How Effective is Outdoor Advertising?

Wed Sep 08 2021

Outdoor advertising has been around for a very long time in one form or another, but due to its growing popularity it has come under closer scrutiny by competing types of advertising. The result has been myths which we will address here.

Myths Surrounding Outdoor Advertising

Based on a report from OAAA.org, when it comes to leading consumers to online destinations, outdoor advertising is 380% more effective than television advertising, 200% more effective than print, and 63% more effective than radio. Any successful competition to traditional advertising dollars is bound to be vilified. Outdoor advertising, like digital billboards, are no exception. Here are the most prevalent myths about outdoor advertising:

No one pays attention to billboards. This claim is the most common myth when it comes to outdoor advertising. It persists despite many studies which show the opposite. One such recent survey of 25,000 people by TGI showed that at least one in three people who saw an out of home advertising responded to the message in some way within a week of being exposed to the ad. These impressive numbers continue to grow as engaging forms of digital billboard advertising becomes more common.
It is not possible to measure the success of a campaign. One of the primary reasons why businesses avoid outdoor advertising is the false belief that it is impossible to track the effectiveness of a campaign. This may have been true in the early days of outdoor advertising, but with modern technology and understanding of human behavior, measuring the success of an OOH advertising campaign is not only possible, but highly accurate.
Costs are too high for small businesses. Even though old forms of outdoor advertising may have been out of reach for small businesses, new digital technologies such as impression-based pricing have made even digital billboard advertising affordable for many small businesses.
It’s difficult to change copy on a digital billboard. By its nature, a digital billboard offers the flexibility to optimize the message of a campaign by updating the billboard. Since digital billboards use digital files, changing the wording/copy on a digital billboard is as simple as updating the digital graphic being used for the campaign.

Benefits of Outdoor Advertising

Each form of advertising has its own particular set of benefits, and that is also the case for outdoor advertising. The primary benefits of OOH advertising are:

Helps build your brand. Out of home advertising is ideal for brand building, and keeping a brand top-of-mind as the target audience on the move. This is especially true for digital billboards due to accurate demographic targeting.
Customizable to the audience. Getting the message to the right audience is crucial. Digital outdoor advertising makes this not only possible, but easy. With the ability to continually adjust the message based on analytics, it is also possible to adjust the message for the time of day or the type of audience that may happen to be at a given location.
Can fit any budget. As mentioned above, there are many ways to match the cost of a digital outdoor advertising campaign to a budget. Digital media makes it possible to advertise on a per-impression basis, or to advertise during the time of day that may not have as many eyeballs. It is also important to note that due to note that the CPM is lower than other forms of advertising, resulting in higher ROI.

Effectiveness of Outdoor Advertising

So far we have covered the myths and benefits of outdoor advertising, but are OOH advertising options effective?

Outdoor advertising has superior ROI. Outdoor advertising has a lower cost per thousand impressions (CPM) than most other major media formats. Coupled with a high conversion rate, outdoor advertising provides a superior ROI than most other options. As reported by Arbitron, more than two-thirds of those traveling/commuting make their purchasing decisions outside of their home.
Outdoor display advertising is a great way to provide retail and online offers to potential customers. Digital billboards or displays can be updated regularly with new and timely offers to drive foot-traffic to store, or visits to websites.
Brand awareness stems from repeated exposure to a brand, and outdoor advertising can not only work great as a standalone solution, but can be coupled with online and print advertising to drive brand awareness no matter where the potential customer may be.
Target the audience where they are. Most people work outside the home, or travel outside the home to run errands on a daily basis. Additionally, most entertainment and recreational activities require a trip out of the home. This results in the ideal environment for targeting an audience on the move who is ready and able to take action based on targeted and timely advertising.

If you are looking to try outdoor advertising for the first time, this information should help put your mind at ease as to the effectiveness and affordability of digital OOH advertising for your business.