What is Outdoor Advertising?
Outdoor advertising, also known as out-of-home advertising, is advertising that reaches consumers when they are outside their homes. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America says that’s where consumers spend 70 percent of their time.
Types of Outdoor Advertising:
The most commonly known type of outdoor advertising is the billboard. Common forms of outdoor advertising today fall into three categories:
Billboard Advertising:
Most people are familiar with billboard advertising, regardless of where they live or travel. Billboards are placed next to high-traffic highways as well as along less-traveled roads in non-urban areas. Drivers see them almost anywhere because they are an efficient and cost-effective means of communicating information that is geographically important – the location of the closest chain fast food restaurant on the route, the nearest motel, or campgrounds at the next exit.
Street Furniture:
A bit of a misnomer, “street furniture” applies not just to bus or park benches but also to bus shelters, newsracks, and telephone kiosks, among others.
Transit:
Ads on the sides of busses are the most common form of transit outdoor advertising, but outdoor advertising is common in subway stations and within subway cars, in taxis, along airport walkways, and wrapped around vehicles – one of the newer trends.
Other Forms of Outdoor Advertising:
Advertising seems to follow consumers wherever they go – in supermarket shopping carts, in sports arenas, and in health clubs. They can be high-tech – think digital – or low tech – think personal-computer generated mini-posters offering dog-walking services pinned to a coffee shop bulletin board.
Digital Outdoor Advertising:
Also known as digital signage, digital outdoor advertising is a specific type that uses electronic technology to change what’s displayed on a screen. Digital billboards feature messages from a handful of advertisers that rotate every six to eight seconds. Other digital signs might be free-standing on an urban sidewalk or courtside at a college basketball game.
For Small Businesses:
The most important outdoor ad for any small brick and mortar business is its built-in outdoor advertising: exterior signage. Business owners want crisp, clear signage that communicates well from a distance. While it should convey the company’s brand image, it should also help the business get discovered and found.
Outdoor or occasionally referred to as Out-Of-Home advertising, is communication with people while they are out of their home. Nowadays people are spending more time away from home and so outdoor advertising has the potential to reach active consumers. The benefits of outdoor advertising are almost endless, but for time sake we have compiled a list that, in our opinion, are the top 7 benefits of outdoor advertising.
Outdoor advertising is high impact:
Unlike other mediums, outdoor advertising does not need to be invited in. Outdoor advertising is part of the environment, therefore cannot be turned off like television and radio. The viewer has no control on whether they see it or not giving your campaign more impact for a longer period of time than the viewer may expect.
It demands attention:
Outdoor stands alone so it doesn’t have to compete with other ads like other mediums. Often big in size, outdoor advertising makes itself very visible at both close and large distances. They tend to also be creative and expressive which tends to gain more attention amongst consumers.
Outdoor advertising can be very cost effective:
Outdoor Media Association, performed a studied and found that outdoor advertising delivers a high Return of Investment in all categories and the higher the budget spent on outdoor advertising the larger the ROI.
It has a high reach with a mass audience:
This is a great marketing platform for brands or business that are trying to reach a broader audience. Outdoor advertising is public and has access to consumers that can sometimes be difficult to reach. Like younger users, busy business people and lower income consumers may not have access to traditional mediums, so outdoor advertising is a great way to reach them.
It impacts the path-of-purchase:
According to APN Outdoor, 70% of purchases are occurring outside of the main shopping and retail centers. Location is everything when it comes to outdoor advertising because it impacts across all stages of the Path-to-Purchase. Research collected by the UK’s Outdoor Media Centre (OMC) shows that outdoor advertising is the advertising medium most seen by shoppers in ‘the last window of influence’ before shopping.
Outdoor is an engaging medium:
Unlike most mediums, outdoor is actually liked by consumers. Research from APN Outdoor, found that 71% of Australians preferred buses with advertising than those without and that 36% stated outdoor advertising as a welcome distraction.
Outdoor advertising is a team player in the marketing mix:
Outdoor advertising can and has been proven, to work best with other mediums. The impact and reach of outdoor advertising is greater and can remind the consumer of the message across other media.
Outdoor advertising can offer brands and companies a fresh and creative approach to reaching consumers. If you’re interested in one of the benefits listed above contact us today and see how we can help you with your outdoor advertising. We would love to navigate your journey through finding the appropriate and most effective outdoor advertising for you and for your budget.
