Today, in the digital era, brands are focusing on online ads and social media marketing. Some smart brands are creating a permanent place in the minds of the audience through outdoor marketing like innovative billboard placements and hyper-local branding. According to research reports, 81% of adults view static billboards and most people act on them. 40% of consumers visit the store after being influenced by outdoor ads. Overall, today brands generate high impact awareness by adopting digital outdoor marketing.
Table of Contents
what is outdoor marketing
Outdoor marketing is a traditional method whose main objective is to create maximum visibility and brand recall for the brand. Outdoor marketing method proves to be effective at places where audience footfall is high such as roads, markets, bus stops, railway stations, malls etc. Its advantage is mass exposure and one time cost. It targets a mass audience and billboards and banners provide 24/7 service in one time investment. This marketing method is especially powerful for local businesses.
How to do outdoor marketing?
- Billboards. … Billboards are a popular traditional outdoor advertising medium used to promote businesses, products, or services along roads, highways, markets, and busy public places. Their large size makes them clearly visible from a distance. Today’s innovative traditional printed billboards and digital LED billboards have creative designs that increase attention, awareness, and engagement.
3 second rule billboard?
The 3 second rule billboard means that the brand has 3 seconds to grab the audience’s attention so that the brand message is simple and clear enough so that it does not appear complex to the audience.
- Transit Advertising. … Transit Advertising is one of the smallest outdoor Advertising strategies. In this, brands run their product/service ads through display on public transportation like buses, autos, metro, trains, taxis, thereby creating high visibility. This strategy mostly runs ads in two types – inside ads and outside ads. Inside the bus/metro through posters, panels and outside through vehicle wraps, side panels, back panels etc. Brands automatically reach thousands of people from different locations.
- Street Furniture Advertising. … Street Furniture Advertising is an impactful outdoor Advertising method to build local brand awareness. Displayed on bus shelters, benches, kiosks, electric poles, public toilets, information boards and metro pillars, its core advantage is close-range visibility, which strengthens brand recall, and creating an effective design with a clear headline, readable font, and strong visuals strengthens both visibility and engagement.
- Retail and Mall Advertising. … Retail and Malls are powerful on-ground, outdoor Advertising approaches that promote brands’ products and services directly within the shopping environment. When brands offer the option to physically inspect products, there’s a psychological advantage, making retail advertising significantly more impactful. Mall advertising uses digital screens, escalator branding, lift panels, and floor stickers, placed in genuine high-footfall areas.
- Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Advertising. … Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Advertising is a modern, technology-driven version of outdoor Advertising that combines both online and offline marketing, offering real-time content updates and the ability to run multiple messages on different screens. It provides advertisers flexibility and innovative branding by running social media and mobile campaigns.
- Event and Stadium Advertising. … Event and Stadium Advertising is a premium and powerful branding tool that specifically targets massive audiences because audiences are emotionally involved in events and stadiums, which makes the brand message have a deeper impact on their minds. Also, brand recall is stronger due to the brand logo and ad visuals being repeatedly displayed on screen during the event. Overall, Event and Stadium advertising helps build large-scale exposure, emotional engagement and strong brand positioning.
- Guerrilla Advertising. … Guerrilla Advertising is an unconventional and highly creative outdoor Advertising strategy that combines unique and surprising elements. It creates shock value, creativity and emotional impact for advertising brands to capture maximum audience attention within a limited budget. Campaigns are designed and launched in streets, public spaces, events or daily-use areas showcasing exciting activities, creating viral potential that results in the brand becoming organically known through word-of-mouth.
How to run successful outdoor marketing campaign Tip & tricks
Clear Objective & KPI Setup ~ The starting point of an outdoor Advertising campaign is to define a clear objective. The more specific the objective, the stronger the planning. It also provides clear direction and focus. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) include QR code scans, missed call numbers, unique promo codes, and dedicated landing page visits. Overall, a clear objective and measurable KPIs lead to better execution and more accurate results.
Audience & Location Mapping ~ Audience & Location Mapping play an important role in making the campaign successful. First, the target audience is selected based on age group, income level, lifestyle, daily routine, travel pattern and interest so that the brand message reaches the right audience at the right time. To make location mapping valuable, gather insights about the target audience and select strategic locations where they can be present because only the right message at the right place creates maximum recall and engagement.
High-Impact Creative Design ~ High-Impact Creative Design is a powerful, attention-driven strategy for outdoor Advertising that provides campaign effectiveness. Its primary objective is to capture attention, deliver messages quickly, and create strong brand recall. Use a strong image or graphic to create a design that instantly triggers emotion and creates maximum impact.
Integrate Digital Touchpoints ~ Connecting outdoor Advertising to the digital world can simplify and simplify the process of making a campaign successful. There are several ways to connect a company to a digitally integrated touchpoint, such as QR code integration, using short and memorable URLs, creating a dedicated landing page, and using custom promo codes, which make the campaign trackable and profitable.
Perfect Timing & Duration ~ Along with the message and location, perfect timing and duration also play an important role in deciding the success of the campaign. Timing means launching the campaign during the peak season of the period so that the demand is high, outdoor visibility makes the audience decide faster and repeat exposure and brand recall are strong. Duration is a long-term visibility game of minimum 2–4 weeks in which the audience sees the same message multiple times.
Monitor, Optimize & Amplify ~ A campaign becomes truly successful when it is accurately and continuously monitored, optimized, and amplified. In monitoring, you can collect and track performance data such as QR code scans, missed calls, landing page visits, and promo code usage, which gives a clear picture of growth. In optimization, small adjustments like improving CTAs and building fast landing pages can make a big difference. In amplification, you can increase trust and brand recall by running geo-targeted ads.
Outdoor marketing Examples
Apple – iPhone Billboards— Phone is a smartphone manufacturing brand based in the USA. It uses a billboard method of outdoor Advertising to promote its products at prime locations of the city like highways, busy junctions of metro cities and malls to instantly grab attention and increase awareness. This billboard strategy creates premium brand positioning and strong recall which builds repetition, trust and desire.
KitKat – “Phone Break” — KitKat is a smart and relatable example of outdoor Advertising. It ran a Phone Break campaign with the famous tagline “Have a Break, Have a KitKat” which connected the classic message with a modern lifestyle, which created a powerful impact on the audience and achieved popularity through different promotions. The main purpose of this tagline was “Take a break from the digital world and enjoy the real world.” It also sent a strong social message and promoted the brand.
Coca-Cola “Friendly Twist” — Bottle Interaction Coca-Cola’s “Friendly Twist” creative outdoor Advertising idea gained immense popularity, which increased its sales and revenue. Coca-Cola followed a social bonding approach and decided to use unique bottles in its ads, which stated that they would open only when two people twist them together. This concept strengthened stranger bonding. Its tagline was “Happiness increases by sharing.” Public places like parks, colleges and city squares were targeted in the promotion to generate natural engagement and conversation.
Aerial Banners — Aerial Banners are an eye-catching and high-visibility format of outdoor marketing in which brands promote their products through large banners and displays from airplanes or helicopters. These banners are flown over areas with massive audiences, such as beaches, stadiums, large events, festivals, or crowded public areas, to naturally grab attention and make the ads more surprising and memorable.
Event-Based Outdoor Activations — Event-Based Outdoor Marketing is an activity-based, interactive, and high-engagement idea that focuses on creating experiences and building a real-time connection with audiences by getting them on the ground. By engaging audiences through activities like stalls, games, photo booths, sampling counters, or live demos, brands present their products or services in a way that makes them feel personally connected to the brand.
Time-Sensitive Displays — Time-Sensitive Displays are an urgency-driven format of outdoor Advertising. Brands use psychological triggers to increase conversion chances. In this process, products and services are promoted through digital billboards, LED screens, or countdown-based outdoor setups, along with a limited-time discount, flash sale, festival offer, or special announcement.
Summery
Even in the age of digital marketing, outdoor marketing is a highly effective way to create awareness for businesses. Adding a digital integrity touchpoint makes it even more powerful. This article addresses this topic, detailing the elements of outdoor marketing and tips and tricks for successful marketing campaigns. It also provides detailed explanations, along with brand and genuine examples, to help businesses grow rapidly.