The whole point of advertising is to cut through the daily noise and reach your brand’s target audience. One approach that’s seen a resurgence in popularity and spending over the past years? Digital-Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising.
DOOH is a dynamic way to connect with consumers in public spaces, from airports to stores.
Let’s take a look at what it is and why it matters, as well as a few martech tools that can help you squeeze the most out of your DOOH efforts.
Glad you asked! DOOH advertising refers to digitally powered ads displayed in public or semi-public spaces. Think digital billboards or screens in airports, elevators, or even retail locations or gas stations.
Some other examples of DOOH you probably encounter on a regular basis:
Unlike traditional out-of-home (OOH) advertising like static ads on a subway car, DOOH allows for dynamic, data-driven content tailored to specific locations, times, or audience demographics.
DOOH is an attractive hybrid of physical advertising and digital analytics. Advances in programmatic buying make real-time bidding for DOOH placements possible, which means it’s easier to tweak and adapt campaigns on the fly. This programmatic approach allows brands to seamlessly incorporate DOOH as a part of their overall media planning and buying strategies.
Moreover, with people increasingly returning to offices in the wake of the pandemic, the potential reach of DOOH is expanding.
Measuring the effectiveness of DOOH campaigns is tougher than for established digital formats like streaming TV or social media ads.
Online ads track clicks, impressions, and conversions through pixels or cookies, leaving a pretty clear trail of the customer’s journey. DOOH isn’t so cleanly measured.
Let’s say Applebee’s launches a new digital campaign that starts appearing on backseat screens in rideshare vehicles. Tons of those riders suddenly find themselves craving honey BBQ boneless wings—but it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how many people later ate at Applebee’s because of this DOOH ad.
DOOH often has an effect on brand consideration, perception, and awareness that’s subtle, or stretched out over a period of time. Maybe a consumer is exposed to a variety of your DOOH ads over a given week—from when they’re at the gas station to when they’re staring at a digital advertising screen while waiting in line at a store.
The goal of DOOH isn’t instant clicks, conversions, or purchases. That means that it’s an important toolkit in your marketing kit—but it’s difficult to track ROAS in the short term.
Now we get to the good stuff. While there are challenges to gauging the effectiveness of DOOH, there are platforms that can help you sharpen and measure impact—like The People Platform, part of Stagwell Marketing Cloud.
Here’s a few specific ways that new tech, AI-powered or otherwise, is changing the world of DOOH.
This is one of the biggest gains of applying new martech platforms to your DOOH efforts. Obviously, you won’t be able to access direct consumer data (“Scott Indrisek, age 43, watched a DOOH ad for Applebee’s in a Lyft at 5pm”).
But anonymized data unlocks insights around foot traffic patterns and your DOOH placements.
This aggregated, privacy-compliant data gives you a significant sample of the total number of people who passed by a given ad. From there, it’s possible to glean info on their behavior—for instance, determining what other locations an individual visited after being exposed to your DOOH.
This means marketers are able to correlate DOOH ad exposure to IRL outcomes, like attendance in-store or at special events events.
Location data also allows marketers to connect with consumers via survey outreach, soliciting more info from them about their experience with the DOOH ad, and gaining a better understanding of things like notice and recall, as well as how the ad may have impacted the likelihood of later conversion.
Programmatic technology lets advertisers buy and optimize DOOH placements in real time, like they do with online placements.
This sounds a bit sci-fi, but it means that DOOH ads can be changed on-the-fly and dynamically, depending on anything from audience demographics during a particular time of day to the current weather or traffic conditions.
DOOH thrives when it’s part of a broader strategy that weaves in mobile, social, or CTV channels.
Certain martech platforms make it possible to get a granular picture of the customer’s journey, while keeping privacy in place.
For instance, a marketer could confirm that exposure to their DOOH spot led to a website visit or an app download. Or they could retarget users (via Instagram or Facebook ads, for instance) who saw the DOOH ad but didn't take any immediate action.
DOOH advertising presents unique challenges, but with the right martech tools, brands can unlock its full potential.
The People Platform, with its advanced measurement capabilities, location intelligence, surveys, and integration with programmatic platforms, empowers marketers to accurately measure campaign impact and drive real-world results.
Ready to take your DOOH strategy to the next level? Contact us today to learn more about how The People Platform can help.
