It’s certainly an exciting time to be involved in the out of home advertising space. The demand for OOH campaigns has remained constant over previous years. Still, as we move into a new decade, the industry is understandably excited about what the future hold for real-world advertising.
A combination of tech advances with the traditional benefits of real-world ads has made the world of OOH unavoidable for many marketers and advertisers. We take a detailed look at the industry, where it’s been and what it might look like in the coming months and years.
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What is out of home advertising?
Out of home advertising (OOH) is a form of advertising that can be found outside of a consumer’s home. Traditionally this includes everything from billboards to bus shelters, benches, and everything in-between. If you see an ad outside of your home (and it’s not on your mobile!), then you are most likely looking at some kind of OOH ad.
We all spend time outdoors, and with the growth of digital advertising, it can sometimes be hard to get your message heard. OOH solves this and is now combining with digital advancements to make it a powerful tool for advertisers and marketers.
Types of OOH advertising examples
Billboards
Busses
Posters
Tube system, metro, and other travel locations
Airport
Taxis
Street furniture
Benefits of out of home advertising
Out of home advertising can be a brilliant alternative to the world of online digital advertising. It can have limitations; for example, the rise of adblockers has meant that digital ads viewability isn’t always perfect. Combine this with the sheer amount of information that consumers are faced with online, and it’s easy to understand why digital advertising isn’t always the best solution.
With out of home advertising, this isn’t a problem. OOH ads are difficult to avoid, and they can have a significant impact on consumers due to their size and contrast to the real-world environment.
Alongside this, OOH has a positive effect as a complement to digital advertising. One study found that consumers are 48% more likely to interact with a digital ad after being exposed to an OOH ad first.
What you can do with out of home
Create impactful advertising campaigns
The reason that advertisers love OOH advertising is due to the potential impact that it can have on consumers. They take notice of these large OOH ads.
OOH campaigns can’t be ignored, compared to TV, radio, or mobile, which can often be turned off, or the consumer can move to another channel.
Shania Brenson, the founder of 15M Finance, states that “OOH is booming now, so its importance for the company’s future success is undeniable in today’s competitive market. Investing in an impactful OOH campaign can be a smart financial decision for businesses that are looking for practical ways to increase their visibility and drive business growth.”
This means that advertisers can launch highly visual, impactful campaigns that attract the attention of consumers and allow brands to get their message to cut through.
Be creative
Out of home is a great place for creativity to thrive in the world of advertising. Large scale, impactful ad space is a fantastic place for creativity to thrive. Couple this with the need to provide a clear and lasting message, it’s perfect for testing some of your brand’s most creative ideas.
Combine this with the rise of data and new interactivity that is growing in the OOH space, and it’s easy to see why creativity is a key component of OOH campaigns.
Use location intelligently
Out of home advertising is extremely location-driven. Being in the real world, advertisers must consider where to place their ads to have the most significant impact.
With the rise of DOOH and other adtech stacks, advertisers can now do much more with location than previously available.
For example, it’s possible to understand, in real-time, the demographics of consumers that are nearby to OOH ad inventory. Based on this, advertisers can deliver dynamic ads that best suit the consumers at any given moment.
In the same way that digital marketing services have evolved to provide detailed insights and analytics into ad engagement and conversion, OOH advertising has now caught up. Campaign impressions can be measured, and attribution is now possible — all making OOH ads a powerful toolkit for any marketing department.
Purchasing in real-time
In previous years the purchase of OOH ad inventory was a laborious and time-consuming process. Today, digitization and innovation have meant that the time between purchase and viewability has been decreased to minutes.
This means that campaigns can be more adaptive and more likely to engage with consumer’s current surroundings and situations. For example, changing creatives based on the weather.
These advances have meant that the category is growing quickly amongst marketers and advertisers, with much of this growth being attributed to the digitization of the OOH space.
Trends in out of home advertising
The DOOH element of the industry is growing quickly. The industry is expecting to grow rapidly as the revolution that has swept across other areas of advertising and marketing to new heights reaches the OOH industry.
But what is everyone talking about in the industry? What are the trends that will dominate the following decade and beyond? We take a look at what we think will be the key trends as the industry grows and becomes more of a digital proposition.
DOOH
While the majority of OOH inventory is physical, more digital screens are now a crucial part of OOH campaigns.
Digital screens are providing better optimization, and this means that advertisers can create more personalized messaging. ON top of this, it’s possible to use different kinds of triggers to trigger a more dynamic form of OOH advertising.
This innovation is no longer in its infancy, and advertisers have shown precisely how effective digital OOH can be. As well as this, they have demonstrated the scalability of DOOH.
Better and more accurate data is assisting in these innovations. Advertisers can now offer dynamic media based on the demographic and behavior of mobile devices in real-time.
Real-time advertising is critical, but in reality, it is part of a growing trend in which the industry is becoming a more reactive solution. The large amount of data that marketers now have at their disposal is fueling this. This versatility is driving OOH personalization and leading to fantastic results for advertisers that are using DOOH to achieve their goals.
Purchasing digital OOH media programmatically
A considerable advancement in the space is the Programmatic buying of OOH media.
This was previously a process between the advertiser, digital marketing agency, and the owner of the OOH.
The buying of OOH inventory has not just become automated and available to buy instantly. Still, it is now available in many of the same platforms and locations that marketers can purchase their mobile or display ads. Because of this, advertisers can now build campaigns seamlessly across several channels and mediums, including OOH.
This real-time purchasing also facilitates the use of first and third-party data sets. Encompassing this into campaigns can have the same effect that it has had in the world of digital marketing, namely, maximizing personalization and boosting ROI.
Attribution and measurement
One of the areas where the OOH industry struggled in comparison to digital media is in the area of measurement. Marketers can see detailed insights into the effect that their digital campaigns are having on awareness and conversions, all quantifiable and easily visualized. But now data has enabled this for the OOH industry.
As a result, brands can now see the number of impressions an OOH ad has generated. Analytics and insights have moved on from using surveys to gauge these metrics.
But this innovation with data doesn’t end with impressions. Smart data can help to close the out of home attribution loop. Movement data around store visits can bring digital attribution to the offline world and OOH ads.
Tips for OOH campaigns
As with any kind of marketing campaign, careful planning is crucial to make sure you get the most value from OOH advertising.
We live in a world where the smartphone can dominate attention. So breaking into that is a crucial goal of OOH campaigns. This is, as we have mentioned, becoming easier with the rise of DOOH and other interactive technologies.
Here are some essential tips to make sure that your OOH campaigns are a success, and you get the best return from your OOH budget.
Data is a key tool
One of the most significant transformations to hit the world of advertising and marketing has been the availability of data. This has led to better personalization, improved targeting, and more accurate measurement.
Make sure that where available, you are making use of data in your OOH campaigns. Understand what the options are to use your own datasets to improve your campaigns if buying OOH media programmatically look at how data can improve the results of your campaign.
For marketers, OOH is now an exciting place to be. Data is fuelling innovation and creating powerful DOOH campaigns.
We now have access to a large data ecosystem that wasn’t available ten years ago. These data sets have enabled advertisers to do more with their activities and campaigns.
However, the advertising is only as good as the data the fuels it. Marketers must be aware of the data they are using in DOOH. Third-party data needs to be highly vetted, and direct partnerships with 2nd party providers are a much better solution.
Try a shareable campaign
The best out of home advertising campaigns are designed to create a buzz. These campaigns work better when people are talking about and sharing them.
A great example is a recent campaign around the BBC TV series Dracula – the dynamic and provocative creative was widely shared on social media and became a viral sensation. All because it was the perfect blend of creativity and sharability. I’ve seen other good ones that are localised, for example one for VA Loans in Texas.
Sometimes busier locations are better than more locations
It can be tempting to buy more sites or locations that are cheaper. But with OOH advertising, it can be much better to take a different approach.
To create the most impact, it can be better to choose a high traffic site that will reach as many people as multiple locations.
Less is more with OOH
With out of home, it’s important to make sure your message is simple. Less is more when it comes to OOH because most consumers will only look at your ad for a short period.
With a few seconds of attention, it’s important to keep the number of words to a minimum and to use visuals that are likely to grab attention. The aim is more to intrigue than to inform.
Next steps
Advertisers and marketers
See what you can do with OOH, get started with a campaign, or get the data you need to create a campaign that will smash your goals.
OOH companies, agencies and inventory providers
Want to offer a smarter solution for brands and advertisers? Get in touch for compelling attribution, measurement, and other data tools that will transform your OOH offering.
What is out of home advertising?
Out of home advertising (OOH) is a form of advertising that can be found outside of a consumer's home. Traditionally this includes everything from billboards to bus shelters, benches, and everything in-between. If you see an ad outside of your home (and it's not on your mobile!), then you are most likely looking at some kind of OOH ad.
What are the main types of out of home advertising?
The main types of OOH ads are billboards, Street furniture, POS displays, bus shelters, kiosks, and telephone boxes. As well as this all advertising in transport locations.
Why is out of home advertising important?
OOH advertising is important because it gives brands a chance to communicate with a large number of consumers with powerful messages.
James is the head of marketing at Tamoco
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