How to Track the ROI of Outdoor Advertising

Published On
July 12, 2025
Tracking ROI in outdoor advertising involves estimating impressions, monitoring engagement spikes, measuring sales lift, analyzing increased store footfall, and conducting ground surveys. Though not as precise as digital ads, these metrics offer valuable insights into campaign performance and audience impact.

Unlike digital ads, outdoor advertising is quite difficult to track. They are open in the real world and we can't count every eye that falls on them, right? Yes! But then how do brands measure their outdoor ad campaign results? And how do brands measure their effectiveness? How do they decide whether it's a failure or a success? Not completely but there are some metrics to help brands understand the after-effects of their outdoor advertising. They measure and compare them with the statistics before the campaign to get the idea.

Metrics to Measure the Effectiveness of an Outdoor Advertisement

Outdoor advertisements are open to all, making it difficult to measure their effectiveness. However, if not accurately, we can estimate their effects. All we need to do is keep a close eye on the following factors.

1. Impressions

Advertisers estimate the everyday traffic on a highway or a city market where you have placed your outdoor ads. The footfall estimation gives a rough idea of the total viewership during the campaign.  
Total Viewership = Everyday traffic × total number of campaign days.

2. Engagement

Engagement is one of the most trustworthy factors for measuring the effects of outdoor advertisement. Keep a keen eye on how your website visit goes up or your social media number touches a new height. Also, make sure to count the QR scans given in the ad. Compare the before and after numbers of hashtags, comments, mentions, and everything else we count as online engagement.

3. Sales Lift

Outdoor advertisements do a mix of everything. It increases brand awareness and lifts sales. If you're seeing growth in your sales number, consider it an effect of your OOH ad campaign.

4. Increased Footfall

Outdoor advertisements increase your brand awareness but how do you measure it?
If you run an offline store, one of the easiest ways is to track your store footfall. Your footfall increases when people know who you are and what you do!

  • Compare the before and after store footfall.

5. Ground Surveys

Last but not least, ground surveys have always been the measuring pillars for outdoor advertising effects. Whether it's brand awareness, reviews, or sales measurement, you can always take people’s votes to understand how much you have grown during the ad campaign.

Conclusion

Unlike digital marketing, outdoor advertising doesn't provide accurate impressions or conversions for your advertising campaign. Instead, brands and ad agencies estimate their total impressions based on everyday traffic in their chosen locations. Plus, they consider digital analytics, store footfall, and increased sales figures and compare them to their previous records. However, modern-day outdoor advertisements use digital technologies such as QR codes, traffic signal cameras, and geolocations to improve their reach and impact. This way, they estimate their campaign results and decide whether it's a success or a missed opportunity.
Want to launch your outdoor advertising campaign with the best marketing minds in the city? Connect with Vigyapan Mart outdoor advertising agency today!

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