The most effective companies utilize multiple channels to advertise their products. When you do so, you reach out to your customers wherever they are. This is much more impactful than only reaching out to them in one or two ways.
That’s why it’s unfortunate that so many companies fail to take advantage of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising. Keep reading to learn why that’s true and to find 7 interactive ways that digital signage will help you leverage DOOH to its full potential.
What is DOOH advertising, exactly?
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is a marketing channel that companies use to advertise their products to people while they’re outside of the home. It enables a business to reach its target audience during the parts of the day that they’re not reachable through in-home channels like television commercials and internet advertising.
DOOH versus OOH
It’s important to distinguish between out-of-home advertising (OOH) and DOOH advertising. OOH ads also target people while they’re outside of the home. But the methods are different. OOH advertisements exist on non-digital mediums, such as billboards, bus benches and public transportation.
DOOH advertising brings the benefits of digital ads into an outdoor space. They exist on digital billboards, digital signage and other types of screens that a customer encounters on the go.
Why is DOOH Advertising Important?
DOOH advertising is worth paying attention to for a few key reasons:
Reach your target audience
This is perhaps the biggest reason to make DOOH advertising a part of your broader marketing strategy. If you rely on traditional channels alone, you’re often only able to reach your target audience when they’re looking at a screen. But people don’t usually do this for their entire day.
With DOOH advertising, you can form a connection with your audience when they wouldn’t be reachable otherwise. This enables companies to become a more persistent presence in their audience’s lives and creates new opportunities to drive engagement.
Enjoy unmatchable reach with your campaigns
DOOH advertisements can also provide incredible levels of reach. For example, Times Square in New York City is home to some of the largest and most-viewed digital screens in the world.
Investopedia suggests that companies that advertise on digital screens in Times Square receive roughly 1.5 million impressions every day. It would be incredibly difficult for your company to reach the same number of people through other channels, such as social media and email.
The more people you target with your campaigns, the more potential customers you’ve formed connections with. That’s why businesses that want to maximize their reach should seriously consider utilizing DOOH advertisements.
Integrate your DOOH campaigns with other mediums
DOOH ads also provide numerous opportunities to connect leads to your other marketing mediums. For example, things like QR codes can instantly take an off-line prospect and put them into your marketing funnel.
Companies also constantly integrate their DOOH campaigns with their social media accounts, customers’ mobile devices and email. The point is, when you run a DOOH ad, you don’t have to leave the opportunities that you create offline. Instead, you can bring them wherever you want to take them with the right ads.
Update your ads remotely
DOOH advertising is also great because you can update the ads that you run easily. Doing so is often as simple as using a digital signage solution like UPshow.
With UPshow, you can make changes to the content that you display on any internet-enabled device. Once you’re happy with the changes you make, you can publish them immediately across all of your channels -- including your DOOH advertisements.
Display higher quality ads
DOOH ads also enable companies to share imagery with much higher resolution than traditional OOH ads. This can be crucial for brands that operate in spaces like fashion, in which the difference between a good photo and a bad one is often the difference between earning a customer or not.
7 interactive ways to use digital signage for improved DOOH advertising
Connect new customers to your company with QR codes
The goal with DOOH is to get people engaged with your company. QR codes are one of the best ways to make this happen. A passer-by can scan your QR code and instantly connect with your company exactly the way you want them to.
This is especially helpful if your goal is to get more people to download your app, sign up for your email list or visit your website. But you can link the QR code to whatever you want.
Combine your advertisement with useful information
Many people who see an outdoor advertisement will unconsciously tune it out. But you’ll get significantly more eyeballs on what you have to say if you combine it with information that the average person will find useful.
For example, you might combine your ad with real-time weather updates. Or maybe you could display trending news stories alongside your ad. Either way, you’ll get plenty of people to stop and look at your display than you would otherwise. And when people stop to look, they’ll also connect with your company.
Share your best testimonials
Data shows that customer testimonials are one of the most effective ways to target customers. So why not use that strategy on your DOOH advertisements?
Sharing real stories about customers that you’ve helped in the past promotes increased engagement with your company. On top of that, people are more likely to take your advertisement at face value if it’s in the words of a customer instead of expressed through carefully worded copy.
Offer deals and discounts
DOOH ads are also an excellent place for exclusive deals. You can use them to share limited-time offers that are only available to people who interact with your signage in a certain way.
It often makes sense to use QR codes for this. You can display them on the advertisement and any passer-by that scans the code can register where you want them to so that they can receive the deal.
This is a great way to get information from customers that you can use to feed your marketing funnel. For example, you might place the discount behind an email wall so that you can target the person with email advertisements in the future.
Feature user-generated content
You might also try this strategy to get more out of your DOOH advertisements. For example, you could share people’s social media posts on your sign if they use the correct hashtag.
People will like the opportunity to get what they have to say featured on a digital screen. And when they post about your company to do that, you’ll benefit by getting a signal boost that broadens your brand’s presence on social media.
You can do this with whatever social media platform you want to grow on. But you’ll likely see the most engagement with Twitter and Instagram campaigns.
Make a challenge
Another way to get people to engage with your DOOH ads is to challenge them to do something when they pass by it. The specifics of this will depend on the industry that your company operates in.
For example, a zoo might advertise on a DOOH at a bus stop. They can use an ad that shows the height of a certain animal along with a challenge for individuals to see how tall they would be next to the animal.
People who are waiting at the bus stop will stop to see how they compare. And when they do, they will engage with the zoo and form a connection with the brand.
Brighten the public’s day
Another way to get people to form a positive connection with your brand is to share inspirational quotes through DOOH advertising. People will appreciate the fact that your company is using some of its marketing budget to make the world a little brighter.
But you don’t even necessarily have to share inspirational quotes. You could also share quotes that are relevant to your industry in some way. Or you could even tell a joke.
Use UPshow to power your DOOH advertising displays
DOOH advertising is one of the very best ways to reach your target audience when they’re not in front of a screen at home or work. It could be precisely what you need to do to start expanding your customer base.
If you’re ready to give DOOH advertising a chance, then consider partnering with UPshow to do it.
UPshow is a digital engagement solution that makes it incredibly easy to manage your campaigns, automate your display scheduling and make updates to the content you share with the world.
So why wait? Take the first step towards everything that your company stands to gain with DOOH advertising by reaching out to UPshow today. You can sign up for a free custom demo of our software.
