What is OOH?

In this digital era, it might feel like most marketing is done online. But we shouldn’t ignore the incredibly effective strategy - out-of-home advertising.

Out of home advertising (OOH) is a form of advertising that can be found outside a consumer’s home. While you may think of images at NYC Times Square, there are many mediums that qualify as OOH such as billboards, bus shelters, benches and kiosks.

Let’s look at how advertisers can build the framework for cost-effective yet impactful advertising.

Three steps to impactful OOH

1.Start outside top-tier markets

When building a campaign strategy, many advertisers consider the top-tier cities. But that’s not always the best strategy for testing, you may be missing an opportunity by overlooking smaller markets.

When first gearing up an OOH campaign, it can be more cost-effective to step outside top-tier markets. By running tests in smaller markets, advertisers can gain higher penetration throughout their campaign, run the campaigns or longer time and collect more data. The result often more eyes on ads and a lower CPM rate. If advertisers can measure success in smaller markets, advertisers have an opportunity to enter other markets.

2. Do a second test

After the first test run, advertisers should pick a second city for a follow-up test. This allows advertisers to evaluate their data with a more critical eye. Investing time in testing gives advertisers the opportunity to make tweaks where needed to set future campaigns on a steadier course.

Advertisers should track OOH campaigns, measure true ROI and compare performance by unit. All of this sets them up for the next phase.

3. Scale up accordingly

With data collected from test campaigns in smaller markets, advertisers are ready to take the campaigns to markets with higher populations. But these markets aren’t the only locations to focus on. Sometimes, it’s not about scaling up to more people, but scaling outward.

Advertisers should consider shifting their focus to multiple niche markets to expand their reach and diversify their customer base. Top-tier markets are great in many ways to place OOH ads, but smaller markets have lower costs and less competition. This means they could be better able to capture their audience’s attention.

If you are ready to create your next OOH campaign, don’t hesitate to reach out to our media brands that offer ad spots with great exposure.