The Benefits of OOH Advertising

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is visual advertising media found and consumed outside of the home. This can include posters, billboards, vehicle wraps and more. Being one of the oldest and most well-established forms of advertising, OOH media excels at connecting with consumers in a wide range of settings. OOH advertising is one of the fastest growing media channels at the moment; as the industry continues to grow, innovative ways to reach your target audience are constantly evolving. In today’s saturated and crowded digital landscape, OOH advertising can be a powerful and stand-out method of reaching your target audience. Don’t think about it as merely placing billboards here and there – this medium allows you to let your creative ideas flow and deliver compelling custom outdoor messages.  

Read on to learn about the many benefits of incorporating an OOH advertising strategy into your marketing campaign.  If you have further questions or want to discover how OOH advertising can elevate your brand, reach out to the media experts at Alpha Tango Media today.

Photo via Luca Bravo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manhattanhenge_on_Times_Square.jpg

Affordable and Accessible 

OOH media has historically been thought of as a highly expensive medium - particularly due to the fame of New York’s Times Square – however, it is the location that raises the price, not the medium itself. Prices will vary depending on location, but OOH advertising allows marketers to drive real results in multiple ways on any budget. OOH advertising offers the lowest CPM (cost per thousand impression) of any traditional media channels, meaning it is budget-friendly while still being scalable and innovative. In addition to the affordability of the medium, the process of buying and executing OOH ads is now easier than ever-before due to the innovation of buying platforms. These platforms can help find the best OOH real-estate by dissecting which placements will give you the highest return on your ad spend through analyzing historical performance data of other ads. In addition to helping marketers navigate the ad buying space, these platforms allow you to play an active role in your running DOOH campaigns; marketers can modify, pause, and resume their ads as they please.  

Creative Expression (Customization) 

The opportunities for customization are endless when it comes to OOH media. Especially with digital creative in the OOH environment, your wildest ideas can be transformed into an impactful and memorable experience for consumers. With wallscapes and bulletins, you can create building-sized ads that cannot be missed. Fully integrated into the cityscape around them, these kinds of ads are visible from far away and offer your creative team the space to design huge, eye-catching visuals. Even other formats such as taxi displays, or street furniture offers marketers tons of creative freedom with greater versatility - your ad is no longer stuck to a certain area but can accompany commuters throughout their journey. Travelers are the most receptive audience to OOH and DOOH (Digital OOH) ads as long dwell times and a captive audience is the perfect recipe for lead generation and raising brand awareness. The wide variety of media formats available within OOH can take your campaign to the next level with creative brand messaging; especially when it comes to digital marketing, the space is constantly changing and innovating due to programmatic benefits, allowing for ample opportunity to create storytelling that truly resonates. 

Photo via Joseph Yates josephyates_, CC0, via Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:City_in_Motion_(Unsplash).jpg

Effective Measurement 

Historically, measuring the success of an OOH campaign was challenging. Especially for static ads, it was difficult to analyze just how many people were seeing the ad, taking follow-up action, and knowing which ad in a campaign was the most successful at driving sales. However, as the OOH industry continues to grow and innovate, improved methods of measurement have been created. An OOH impression is defined as the number of times people are likely to notice the ad; however, we can utilize many different methods or tools to further analyze reach. Digital OOH ads are becoming increasingly popular because of their ability to measure consumer behavior and engagement. Many of these digital displays have built-in sensors or cameras that can count how many people are passing the ad, as well as any engagement with the ad.  

Nowadays, almost everybody has a smartphone, which are equipped with technology that is helpful in measuring campaign success; through location services such as GPS tracking on mobile devices or wi-fi connections, we can additionally measure how many walked past the ad, their follow-up actions after being exposed to the ad, and anonymized demographical information that helps with further targeting. Overall, OOH (especially DOOH) is highly successful at measuring impressions with ease – this is enticing to advertisers, because the ability to monitor your target audience is now easier than ever before. 

Brand Exposure  

OOH is essentially a brand awareness medium; getting your brand in front of a broad audience is what this channel does best. Research has shown that OOH is the most effective medium when it comes to increasing brand awareness and recall. For existing customers, it is a reminder of the product they know and love; for new consumers, it is introducing your brand and intriguing them to take follow-up action. As these ads will run in the same space for a set period of time, those who work or live in the area will constantly see the ad, and this repetition helps with brand recall and makes it more likely that they will try out your product or service in the future. OOH media are so effective because they cannot be skipped or blocked, meaning their lifespan and effectiveness are heightened; In comparison to a commercial or online ad, consumers have the choice to skip through these ads or click off of them.  

Photo via Saulo Mohana saulomohana, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Generates Consumer Action  

Research has shown that 57% of consumers in the U.S. have recently engaged with an OOH ad, demonstrating that this medium is highly successful at generating consumer action. If the end goal of a campaign is to drive sales, OOH advertising can directly help you guide consumers further into the sales funnel. Whether that action be taking follow-up measures in response to seeing an ad, or directly purchasing the product, OOH ads are extremely effective when it comes to enticing consumers to interact with your ad. Integrating mobile with OOH ads has made this process extremely easy and has been proven time and time again to be highly effective in driving consumer engagement; QR codes and NFC sensors make it easier than ever for consumers to take follow-up actions by simply scanning the ad with their phone.

Discuss The Benefits of OOH Advertising with the Experts at Alpha Tango Media

If you are interested in learning more about OOH advertising, do not hesitate to reach out to Alpha Tango Media today. Discuss your marketing goals with us during a free initial consultation.