What Is OOH (Out of Home) Advertising and Why It Still Matters

What Is OOH (Out of Home) Advertising and Why It Still Matters

What is OOH Advertising

Why OOH Matters in the Digital Age

Formats and Trends of OOH Advertising

The Role of LED Displays in OOH Advertising

Having a great product or service won’t help you much if you can’t effectively market it to your key audience. Sure, online marketing is effective if done well, but relying on it alone for outreach can’t guarantee your business won’t be lost amongst the competition. And with more and more people moving away from radio and cable programming, the return on investment (ROI) from these traditional advertising options aren’t always as effective as they used to be.

So… is there another option? Is there an affordable method of advertising that has broad reach, creates brand awareness, and drives engagement to get you the ROI you need? Is there something else you can employ that complements your online efforts? You bet there is! And it’s called OOH Advertising!

What is OOH Advertising?

OOH is shorthand for “out-of-home,” a visual form of advertising that grabs consumers’ attention while they’re out and about and away from their devices simply going about their daily lives. Common examples of OOH include billboards, wallscapes and signage on bus shelters. Such advertising is typically made up of colorful, eye-catching visuals and just a handful of words designed to get a message across quickly.

The beauty of OOH advertising is that it engages consumers when they aren’t even looking for it. Placed strategically, OOH can target key audiences and grab their full attention without worry about competing with a multitude of other similar ads.

In addition, OOH drives engagement like no other form of advertising. Studies have found that consumers are more inclined to click on an online ad if they’ve first been exposed to the same company in an out-of-home advertising experience.

Why OOH Matters in the Digital Age

One might think OOH is a method of advertising that has long ago seen its day, that it can no longer be useful, effective or functional. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, in this highly digital age, OOH advertising is rapidly building a whole new, sophisticated audience. And it’s never too late to get in on the action.

Digitalized out-of-home advertising or DOOH has actually been around for ages. Think of those huge electronic signs in Times Square! But they aren’t just prevalent in major urban centers. For example, many medium and small municipalities, particularly in the age of COVID, have invested in digitalized public messaging boards for notifying residents about important local matters such as government and civic activities, road closures, and weather conditions.

Of course, today’s DOOH isn’t just about public messaging. If you’ve ever been to your doctor’s office for a routine checkup and watched a video loop discussing specialists in the same practice and the services they offer, then you know how it can be used to promote a service or product. Have you ever paid a visit to your bank to make a deposit and seen a similar loop directly behind the teller that shares information about its myriad other financial services? You get the idea. DOOH affords businesses the opportunity to up their advertising game by using digitalization — verbal language and movement — to tell their own unique stories.

Additionally, unlike static paper billboards or posters, DOOH can be programmed to upload and display multiple ads at once, transitioning from one to another on whatever timetable you set. Be it at fitness centers, airports, sports arenas and more, DOOH matters as a powerful tool that can be used to target and engage very specific audiences.

Formats and Trends of OOH Advertising

There are many types of OOH advertising, and they’re available in both traditional and digitalized formats.

Traditional Formats

Traditional OOH — for example, posters, billboards, pavement screens, and wallscapes –already catch the consumer’s attention because they’re much larger than they’re tiny print or online ad cousins, and they’re found in environments where you’re not always expecting to see them. Advertisers make effective use of these forms of advertising by placing them strategically to home in on specifically targeted audiences.

3D OOH takes the traditional billboard or poster and simply adds a little pizazz. By using simple physical materials such as plastic or foam, advertisers can create the visual depth needed to make a product stand out even more.

However, not all traditional OOH or 3D OOH advertising has to be static. Transit options such as the sides of buses or taxis create excellent, inspirational opportunities to spread one’s message across entire urban and residential areas.

Digital Revolution

Imagine driving down the highway and passing a traditional paper billboard advertisement featuring the giant cats that can be found at a nearby zoo or game farm. Pretty cool, huh? Now imagine the same roadway with a 3D OOH digitalized billboard (3D DOOH), with a larger-than-life lion that appears to be jumping off the screen directly at you. Which one is going to engage you more? Which one will have you bent on grabbing your phone at the first available opportunity to check out ticket prices and other details about the venue?

As noted earlier, DOOH ups the advertising game by allowing businesses and marketers to use movement to tell a story. It allows them to create a greater emotional connection with their target audiences that far surpasses anything simple print or stationary signage could ever do. And when combined with online advertising, those out-of-home connections are proving to resonate with consumers resulting in solid conversions.

Emerging Trends

Digitalization is really just the beginning. More and more, today’s 3D DOOH are offering consumers exciting interactive experiences. By utilizing motion sensors and touchscreens, they can take viewers on virtual tours exposing them to a wide variety of content.

What else? Using cutting-edge technologies, holographic 3D billboards are also emerging on the scene. With holographic 3D DOOH, advertisers can introduce their target markets to fascinating, futuristic experiences with entire images seemingly floating free of the screens they are projected from. Most importantly, messaging of this kind makes a lasting impression that truly drives engagement.

The Role of LED Displays in OOH Advertising

So, what is OOH advertising? As you can now see, out-of-home is a form of highly visual advertising that extends far beyond paper billboards rising above the highways or video loops at one’s favorite fitness center. And it’s more than dazzling, artistic ads on buses that carry one’s message across the urban landscape.

With the advent of modern digital technologies, OOH has entered into a whole new realm. And LEDs play an important role in its success. When you see DOOH signage with bright vivid colors, signage that reaches out and pulls you in from a significant distance, you know it’s an LED display. Not only are LED displays visually dynamic, but they’re also highly customizable allowing one to change out the content of their advertisement to meet any situation that may arise. And for those concerned about having lighting that’s environmentally friendly? They’re long-lasting and energy efficient, too.