start building right away!