A Comprehensive Guide to OOH Advertising
What is OOH Advertising?
Every advertisement that you see outside your home is an OOH advertisement. From National highways to your nearby construction site, they are everywhere. The term OOH stands for Out-of-Home advertising.
They differ in size and can be as big as 48 feet high 14 feet wide and as small as an A4 poster. They are customizable, and flexible, and offer a wide reach among the public, making brand names a buzz in the market.
We spend 70% of our awake time outside our home. There is a high chance that we are always in front of an advertisement whether it's a billboard or taxi ad.
The first-ever billboard was created in 1830 in America but the origin of the first OOH advertisement is still unknown. Every ancient culture including Egypt, India, Japan, Africa, etc used obelisks or monuments for announcements.
Types of OOH Advertisements
Billboard advertisement
Billboard advertisements are large size ads placed on high traffic areas. They are one of the most commonly used formats of the OOH advertising industry. They come in different sizes and dimensions and are flexible in their uses. Static poster billboards are used on highways or buildings and as mobile billboards for transit OOH ads and digital billboards. The first-ever billboard we know of was created in the 19th century in America.
Retail advertisement
Another form of outdoor advertising is the retail advertisement hoarding boards. These are promotional products in a retail environment. They are specifically placed in and around retail centers such as malls, high streets, shops, and corporate shopping destinations.
Retail advertisements promote products already available in the shopping centers or to be launched soon.
Vehicle advertisement
Vehicle advertisements are ads placed on vehicles. This is a kind of transit media that moves through the city to promote a business or product. This offers great exposure to your brand and boosts your brand awareness.
Vehicles such as buses, taxis, cars, trains, and metro trains carry such ads and constantly promote them to people from both, inside and outside.
Such promotions help brands get noticed by thousands of people in a day and engage them.
Train station advertisement
Train station ads include all kinds of advertisements that are placed within train stations. Train stations are one of the most promising places for outdoor advertising that target commuters and travelers. With thousands of traffic each day, railway stations increase your brand awareness by multiple times.
They boost ad frequency, brand awareness, product launches, and whatnot. Moreover, digital OOH advertising has made it more engaging and impactful than ever.
If you want to boost your brand in a city, railway stations should be your priority when advertising your brand.
Metro train advertisements
Metro trains also offer transit advertising opportunities. These are ads that brands display on the metro train exterior & interior. Metro trains go from one place to another within the city and engage with audiences for hours of the day. People see the metro train ads continuously while they commute, which boosts the ad frequency and captivates the audience to engage with the brand.
Bus stop advertisements
Ads displayed at bus stands, stops, and shelters are called Bus stop ads. If you are targeting a specific city, bus stop advertisements can help you get a tremendous amount of viewership on your advertisements. Public transports are used by millions of people each day so it is a great opportunity for you to share your message with all of them.
In busy places such as big cities, towns, and airports bus stops are the perfect place to start your campaigns.
Benefits of OOH Advertisements
Brand Awareness At An Affordable Cost
Outdoor advertisements are no longer costly. We are living in the 21st century & with so much technology, OOH ads allow you to reach a large and targeted audience and build brand awareness for affordable rates.
The cost per impression (CPM) of OOH ads is lower than digital ads, radio, TV, or other modes of advertising.
Reach A Broad Audience
A study from Outsmart shows that 98% of the UK population sees an outdoor ad at least once a week. Radio listeners and newspaper readers are continuously declining whereas online portals have ad blockers that restrict your advertisement in certain demographic areas.
On the other hand, outdoor advertisements reach hundreds of people in a locality or a city through transit mediums. People cannot ignore it and this is what makes OOH ads great for brand awareness.
Freedom to Use Customized Design
Outdoor advertising uses Static and dynamic presentation of any company, product, or service. One of the best parts of outdoor advertising is that it allows you to create captivating designs and go artistic to attract people. These ads can do wonders if they are designed well.
Beautiful images, captivating designs, and a powerful message create effective storytelling that shares your messages with all the viewers either through words or visuals.
Consumer Engagement
Studies report that people are more likely to search for a brand or a product online if they have seen its OOH ad. OOH are key drivers for consumer engagement which means it can uplift your consumer engagement through both offline & online campaigns and drive conversions. Outdoor advertising can act as a navigational post to your audience asking them to visit your website, a landing page, or give a special hashtag on social media.
In the US, 80% of the people have engaged with an OOH ad in the past 60 days. Also, 73% of the consumers favor OOH ads. Moreover, 93% of people who visit a store after noticing a navigational OOH ad and buy something.
Targeted Audiences
We all know how effective digital ads are for targeting a specific audience. But here is a secret for you. Outdoor advertising offers better opportunities for targeting a specific audience especially when you're working on a local level.
But how?
OOH ads give the option to select demographics based on your ideal customer profile.
For example-
- A film is a great medium to advertise products among the young audience.
- A billboard in the business area is great for advertising among working professionals.
- Hoardings in apartments and other colonies are great for attracting women & children.
It is simply a matter of understanding the flexibility of outdoor advertisement and how you can use it effectively.
Challenges with OOH Advertisement
- As people are becoming more and more aware of outdoor advertisements, companies must come up with innovative and creative ideas to draw the attention of 21st-century modern people.
- Measuring the success of outdoor advertisement campaigns can be challenging. There are no exact metrics to measure the conversions.
- Extreme weather conditions can deteriorate outdoor advertising. If not, you will certainly need to maintain your ad after any such unwanted events.
- With the rise of digital advertising, starting and engaging your audience has become more challenging. Advertisers need to be smart and observant to target the right demographic audiences.
- Outdoor advertising must follow the laws & regulations of the government. Before installing an ad, advertisers must navigate the local guidelines for size, placement, and content.
- The marketing landscape is very saturated and outdoor advertising has to compete with other OOH ads and digital online ads.
- Modern OOH advertising must leverage modern technology like geo-targeting in mobile integration, augmented reality, virtual reality, QR codes, facial recognition, etc.
- With the rising concerns about the environment, advertisers face the pressure of minimizing the environment and impact through their outdoor ads. They must use eco-friendly products, energy-efficient technology and sustainable practices to mitigate environmental concerns.
Facts about OOH Advertising
- 80% of the people see outdoor advertising. 46% of them claim to see the same ad repeatedly.
- 40% of the people go to a brand store after seeing an outdoor ad.
- Every 1 in 10 views engages with the brand through online modes.
- Successful brands invest 30% of their total ad budget into outdoor advertising.
- Hoarding ads and transit ads are the two most commonly used methods of outdoor advertisement, generating 40% and 35% of the total generated revenue respectively.
Out-of-Home Advertising Trends
In the coming years, the OOH advertising industry will be turned upside down. With the advanced technologies in the market, outdoor advertising will be more engaging, immersive, personalized, and ROI-effective. The trends for OOH ads for 2025 are as follows:
- Multi-channel campaigns.
- Rise of digital technologies in OOH.
- More creative and captivating design to draw attention.
- Unconventional ads.
- Programmatic DOOH.
- Data-driven AI campaigns.
- 3D billboards.
How to Make Your OOH Advertisement Stand Out?
Follow the below-given tips to make your OOH ad astonishing and attention-worthy:
- Go creative and explore unconventional ideas.
- Leverage the local culture.
- Use high-quality videos.
- Incorporate storytelling.
- Experiment with formats.
- For execution, hire an experienced advertising agency.
Measure the Success of Your OOH Advertisements
The measurement metrics for traditional OOH ads are complicated. They have no clear ground for measuring the analytics. However, DOOH ads have changed it with technological integration into outdoor advertising.
However, Vigyapan Mart uses advanced ways to measure the success of OOH advertisements. Here are some of them:
- Foot traffic in the store.
- Website traffic.
- Social media mentions and engagement.
- Sales uplift.
- QR code scans.
- Recall & recognition.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed OOH and why it’s so important for businesses, MSMEs & corporations alike. We have discussed benefits, measurement metrics, facts & statistics, and challenges you may face while advertising. Now, the biggest question is how to set up an OOH ad for your brand.
The simplest answer is to connect with an OOH advertising company that has both experience and expertise to lead your brand on a success path. That’s where we come in.
Hello, we are Vigyapan Mart - your all-in-one solution for all OOH advertisements. We have been helping companies for 10+ years and have worked with India’s biggest industries such as Manufacturing, IT, telecom, media & entertainment, etc.
Our Offerings
- Custom strategies.
- Personalized expert consultation.
- Professional team of creative designers.
- A legal team for all permits.
- On-site team for installation & maintenance of your ad.
Want an expert’s hand for your OOH ad? Connect with Vigyapan Mart now.
