For businesses used to traditional advertising methods, the concept of utilizing and quantifying out-of-home advertising can be a challenging hurdle to overcome. However, understanding OOH can be a critical part of getting ahead of the competition. To help take the mystery out of outdoor advertising we’ve answered sixteen frequently-asked OOH advertising questions gathered from multiple online sources including Reddit and Quora.
General
What Is Out-of-Home Advertising (OOH)?
Out-of-Home advertising often referred to as OOH, is an advertising channel that places advertisements in public places for maximum reach. OOH, ads can include traditional and digital billboards, bus and train ads, street furniture, wraps on objects or buildings, and even taxi cab toppers.
What Is Digital Out of Home Advertising (DOOH)?
Digital Out-of-Home Advertising, or DOOH, refers to OOH avenues that are digital in nature. This includes digital billboards, digital posters on bus stations, and ads inside public transit avenues. With DOOH, digital screens can be manipulated based on advertiser preferences on an individualized timeline, allowing an advertiser to launch a new campaign quickly and easily.
What Are the Disadvantages of Traditional Outdoor Advertising?
Arguably the largest disadvantage to traditional outdoor advertising include:
- Space limitations: bus ads, train ads, or taxi toppers often offer a smaller canvas that requires flexible and limited designs.
- High production costs: for traditional billboards, producing a physical advertisement to put in place can be very costly. However, digital ads can alleviate some of this burden as there is no tangible end product.
- Lack of analytics: in the traditional billboard space, there’s no true way to determine how many people saw an ad, or how many were part of key demographics advertisers are looking to target.
Advertisers
Why Do Advertisers Still Find OOH Exciting?
Advertisers find OOH opportunities exciting for the potential reach. A large billboard often can’t be ignored, and those in a city who regularly see bus, train, or taxi ads will receive a consistent message. With OOH options, advertisers can quickly and easily launch large-scale advertising campaigns and get guaranteed eyeballs.
Media Buyers
Why Do Media Buyers Love OOH Advertising?
Media buyers love OOH advertising because it can be an effective way to round out an advertising campaign. OOH complements many different advertising avenues and can be beneficial in driving traffic to other channels. One study found that consumers are almost 50% more likely to click on a digital ad after seeing the same product or service in an OOH environment.
What Makes An OOH Campaign Successful?
An ideal OOH campaign needs to be carefully planned, targeted, and well-executed in order to reach deliverable goals. Advertisers looking for success should:
- Determine measurable goals
- Employ the proper technology to maximize reach
- Create a strategy and stick to it
- Select ideal locations or formats
- Keep ads clean, simple, and easy to read
What Are the Pricing Models for Digital Outdoor Advertising DOOH?
Unlike other forms of advertising in which impressions are utilized to determine CPM, DOOH alternatives are generally priced based on equipment, content, and, most importantly, location. High-traffic advertising spaces, like Times Square, are always going to be more expensive than billboards in areas that don’t get as many eyes. When determining to spend, advertisers need to evaluate both the cost of running an ad and where it will be most effective.
How to Sell Outdoor Advertising Media Space
Selling outdoor media space to appeal to OOH advertising can involve several elements, including location, access, and average demographics in the area. Those with outdoor space to offer should be able to hone in on how local digital advertising can meet consumer needs in order to pitch to the right parties. If possible, those with ad space should provide proof of success. For those just breaking into the industry, discounts or affordable base pricing can attract advertisers willing to make a calculated risk.
Measurement
How Do People Measure Billboard Advertising Effectiveness and ROI?
Unlike other forms of digital advertising in which it’s fairly simple to determine impressions, the concept is a little more abstract for a medium in which actual exposure is hard to quantify. Measuring OOH options can depend on goals, like sales growth or website traffic before and after a billboard goes up, or based on something like Daily Effective Circulation. DEC refers to the number of vehicles and pedestrians that pass by daily — an imperfect metric, but an adequate way to assess how many impressions a billboard gets.
Visually Adjusted Contact or Opportunity to Contact is similar but refers to the number of people who could walk past an outdoor ad or those who saw an outside advert.
Technology
What Are the Latest Tech Trends in OOH?
The trends guiding OOH are primarily in the digital space; traditional billboards have been around for decades but digital alternatives are far newer. Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is demonstrating significant growth. With AI resources, advertisers can better collect data using sensors and leverage personalized advertising alternatives that are best positioned to drive sales.
- Need to increase occupancy
- Boost campaign extensions
- Using outdated technology
- Struggle to prioritize sales goals
- Fail to properly address sales inquiries
- Can’t bridge the gap between servicing and sales
- Have old, outdated advertising software
Why Your OOH Advertising Business Should Run on One Software?
A centralized software solution can be an advantage in many different areas of business, and that includes advertising. One centralized approach to software can contain all aspects of ad campaigns, OOH and otherwise. With all information and ad sales team members operating in one central space, it’s easier to measure campaigns, work together on new pitches, and increase visibility. Further, it’s less likely that teams will find themselves working with inconsistent or out-of-date data when running numbers or making decisions.
Future
What Will the Digital Out Of Home Market Size and Growth Rate be in 2023?
While there’s no way to reliably predict the future, all indicators point to continued growth in the DOOH space. One market analysis found that 2020 DOOH advertising spend in the U.S. clocked in at $2.72 billion, with further growth to $3.84 billion by the year 2023. Trends are likely to evolve, too, with the expansion of digital advertising opportunities and increased use of AI.
Originally published at https://www.advendio.com on June 29, 2021.
