Mastering the Key Elements of Successful Out of Home Advertising

Out of home advertising includes advertising methods that are carried out in public spaces. This can mean the use of billboards, bus shelters, in-store advertising, and more. In a world where digital advertising has become so ubiquitous, OOH advertising is a powerful tool. It gives businesses the ability to reach large audiences, often simultaneously in big groups. Using out of home advertising, brands can get their messaging in front of people, in places where they’re living their lives.

To achieve success with out of home advertising, creating authentic connections with audiences is key. Identifying the right audience and the best locations makes this possible.

Understanding Out of Home Advertising

Out of home advertising encompasses a number of different formats related to advertising in public spaces. Advertising using billboards, public transit, street furniture, and more are all included in this category.

Online marketing may have grown, but OOH advertising is still extremely relevant in the modern world. In fact, it has grown in recent years. In particular, digital out of home advertising has overtaken traditional out of home advertising. The market is expected to reach a value of $45 billion in 2024. During the remainder of 2023, there is an expected increase of 4.9% in OOH advertising spend, according to the Advertising Association and WARC.

Big brands such as British Airways, Lacoste, Burger King, and Müller have recently gained recognition for successful out of home advertising campaigns. British Airways was awarded the Grand Prix in the Outdoor category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for their A British Original campaign. Meanwhile, Burger King got creative with an OOH campaign that changed the content of its ad and the deal on offer in accordance with the local weather report.

Identifying Target Audiences and Locations

To find success with out of home advertising, it’s crucial to know your target audience. Understanding your audience helps you to both design ad content that engages them and identify the best locations for your advertising. Using data and analytics will allow you to find high-traffic locations that will allow maximum exposure to your target audience. The use of digital technology makes it easier than ever to collect and benefit from large amounts of data.

There are several factors to consider when identifying the right audience and locations. Environmental factors, demographics, and consumer behavior all play key roles in selecting locations. Audience segmentation can help you to further zero in on your targeting.

Designing Compelling OOH Campaigns

Out of home advertising campaigns need to be well-crafted and designed to have maximum impact in order to be successful. They should be visually appealing, strong, and memorable ads that are designed to resonate with the target audience.

Storytelling and connecting on an emotional level are both strong tools for evoking a response from your target market. Telling your brand story humanizes your brand, showing you’re more than just a business. You care about human connection and the feelings of your customers.

OOH advertising often has just a few seconds to capture the attention of passersby. That means that maintaining clarity and simplicity in messaging and imagery is also important. When you are clear and concise, it conveys your message quickly and simply so that people can connect with it immediately. Focus on compelling visual clues and your call to action to showcase your brand messaging.

Leveraging Technology in OOH Advertising

One of the ways out of home advertising has been evolving is in its use of technology. New technology has opened up new possibilities and made OOH campaigns more engaging than ever. Integrating technology such as digital displays, augmented reality, and QR codes, enhances campaigns and makes them more engaging and memorable.

Data-driven insights can give you the power to optimize the strategies and ad placements you choose for OOH advertising. Technology such as artificial intelligence is making it easier to collect data on audience flow, demographics, time of day, and more. This provides valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t for optimized campaigns.

Creating interactive and personalized out of home advertising experiences boosts engagement. QR codes offer one example of how OOH campaigns can become interactive, giving people the opportunity to scan a code and view content on their phones or other mobile devices. Programmatic and AI can be used to make campaigns more personal, allowing for the customization of content in real-time through digital out of home advertising.

Building Authentic Connections with Consumers

Establishing trust and credibility is essential for successful out of home advertising campaigns. To achieve this, it’s crucial for brands to present themselves authentically and engage with their audience in a transparent way. Aligning OOH campaigns with the values and aspirations of the target audience helps to build authentic connections. People want to know that brands share their values and take action to support them. OOH advertising helps to build brand awareness, making brands more familiar to their target audiences and building trust over time.

One of the best ways to foster consumer engagement is through the use of user-generated content and leveraging social media. User-generated content pairs particularly well with live content. It gives consumers a chance to be part of the campaign and feel truly connected, while the brand makes itself a part of their lives at the same time. Social media can boost the performance of OOH campaigns through wider sharing and even the possibility of content gaining viral attention.

Measuring and Analyzing OOH Campaign Effectiveness

Choosing the right key performance indicators (KPIs) allows you to accurately assess the performance of your out of home advertising campaigns.

Some of the KPIs to track include:

• Brand awareness
• Purchase intent
• Foot traffic and sales
• Share of voice
• Return on ad spend
• Brand favorability

There are multiple methods you can use to track and measure ad performance, as well as key metrics such as foot traffic and brand lift. Data from digital advertising helps with measuring performance. Digital billboards allow us to track impressions in real time, as well as viewer demographics. Measuring foot traffic and sales lift can be carried out using location-based analytics and sales data.

Based on campaign analytics, you can make iterative improvements to your campaigns. The insights you gain from various types of data allow you to continue making adjustments and observing the effects those changes have on the results your campaign receives.

Conclusion

Successful out of home advertising requires a combination of both the right technology and an effort to connect with the consumer. Presenting your brand in an authentic way, using clear messaging and imagery, will enable you to connect with your audience in a more effective way.

Out of home advertising is continuing to evolve with the advancement of technology. It is uniquely placed to grow with technology such as programmatic and AI that will make both connecting with an audience and measuring campaign performance easier than ever.