OOH advertising in the post-COVID world
By: Michaela Brown | Growth Marketing Manager, ADvendio
This article originally appeared on https://www.advendio.com/5-out-home-advertising-trends-essential-2022
With all of the time we’ve been required to spend indoors over the previous two years, it’s fair to say that people have grown tired of staring at screens and have developed a case of digital fatigue.
According to a recent OAAA report, 68 percent of people are conscious that they are spending too much time on screens and are simply tuning out online ads, with 69 percent having an increased appreciation for the outdoors, and 45 percent noting that they are now more alert to billboards and out of home advertising than before the pandemic.
Therefore, out-of-home advertising will continue to rise in popularity with businesses through 2022, thanks to the digital fatigue being felt by consumers but also because of the enhanced real-time data that is making it easier for brands to analyze OOH campaign performance.
In this article, we will discuss 5 out-of-home advertising trends that will be essential for the upcoming year.
The importance of storytelling
Brands have long recognized that effective storytelling is essential to any successful marketing campaign. However, sometimes they are so focused on getting their key message through that they overlook the significance of developing a story around their campaign. In 2022, companies will need to pay greater attention to their advertising story, with so many new brands entering the market all the time, brands want to be remembered by their audience and remain top of mind. Their stories must cause their audience to talk to one another to create a buzz around their campaign, resulting in increased word of mouth, which is invaluable to any company.
Outdoor advertising will have a huge role to play in the storytelling trend in the new year. With OOH needing only to tell a part of the story at any one time, in order to leave audiences wanting to know what happens next. This cliffhanger period will draw the audience’s attention to OOH media as they wait for the next part of the story to drop.
Creating a storyboard is the starting point for any brand to develop the journey of their main character. The character will be facing a similar problem to what the brand’s target audience would face and will then have their problem solved by the brand at the end of the advert.
Whatever the narrative of the ad, one thing is certain: brands will need to pay attention to developing out-of-the-box concepts for their storytelling ads to keep up with the competition. The audience must be able to connect and engage with the story before they can trust the brand behind the story’s campaign.
Digital Out of Home is growing in popularity
Digital out-of-home advertising has been increasing in popularity over the last few years and the benefits of DOOH are clear. OOH, companies entered the digital transformation trend, in order to achieve quicker turnarounds, increase flexibility to start and stop campaigns with the click of a button, and deliver dynamic content in real-time through the use of digital ads.
Digital billboards are much easier to move around to different locations and any unnecessary expense is spared. And with digital screens, a number of different ads can be shown throughout the day on the same screen, increasing revenue for DOOH companies by enabling them to have the flexibility to offer brands different time slots to display ads. For example, if an ad is being targeted at children, there is no point in displaying that ad throughout the day when kids are in school, it would be better to target the older generation during this time when they are most likely out and about and show ads targeted at kids when school is out.
A recent report suggested that DOOH contributes to 30% of OOH revenue globally. But if brands take on this growing trend this figure is likely to grow significantly into the coming years.
Multiple Advertising Options
OOH, companies are always innovating new places to set up placements, which is why you are seeing more and more smaller advertisements in public areas, such as shopping centers, airports, and throughout all public transport. OOH, media can be positioned at any location which the OOH company has sought permission to rent. A KPMG report stated that outside of an airport was a large contributor to the growth of OOH in 2019 when it accounted for 27% of revenue share. A statistic that is highly likely to increase into 2022.
Omnichannel campaigns will also be very important next year, when a brand whose campaign will align to the same message, similar graphics, and same target audience across OOH media, tv, social media, and radio for example.
Your mobile and DOOH
A new advancement in DOOH making it more appealing to brands is the use of technology to connect with consumers instantly as they walk past your digital out-of-home advertisement. This innovation enables brands to interact with potential customers with advertisements of interest to them, allowing the brand to gain valuable consumer data in real-time.
With people still choosing to work at home or close to home, DOOH companies need to make sure the interaction between a consumer and a DOOH advertisement is utilized to its fullest potential to grab the attention of the consumer at that exact moment. And mobile seems to be the option that makes the most sense to achieve this. Beacons are popular within this trend currently, with consumers noticing billboard ads appearing on their phones after they have passed by them. We will be keeping an eye on this trend into next year to see how companies are innovating and adapting to changing consumer behaviors and using other technologies to target their audience through their mobile devices.
AI’s role in Out of Home Advertising
Another innovation within OOH advertising is the use of artificial intelligence to interact with a target audience. Ads won’t just display information about a company, product, or service anymore but they will be able to predict the profile of the person who engaged with the ad. This will be completed through technology such as sensors, facial recognition, and other AI smart technologies.
With improved real-time data, brands will be armed with accurate information in order to target a specific audience with DOOH ads, ensuring that brands don’t waste advertising budget on an audience they are not trying to reach. This is a major improvement from traditional OOH when a static ad would be up on a large billboard for a couple of weeks with any type of buyer persona passing by it 24/7 and brands hoping for the best that their target audience was among the people viewing it. As OOH continues to evolve and increase its targeting capabilities we are sure to see a rise in brands deciding to utilize OOH into 2022 and beyond.
Conclusion
Traditional out-of-home advertising has changed, it’s embraced the era of digital transformation and is excelling at it. We have just touched on five of the trends which will be following OOH into next year, but who knows what else the industry will have up its sleeve. It is a media that anyone within the advertising space should be keeping an eye on as it continues to evolve and adapt to changing consumer behaviors as we move into 2022.
Author: Michaela Browne
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