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Like piling freshly grated parmesan on pasta, dipping pizza in ranch dressing, or pumping extra butter on movie theater popcorn, adding “digital” to out-of-home advertising makes what was already a good thing even better.
In its non-digital form, out-of-home (OOH) advertising allows advertisers to connect with consumers in high-traffic locations to drive awareness and/or action, and to reach people in places and moments where other forms of advertising can’t. From a series of bright and cheery billboards for a frozen custard shop along the highway, to a larger-than-life poster for a hot new film release placed just blocks from a movie theater, out-of-home-ads foster connection and emotion. And given how long OOH advertising has been around, it’s no surprise that the advent of its digital counterpart has been making waves.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising takes everything great about OOH and adds the benefits inherent to digital technology—namely, the ability to target, track, optimize, refine, and measure the results of OOH ads. Programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) takes things a step further, allowing advertisers to harness the power of automation and real-time bidding technology to make the most of out-of-home ad spend. And as more and more marketers embrace these benefits, DOOH and pDOOH ad spend are experiencing rapid growth.
We’re here to give you the lowdown on digital out-of-home advertising so you can leverage its power in your upcoming campaigns and connect with people in intentional moments along their purchasing journeys. Ready? Let’s dive in.
DOOH advertising is defined as any digital advertising media that people encounter outside of their homes and not on user-owned devices like smartphones or tablets. Though people most closely associate DOOH with brightly colored digital billboards (like those in Times Square), the channel includes everything from massive digital billboards, to ads displayed on mall kiosk screens, to video ads that pop up on the gas station TV while you’re refueling.
As their acronyms suggest (and as we briefly touched on earlier), DOOH and OOH ads have a lot in common. Out-of-home advertising includes any ads a person would find outside of their home that are not found on their personal device(s), including billboards, images around bus stops and other public transit systems, posters in public areas, and more. It’s an umbrella term that covers non-digital out-of-home, digital out-of-home, and programmatic digital out-of-home. (Just remember: All DOOH is OOH, but not all OOH is DOOH!)
Non-digital out-of-home is one of the oldest, most established forms of advertising around— the origin of US billboards dates back to the 1830s. But non-digital out-of-home often requires long commitments and lacks flexibility when it comes to revising buys.
Enter: DOOH, the digital iteration of OOH advertising. The digital elements of DOOH have brought significant advancements to OOH advertising that have reenergized marketers’ view of the channel and its effectiveness. DOOH includes the digital forms of ads that consumers encounter outside of their homes, such as large format screens at sporting events, digital screens at gyms and doctors’ offices, and screens that include advertisements at the point-of-purchase.
How does programmatic digital out-of-home fit into this mix of acronyms? Much like how DOOH is a type of OOH advertising, pDOOH is a type of DOOH advertising, and it includes any DOOH inventory that is bought programmatically. Programmatic digital out-of-home allows advertisers to activate DOOH campaigns in an automated and data-driven way, typically by using a demand side platform (DSP).
There are several different venue formats when it comes to DOOH advertising. These include:
On top of these, other forms of digital signage are making their way into more and more places in our everyday environments. From screens scattered throughout the local gym, to bright and bold outdoor panels along sidewalks in urban areas, to small screens on the back of the headrests in taxis, digital displays are popping up everywhere.
Using a combination of these different venue types can allow you to get your brand or product messaging in front of the right consumer, at the right time.
With an oft-dizzying array of digital channels and media types to choose from, what distinct benefits does DOOH offer to advertisers? Here are some of the most notable:
DOOH offers brands an opportunity to connect with consumers in real-world moments—including those in which they’re unreachable (or less reachable) on their personal devices. And, given its one-to-many nature, DOOH is an effective channel for building brand awareness and boosting brand recognition at scale.
Even more, people tend to view DOOH ads favorably. Almost two-thirds of consumers have a favorable view of DOOH ads, representing a much more unanimous consumer base compared to the percentages of consumers who have a favorable view of TV/video (50%), social media (48%), audio (32%), and print (31%).
A digital sign in the subway station that reminds you to buy groceries (with a QR code that takes you right to the supermarket’s same-day delivery app).
A digital billboard that switches between images of iced coffee and hot beverages, depending on the weather.
An urban panel that highlights an upcoming concert at a nearby venue, and then directs customers to the ticketing website on their mobile phones.
Much like OOH, DOOH offers advertisers the chance to connect with consumers in a way that’s eye-catching, bold, and memorable (and on a screen that’s likely far bigger than those of their personal devices!). And, thanks to its digital nature, advertisers can potentially even lean into advancements in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to give consumers a truly immersive experience.
Given the variations in sizes, locations, and types of screens available for DOOH ads, marketers can get creative with their ads. This could include using multiple images or videos, since digital screens allow on-screen messaging to change every few seconds; incorporating interactive elements like QR codes to direct consumers to take action; or leveraging touch-screen technology for a more immersive customer experience.
And, unlike many other ad formats, DOOH ads are non-skippable and highly viewable, so bold and engaging messaging/creative has a high probability of making an impression. In other words, these ads provide a great opportunity to make a statement!
More traditional OOH investments are known for their long buying cycles and relative lack of flexibility when it comes to revising buys and/or creative displays. And it makes sense, right? Making tweaks to the messaging on the non-digital billboard along the highway is a far greater undertaking than updating the digital files to be displayed on a DOOH screen.
DOOH, on the other hand, offers advertisers increased flexibility within their campaigns: On-screen messaging can change every few minutes, and it’s easier to adjust creative and/or make optimizations during a campaign. Additionally, advertisers can use DOOH within cross-device campaigns—whether by incorporating QR codes that viewers scan on their mobile devices, or by geotargeting personal devices of consumers around a specific DOOH ad or campaign—leveraging DOOH’s flexibility to reach and connect with consumers in a way that drives action.
Consumers are demanding increased privacy, and the advertising industry is slowly but surely moving towards a privacy-first model. So, how does DOOH advertising fit into the privacy conversation?
Since DOOH is anonymized and a one-to-many channel, it’s inherently privacy friendly. With DOOH, there’s no need to think about alternative solutions to targeting or attribution. Though DOOH ads can be targeted based on a screen’s geolocation, context, and other parameters, targeting is not done at a personal level.
Though this one’s specific to programmatic DOOH, it’s worth noting: Thanks to the power of real-time bidding, pDOOH allows advertisers to put ads in front of consumers at the right time and place. Where traditional OOH investments are known for requiring long commitments and lacking flexibility, pDOOH empowers advertisers to use real-time data to act flexibly and nimbly in their campaigns.
In its original non-digital form, OOH advertising is largely location-based. Just think of that billboard for a juicy burger and extra-crispy fries that shows up just as you’re about to reach the appropriate exit on the highway, or the poster plastered inside the ski bus that advertises services for a personal injury lawyer (yikes!).
DOOH allows for similar location-based targeting (geotargeting), as well as additional targeting features, including:
These enhanced targeting parameters allow advertisers to get even more specific in ensuring their ad gets in front of their ideal consumer in a precise and strategically beneficial moment.
Thanks to recent advancements and innovations in location technology, DOOH ads are now far more measurable. By understanding when and where an ad was played, who was nearby, and what actions people near an ad (and likely exposed to that ad) took, marketers can measure the impacts of their DOOH campaigns.
Marketers can track the impact of DOOH ads based on metrics like impressions, bids won, impressions per bid, and win rate. They can also set KPIs across the purchase funnel, including:
DOOH fundamentals aside, how is the advertising industry investing in OOH, DOOH, and pDOOH, and what new trends are shaping the space?
To start, while OOH ad spend is enjoying moderate-but-steady growth, DOOH and pDOOH ad spend are seeing growth rates in the double digits. While only 15% of current OOH inventory is digital, DOOH will account for over a third of total US OOH ad spending this year. And pDOOH will account for over a quarter of digital OOH ad spend for the first time in 2024, with advertisers increasingly looking to take advantage its programmatic benefits.
The dynamism of DOOH has also changed how advertisers view the tactic, taking it beyond its more traditional role as a brand awareness play. For example, the addition of QR codes to DOOH ad creative can help spur action and support attribution, enabling DOOH to play a role in performance marketing strategies. In fact, 76% of consumers take action after seeing a digital billboard ad.
And, as is the case throughout advertising, AI is increasingly making an impact on DOOH. Generative AI, for example, can streamline the campaign planning process by determining the best formats and placements to target the intended audience, and then automate the process of analyzing consumer data so that marketers can act on it more quickly.
Overall, while OOH is growing more moderately, DOOH and pDOOH are taking off, and new developments in the space are offering advertisers more opportunities for automation and personalization.
DOOH advertising gives marketers the opportunity to connect with consumers in a big, bold way, at times when people may not be actively using their phones, tablets, and other personal devices. Unlike traditional OOH, digital OOH gives allows advertisers to embrace the latest innovations in adtech to personalize, target, and measure the results of their out-of-home ads. As such, savvy marketers are increasingly embracing the channel as part of their larger, omnichannel media strategy.
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Want to learn even more about how to successfully integrate DOOH into your ad campaigns? Check out The Power of Place: Your Guide to Digital Out-of-Home Advertising for all the information you need to make the most of the DOOH opportunity.