In this article, you will find the answer to this question and also learn:

– What advantages DOOH digital outdoor advertising has;

– How regular consumers of advertising content perceive DOOH;

– The technical capabilities of DOOH;

– Whether it is possible to measure the effectiveness of DOOH.

First, let’s define the terms within the context of this article: online advertising will not be discussed here, so the terms DOOH, digital, and digital advertising will be used to mean digital outdoor offline advertising.

Advantages of DOOH

Digital outdoor advertising (DOOH from English: Digital Out-Of-Home) is a combination of broad reach, the inability to turn off ads, quick launch and adjustment, building a remarketing base, and clear analytics in numbers. A bonus is the lack of printing and installation costs.

In addition to the listed benefits, digital advertising has advantages that other types of advertising don’t have:

– Interactivity with the audience;

– Weather or time-of-day triggers;

– Live broadcasts;

– 3D effects;

– Omnichannel integration.

DOOH is the most flexible advertising format. It can be adapted to a specific stage of a campaign, budget, or social context and can adjust the frequency of display as needed. The most popular parameters are five- and ten-second dynamic spots within two-minute blocks, but other options are also available. Digital outdoor advertising is often used for urgent announcements, event broadcasts, as well as social advertising. The ability to quickly replace creatives and use up to 10 different advertising layouts within one placement is especially important. This is not possible with printed advertising.

For effective content management in digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, a Content Management System (CMS) is used, which allows for quick updates of creatives and optimization of ad campaigns. Additionally, DOOH is increasingly integrated into programmatic solutions to automate the purchase of ad space, making it even more attractive to advertisers. Programmatic DOOH opens up new opportunities for audience targeting, including considerations of geolocation, weather, and other conditions, which enhances the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

Modern software for digital signage allows the integration of DOOH with other marketing channels, providing maximum flexibility and control.

Is digital out-of-home advertising effective?

In 2021, the Outdoor Media Association of Australia (OMA) conducted a study to understand how outdoor advertising affects consumers. The experiment lasted two years and involved over 2,000 people. More than 800 traditional and digital billboards were used. The researchers employed eye-tracking and neuroimaging technologies—methods that allow analysis of the brain’s response to advertising.

The study revealed the following results:

– Advertising on traditional (printed) billboards has a stronger impact on the brain than a 30-second radio ad or a 15-second TV spot.

– Digital billboards were found to be 63% more effective than printed ones. This is due to the activation of several brain areas responsible for text perception, color recognition, motion, and deeper emotional concepts such as friendship, trust, and dreams.

Representatives of OMA called these results “shocking” and noted that they are game-changing for marketing. The future of advertising lies in digital billboards. They fit harmoniously into urban spaces, do not create visual clutter, and often serve as replacements for street lighting in the evening. Interactive content on such screens becomes a form of entertainment, which adds to its popularity among audiences.

Numbers decide

In the early stages of outdoor advertising development, advertising agencies used special “counters” who stood near advertising structures and counted the number of passersby to assess the foot traffic of a location and the OTS (opportunity to see) metric. However, this method was not very accurate.

With digital billboards, everything became simpler thanks to the installation of Wi-Fi sniffers, which collect and count the MAC addresses of devices within a radius of 250-350 meters from the advertising structure. This allows for precise assessment of audience contact with the ad (OTS) on each individual digital billboard.

An important tool for managing such ad campaigns is the CMS (Content Management System). It allows for flexible content updates, changes to creatives, and adaptation to the audience’s needs. Additionally, integration with video wall software makes it possible to broadcast videos and interactive materials in real-time, which increases consumer engagement.

Thanks to the use of modern technologies such as CMS and digital signage players, advertisers gain tools for more effective consumer influence and accurate measurement of their advertising results.

Omnichannel marketing in the context of DOOH opens up new opportunities for marketers to create deeper and more personalized interactions with consumers. For example, synchronizing outdoor digital advertising with other channels, such as mobile apps or social networks, allows brands to maintain consistent contact with potential customers at various stages of their purchasing journey. This approach creates a smooth and consistent experience for users, which increases trust in the brand and enhances the likelihood of successfully completing a transaction.

Thanks to digital screens, you can quickly adapt content to changing conditions, such as weather, time of day, or even real-time events. This makes the ads more relevant and engaging for the audience, significantly boosting their effectiveness. For example, during sports events, ad screens can display messages aligned with the event’s theme or the mood of the viewers, allowing the brand to be “in sync” with its audience.

With the analytical tools supported by modern DOOH software, it’s possible to obtain detailed information about the effectiveness of each campaign: how many people saw the ad, how many interacted with it, and how it impacted the overall outcome. This data allows for detailed analysis and adjustments to achieve even better results. A key advantage is that all of this can be done in real-time, allowing for quick responses to changes in audience behavior or external factors.

Another important aspect is the ability to create interactive content. Digital screens allow for the launch of interactive advertising campaigns, where users can engage with the brand through QR codes, mobile apps, or other digital channels. This interactivity not only attracts more attention but also helps collect data for further analysis, improving ad targeting and personalization.

Moreover, DOOH enables large-scale campaigns targeting different audience segments simultaneously. With the ability to segment content across different screens, you can customize various messages for different consumer groups based on location, time, or other parameters. This makes ad campaigns more targeted and effective, which is especially important in the growing competition for consumer attention.

And, of course, an important factor is the cost savings on the production and installation of traditional advertising media. The absence of the need for printing, transporting, and installing banners significantly reduces the costs of an ad campaign, allowing more funds to be allocated to other aspects of the marketing strategy.

Thus, DOOH becomes not only a tool for increasing reach but also an essential element of omnichannel strategies, enabling an integrated marketing approach. This makes it one of the most promising directions in the modern advertising industry.

Advision is a Content Management System for remote management and media planning of broadcast video and audio content. We help offline businesses and advertising companies automate workflows and implement a robust Digital Signage infrastructure using our own software and hardware solutions.

Contact us, and we will help you implement the most modern technologies to solve your problems!