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Out-of-home advertising, outdoor advertising, outdoor media whatever you wish to call it is a form of advertising or campaign to reach prospective customers when they are outside their home. This could be in the form of billboards, wall murals, posters and can be seen in places like on streets, inside shopping malls, parks, stores, or any public place for that matter.

Out-of-home advertising

Digital Out of Home Advertising

Out-of-home advertising

As with all the others digitalization of advertising was inevitable. It emerged strongly in the ’90s and has since caught up at a very fast pace. Wherever we go, digital media surrounds us. In hospitals, stations, restaurants, retail stores, digital advertising just keep following us.

Digital advertising has got both similarities and differences with the traditional static out-of-home advertising. Both of them make use of amazing creativity and are aimed at increasing their visibility. Both static and digital advertisements are well perceived by the audiences. Of course, digital advertisements have occupied a place a notch higher than traditional advertisements because of their innovative and pro-technology approach. Digital advertisements may include videos and HTML 5 files in addition to pictures. They are more attention-grabbing. Digital advertisements can include both audio and video and can also be made interactive.

Digital OOH, in short, is OOH powered with AdTech i.e. advertising technology. Digital OOH advertisements are dynamic in the sense that they change in real-time. DOOH campaigns work similarly to normal social media campaigns. Buyers fix various parameters like the audience, budget, location, etc. It is a flexible approach to OOH buying. With no need for upfront commitment, DOOH has become extremely popular nowadays.

Common questions about out-of-home advertising

Do out-of-home campaigns actually work?

Of course, the purpose of any type of advertising is to create brand awareness. Out-of-home advertisements also try to capture the audiences’ attention. However, they have been successful in capturing the audience’s attention. Out-of-home advertising is ubiquitous in occurrence and we all are exposed to billboards and transit advertising. Studies have shown extremely positive results in favor of OOH. Consumers are 48% more likely to engage with a mobile ad after seeing the same ad in an out-of-home campaign first. According to a study led by Ad Age and Unidays, 84% of Generation Z-ers pay more attention to out-of-home ads than any other type of advertising.

How can I target the right audience with an OOH campaign?

Any advertising campaign basically has one aim and It is to reach out to an audience. Whenever you plan for an out-of-home campaign, the first step must be to identify the various demographic variables for your campaign. Once various factors like the age of the target audience, their occupation, and interests are taken into consideration, campaigners must focus upon where their audiences spend time, they must learn the various places their audiences are going for work, the route they take for travel, the mode of transportation and what all billboards lie in their driveway. Once you have answers to these questions, the next step would be to understand the social life of your target audience.

For example, if you’re targeting the suburban youth, see how their daily commuting looks like, what all restaurants and cafes they visit, which shopping malls do they like to visit, when do they visit a particular mall the most, and questions like that. Having answers to these questions would help you make a successful campaign.

Demand-side platforms are systems that allow buying of digital advertising inventory. One such Demand-side platform like Campsite allows users to book digital out-of-home campaigns. With the help of this platform, users do not need to think about the location of their campaign in great detail because the platform’s algorithm is built in a manner that automatically selects the best screens for the campaign. It has a mobile location system built right into the algorithm of Campsite, so as soon as the buyer sets the target audience type, automatic updating of the screens occurs.

Campsite uses over 150 demographic data points to define audiences and allows you to target them in contextual environments, like offices, resto-bars and residential areas, across screens in major Canadian and American cities.

How much does an OOH campaign cost?

Traditionally, OOH campaigns are priced on a per-play basis. Charges are based on the number of times the out-of-home advertising plays in a given hour or day.

Yet in more recent times, publishers have adjusted their pricing to match digital ads, with many now offering cost-per-mille (CPM), or cost per thousand impressions. For an OOH campaign, the CPM is calculated based on the average foot traffic recorded in the sign’s location at a given time.

The advantage of a DOOH campaign, however, is its potential to be more targeted. While a static poster is generally up for 24/7 for weeks at a time, a digital campaign can be turned on or off based on audience segments, more precise geolocation, the time of day, and specific audience requirements. These factors all contribute to maximizing the ROI of your campaign.

As with any marketing channel, the cost of an OOH campaign varies across locations, publishers and timing. According to the Out-of-home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), many studies have shown that out-of-home advertising costs are significantly lower than other media. For example, a CPM for online campaigns can reach about $17, $21 for magazines, and $25 for a TV spot. In comparison, a billboard campaign will cost between $3.38 and $8.65 per thousand impressions.

Learn more: For a more detailed explanation of what determines the price of outdoor advertising, read this blog post to see what a billboard costs.

How do I launch my own out-of-home advertising campaign?  

To get a static out-of-home advertising campaign love, there are a few logistical steps to go through. From requesting RFPs and negotiating rates with multiple publishers to printing the billboard and having it installed, the lead time between your ideation to creation is quite long.

That’s where digital out-of-home gains an edge over traditional OOH. While some steps can’t be skipped, digital distribution across your campaign screens saves some time.

For an even quicker execution, programmatic DOOH is the fastest of them all. Using a DSP like Campsite, you have access to multiple publishers’ screens all in one platform, rates are based on current CPMs, and all campaign details are available at the click of a button.

Check out this video to see how Broadsign reached 400,000 climate activists with only a few minutes to spare.

What makes a successful out-of-home advertising campaign?

Location, Location, Location

Just like the golden rule of real estate, the right location has a huge impact on the success of an out-of-home advertising campaign – another word for OOH is location-based advertising, after all.

Location not only helps you reach the right audience but also adds context to your OOH campaign.

Say you want to reach young adults for a new sportswear line campaign. You’ll find a large concentration of this audience during peak times in suburban transit systems and it is a great option for a campaign. However, you could also display the same OOH ads in local gyms, when gym-goers can look down at their worn-out clothes and be inspired!

An awesome design

It goes without saying, a poorly designed OOH ad will fall flat, as with any other channel. Don’t forget, you’re competing with the other OOH ads, people, cars and lots of other stimuli in the area, so make sure yours stands out is very important.

It’s important to not only catch their initial attention, but the design must also deliver your message quickly and efficiently.

Here’s a classic example of a creative OOH design from McDonald’s, created by marketing agency, Cossette. The campaign is a perfect example of great design and great use of the location.

While we said delivering a message quickly was important, sometimes it’s good to break the rules. Dating-app, Hinge, did just that and launched a series of lengthy billboards across New York City’s trendy neighborhoods, like SoHo and Williamsburg. The brand used real questions from the app in a user-generated OOH approach.

The right technology

According to an eMarketer report, DOOH ad spending will grow in 2020 and traditional OOH will shrink. In the US, DOOH is expected to account for about one-third of all OOH spend.

To leverage DOOH to its fullest, getting familiar with a programmatic buying platform is a must to build a campaign that is the ideal fit for your marketing goals. Making sure your team knows what audience capabilities the platform has, a broad idea of where their screens are located, and from what publishers, and an overall understanding of the campaign workflow will enable you to launch a great campaign in a few clicks.

What’s great about a buying platform like this is smaller companies can also get into DOOH. People’s Pint, a local brewery located in Toronto, used Campsite to launch a hyper-targeted campaign to reach beer lovers in their community. With a 200$ budget, People’s Pint increased its foot traffic by 12.8% during the campaign period.

Ready to launch your first DOOH campaign?

Of course, this article is just a brief overview of the world of OOH, but we think there’s no better way to learn than to jump right in. To play around with DOOH and even build your own practice campaign, create a free Campsite account.

And if you’re really ready to get started, download our ebook that covers everything you need to know about the benefits of DOOH as well as the considerations to launch your first DOOH campaign!

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