Is Out-Of-Home Advertising Effective?
If you’re looking to grow your business, you need to seriously consider out of home advertising. Seeing as people spend more time out of their homes on the go then in them, out of home advertising has proven to be highly effective. This type of marketing comes in many forms, from billboards to signs posted on buses. This article will dive into how out of home advertising can be effective and work for almost any business.
With a wide array of consumable media for brands to use, outdoor advertising doesn’t immediately emerge as the top option to be utilized. Digital ads and email campaigns have been said to offer better targeting. TV commercials are more dynamic and diverse. So what makes out of home advertising so effective?
If you’re like me you probably spend a lot of time in front of screens which in turn gives lifelike ads more power than they used to. Consumers have become masters at ignoring pop-up ads and banners they come across online. When people see a billboard, street sign, bus stop bench, or other eye-catching objects, on the other hand, they are more likely to stop and take a look. For many brands, that moment makes the difference between irrelevance and interest.
According to a study conducted by Nielsen, “outdoor advertising is the most effective nondigital medium for generating online activity”. You’ll find that many brands use outdoor ads to encourage online searches, which can lead to engagement, purchases and most importantly loyalty.
Let’s talk about a few ways that you can ensure that your outdoor advertising is effective:
Create eye-popping, interacting messaging and visuals.
Out of home advertising exists in an interactive environment. Make it fun! Don’t just paste boring posters and expect customers to come running towards you. Check with local municipal rules & regulations, and then think of inventive ways to subvert visual expectations and get viewers engaged with the ads that you create. Remember the more the creative the ad the more engagement
Capitalize on travel time.
Your timing can be key. Whether it be on a long road trip or a morning commute, Americans spend plenty of time on the go. The Outdoor Advertising Association Of America reports, “most consumers spend 70 percent of their waking hours away from home”. Billboards, bus stop ads, and other signs fight for the attention of commuters and travelers everywhere they go.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about the commute and travel behaviors of the target audience. Take those behaviors and optimize your outdoor campaign to meet them on their turf.
Create a way to track your results with retro appeal.
The more different the better. Outdoor ads tend to create retro vibes, but that doesn’t make them outdated. Get creative with your message. Use dynamic copy, interactive elements and location-specific content as this will help to infuse modern effectiveness into a classic medium.
Borrow ideas
Don’t reinvent the wheel. It’s no secret that outdoor advertising clearly works for all types of brands. There is nothing wrong with taking ideas that work for others and use it for a quick shortcut to successful advertising. Take some time to go searching for inspiration whether it be from billboards or subway posters.
It’s important to remember to make sure to change up any borrowed content to reflect your brand positioning as you don’t want it to look exactly the same. Make sure to keep the values and voice consistent while infusing new style and content to maximize the impact of the outdoor content.
One of the best things about outdoor advertising is that consumers expect to see it, even when they don’t expect to see it in a certain place or at a certain time. There are so many great ways to be creative when it comes to out of home advertising.
Now is the time to step up, get creative and utilize the power of out of home advertising, it’s been proven to be effective time and time again.
