Your consumers spend more time traveling out of their homes and that is why out-of-home (OOH) advertising is an effective strategy to reach them. At the same time, these methods are great for boosting brand awareness and keeping up with your business trends and updates.
Today, we see ads outside—storefronts, cab toppers, bus shelters, or billboards—the list goes on. While mobile-based digital advertising has been a preferred choice for brands to reach large audiences conveniently, OOH advertising is posed to be a more cost-effective option. Did you know that the average CPM of programmatic OOH advertising in the US grew by nearly 1% to 7.24 USD in the second half of 2023.
Moreover, the growing use of technology is transforming traditional outdoor advertising to offer features that are more inclined with modern marketing strategies. And in this blog, we will break down everything about OOH advertising that as a current marketer and media buyers you should know.
What Is OOH Advertising?
Out-of-home advertising refers to any advertising that reaches the consumer while they are outside their homes. This includes traditional billboards, transit ads, or street furniture, and locations like malls, airports, and stadiums. With digital technology, OOH now also includes Digital OOH (DOOH) formats such as LED screens and programmatic ads that can be dynamically changed in real time.
OOH captures attention in high-traffic areas, delivering impactful visuals to commuters, shoppers, and travelers at key moments of their daily journeys.
Types of OOH Advertising
OOH advertising comes in various formats, giving brands the flexibility to choose based on location, audience, and budget. Common types include:
- Billboards
These can be static or dynamic/digital based on current market standards or brand requirements, ideal for high-impact messaging. Usually, you can see them on highways, main roads, and rooftops
- Transit Advertising
Brands can now capture their audience's attention on the go through transit advertising—reaching commuters on the move through buses, taxis, subways, and trains.
- Street Furniture
They are slightly different from the billboards because these are displayed at eye level on bus shelters, benches, and kiosks.
- Point-of-Sale Displays
Find the right customers at the right place and increase sales by igniting the impulse purchases through POS display ads located near checkout areas in retail spaces.
- Place-Based Media
These can help in creating meaningful interactions with consumers on airports, gyms, malls, cinemas, and other venues with steady footfall.
- Digital OOH (DOOH)
Dynamic digital displays in public spaces with real-time content and scheduling flexibility. These ads are becoming increasingly popular and are being automated through programmatic DOOH (PDooh), a method that uses AI algorithms and real-time data to buy, sell, and deliver ads efficiently.
PDooh is the method that is currently in demand for its easy ad management process and the convenience it offers to the brands.
Why Do Brands Need to Choose Out-Of-Home (OOH) Advertising?
Why businesses are giving preference to OOH advertising is because it helps businesses cut through digital noise and capture attention in real-world environments. Here's why brands continue to invest in it:
- High Reach and Visibility — Ideal for top-of-the-funnel marketing, OOH can reach thousands of people daily.
- Cost-effective exposure — With competitive CPMs, OOH delivers broad exposure at a relatively low cost.
- Unskippable Format — Unlike digital ads, OOH can't be blocked or skipped.
- Better Recall — Eye-catching creatives in physical spaces help improve recall and brand retention.
- Location-Based Targeting — Ads can be placed strategically in high-traffic or niche areas relevant to the target audience.
- Supports Omnichannel Campaigns — Pairs well with digital, TV, and social media ads for integrated campaigns.
How to Ensure Effective OOH Ads?
OOH ads may be static or dynamic based on the requirements, but their success lies in how smartly they are designed and positioned. Brands have to cleverly advertise their services and products to capture their potential customers. Imagine those creative 3D ads on malls that you stop to admire, or billboards that make you chuckle. That's how you also have to think out of the box.
Adcities being the industry expert help you channel that thought as well as gain data-driven insights needed to scale your brand.
To ensure impact, you can follow these insights:
- Keep Messaging Simple — Use short, bold messages that are easy to read on the go.
- Use High-Contrast Visuals — Bright colors and strong typography improve visibility.
- Choose Strategic Locations — Know where your audience spends their time.
- Integrate QR Codes or Hashtags — Encourage interactions and direct users online.
- Leverage DOOH Capabilities — Use dynamic scheduling or weather/location-based creatives.
- Maintain Brand Consistency — Ensure the ad aligns with your tone, colors, and overall messaging.
Why Choose Adcities for Out-Of-Home (OOH) Advertising?
Adcities offers comprehensive OOH advertising solutions designed for impact, scale, and precision. Here's what sets us apart:
- Rich Inventory — We offer premium locations across the country to leverage transit media for your brand.
- Tech-Enabled Campaigns — Real-time DOOH placement, smart targeting, and dynamic content integration.
- Dedicated Account Managers — Get full support, from campaign planning to execution and reporting.
- Custom Strategies — We tailor your OOH plan based on your goals, audience, and budget.
- Verified Metrics — Track impressions and engagement with data-backed performance insights.
Methods We Use to Measure OOH Ads Outcomes
We believe in transparency and results. Here are some key ways we measure the success of your campaigns:
- Impression Tracking — Based on footfall, vehicle traffic, and digital screens' data.
- Engagement Metrics — QR scans, social media mentions, website visits from Ooh-linked UTM campaigns.
- Brand Lift Studies — Surveys to measure changes in awareness, recall, and favorability.
- Heat Maps & Dwell Time — Understanding audience behavior and movement near ad locations.
- Cross-Channel Attribution — See how OOH complements and drives digital performance.
Need Some Inspiration? See our OOH in Action
We at Adcities have helped many brands reach their potential customers and raise awareness with OOH advertising services. With our expertise and using the right strategy, we can help you boost your brand presence. For reference, take a look at our success story where we helped a Donut company, Bimbo, maximize visibility and consumer recall during the holiday season. With an impactful, high-frequency branding strategy across Madrid's busiest areas, we helped integrate the brand into daily urban life.
Conclusion
In this blog, we have understood how an effective OOH ad strategy has been a significant advertising method for all kinds of brands—if used cleverly. In current changing market scenarios and emerging digital media roles, out-of-home ads are also taking a new role with AI technology integration. As a result, notably enhancing brand recall and overall outcomes.
