Digital Out of Home (DOOH) is not an entirely new concept; it is an upgraded version of Out Of Home (OOH advertising) that has been the result of advertising changing so rapidly in the last 20 years as companies try to reach the audience with digital solutions.
Technological growth has had a hand in the transformation of every level of media advertising, and DOOH is just one of the many sectors that received this boost.
We are going to look at what exactly DOOH is and how it operates, the types that exist, the benefits it brings to a business, the challenges that anyone using it may face, and the alternatives that smaller businesses can adopt to attain the same results.
Let’s learn how DOOH can transform your current advertising efforts!
What is DOOH?
DOOH (Digital Out of Home) is a term used in describing digital forms of media advertising that pop up in places that are easily accessible to the public.
These are spaces like shopping malls, airports, business centers, or even beside major highways.
It is a concept that evolved from Out-of-Home media that was the traditional form of using outdoor spaces for advertising, a media buying tactic that has been used for many decades.
Some examples of OOH advertising types include things like billboards, street furniture, wallscapes, wild postings, transit outdoor advertising, among many others.
In a nutshell, every single type of OOH advertising can be converted into a Digital Out of Home (DOOH) form by the addition of technological tools that not only enhance the reach but makes it easy to switch things up, a flexibility that has been lacking in the traditional version of this.
This is a perfect example of digital signage vs. static signage. They both serve the same purposes but in wildly different ways.
Types of DOOH Advertising
There are many types of DOOH advertising types, and as we have mentioned already, they don’t vary much from OOH types. The only difference is that the former uses advanced presentation formats.
Some notable types of programmatic DOOH advertising that you probably have come across include the following.
Public Transport
If you have ever used public transport of any kind, be it a bus, train or tram. You will notice a lot of subtle real-time ads being displayed through electronic means if you take your time off your phone and look around.
Public transport advertising is a tactic that has been used by brands to boost visibility for many years and only gets better with time
It is hard to ignore these types of Digital Out of Home ads as they are colourful, with beautiful animation that will communicate directly to anyone looking at them.
They change every few minutes before repeating themselves over and over again. This outdoor advertising is a very effective way for brands to generate interest in potential buyers.
This is how you find yourself looking at the ad just to see what comes next, and messaging recall is boosted in real time.
Persuasive POS
Impulse buying may be detrimental to the consumer, but to the retailers, it is a gold mine waiting, and they never shy back from taking full advantage of it.
When you go shopping, you will always see in-aisle digital displays that will get your attention and make you stop for a minute.
Most times, customers whose attention is drawn like this end up buying the product being advertised, especially when it is a promotional offer with good discounts.
As a business, you can take advantage of persuasive Point of Sale (POS) tactics by basing your messaging based on factors such as weather, the time of the day, and many other elements in order to shape the consumer’s tastes and preferences in real time using the ad options.
Transit Points
Besides transport vehicles, you can make use of transit points to display electronic ads to get the attention of anyone using them.
People spend a good amount of time in gas stations, bus stops, subway stations, and elevators.
Those 5 minutes may sound little, but that’s all the time in the world it would take for a flurry of ads to be run.
You can even tailor the DOOH campaigns messaging to fit each period of the day.
Food as during lunch hour, and beer ads towards the evening just to take advantage of what people may be needing.
Digital Billboards
Digital billboards are another form of home DOOH advertising and have replaced static ones with great success.
Now people are able to change the ads as many times as they want, and at the same time, they can tailor the ads based on the demographic, location, and time.
Billboards are huge, and when you combine a digital screen with good and colorful ads, you may end up boosting your sales far more than you can imagine since ignoring an ad of that magnitude is impossible.
Wallscapes and Building Facades
Ads that are even more eye-catching are ones that span the entire walls of buildings.
These may be called wallscapes or building facades. They are often brimming with creativity and have enormous visual appeal.
Their potential for increasing brand awareness is huge, in line with their substantial size!
6 Benefits of DOOH Advertising Campaigns That Can Escalate Your Retail Store
DOOH comes with a lot of benefits, and as time progresses and technology advances some more, we expect to see businesses reap more from this. Some of the notable benefits worth your attention right now include the following.
1. Interactivity
Programmatic DOOH ads are some of the most interactive with views through mobile integration.
It is a digital interactive kiosk where people can choose to tap, swipe, or scroll to check out anything extra that is being offered.
This level of control is good as it allows the consumers to have options to choose from. And you don’t even need to train people how to use them; they already have experience using their smartphones.
2. Location-Based Advertising
Your DOOH advertising is limited to the screens available, and since they are all in digital formats, you can choose to have different ads running at the same time, all tailored for a specific location.
An example of location based advertising, you could run hotel ads for the airport arrivals and, at the same time, run food ads in a subway during lunch hour.
3. Long-Lasting and Durable
Unlike static signage that were part of traditional forms of advertising, DOOH ads are durable, they don’t expire; you just update them and these are one of their best attributes.
They are not physical and don’t require to be printed out; you just need to ensure that the screens being used are maintained properly.
No matter the weather elements, DOOH advertising can still be run for as long as the business needs to.
4. Flexible Content Generation
The content used in DOOH advertising is dynamic. The ad can be changed at a moment’s notice to meet changing demands and to reach the needs of new markets.
You are not boxed in like in a static advertising option. This flexibility is good for creativity and a new way of doing things.
You only need to change things from a centralized system and update it to all platforms at once without having to go through the loops and hoops of printing large canvases that can’t be updated or changed without cost.
5. Data Collection
It is easier to collect real-time data when using interactive DOOH ads compared to how traditional media used to.
When you create smart touch DOOH platforms that allow consumers to view ads they want, they can leave feedback, and this is essential information that can be used to further improve services.
Great advertising using a DOOH is better with the presence of real time feedback.
6. High Visibility
There’s high visibility of DOOH advertising as it is more colourful, more attractive and they can display all the information one needs in a matter of seconds.
This is why using DOOH advertising is set to become the most used solution in the future once the demand meets the supply.
Challenges of Advertising with DOOH
Just like any other advertising type, DOOH comes with its own set of challenges that can be a little hard on small businesses trying to adopt them. These challenges include the following:
High Cost
The pricing model behind DOOH advertising is not handled like online ads and this can be a huge hurdle for small businesses.
Online ads are usually charged using the Cost-Per-Mile pricing model, and this can complicate media buying considering ads on DOOH screens are viewed by multiple people.
There’s simply no concrete way for tracking and quantifying viewership which makes pricing too challenging and too erratic.
Viewership Can Be Hard to Track
Tracking and measuring DOOH viewability is very hard. Every single ad you run through the many avenues could be seen by so many people, and you will not have the capacity to know just exactly how many eyes saw it.
Without data on digital impressions, it becomes hard. There’s no way of telling if a person standing next to a digital billboard running your ad is actually seeing the ad.
A face recognition system would be an ideal option here but that has caused backlash already as people don’t want to be tracked.
Limited
Being physical media, DOOH media is a little limited in many ways.
This has been the main reason why DOOH providers are a bit reluctant in transitioning the inventory to RTB auction as this will rescue the value way too much.
Since DOOH has a higher value, commoditizing home advertising may cause it to plummet the same way digital media fell off.
Ad-Targeting Challenges
Ad targeting with DOOH media near impossible.
You may tailor home advertising to a certain demographic based on the location and time, but creating ads whose target audience is a certain gender or age group is very hard. You can only target the audience based on the data derived from the environment.
This may change as time goes by but in its current form, ad targeting via DOOH is still a mirage.
Unequal Demand to Supply Ratio
The demand for DOOH media is too low at the moment, with supply being much higher.
This has the negative effect of under-pricing and underselling the media.
Home advertising the brand may be effective in some quarters but DOOH media will not achieve its full potential until the demand for it shoots up to the level of other digital media options.
Can Be Time-Consuming
There’s a lag in executing as far as advertising the products and services are concerned as they are heavy.
Using creative formats means more graphic elements that have to be optimized for every type of screen that plays them.
This can take time and the results may not be clear in some devices compared to others.
DOOH Alternatives for Smaller Businesses
So what do you do if DOOH marketing doesn’t cut it for you as a small business?
There are alternative solutions you can turn to get your messaging out if you are not yet ready to implement DOOH. They include the following.
Digital Signage Solutions
Using retail digital signage options has been effective for many years and you can still make use of them to push ads and other important information related to your enterprise.
This can work for stores and other commercial locations that receive heavy foot traffic
Social Media Campaigns
You can combine social media campaigns with interactive digital signage in physical stores to increase engagement and bring customers around to checking your brand.
It is usually the most cost effective method that requires very little capital. You just need to find a way to boost that reach to as many people as you can.
Hiring an Interactive Solution Provider
Leaving things to the professionals is another great way of getting things done the right way.
Get in touch with companies like Rev Interactive who will handle all your digital signage needs and ensure every messaging and product reaches a wider target audience in the most efficient way possible using the best content management system.
Summary
DOOH is the future of marketing and once it gains enough traction then it would become a very reliable method of ensuring brands are able to increase their visibility.
If you have no clue on how to approach this then get in touch with us!
We are a digital signage software Malaysia company that deals in digital signage solutions and we will help you invest in digital signage options that will help your business reach the next level.
