fbpx

How to Reach Hyperlocal Audiences with OOH

Lincoln and Rose_8 (2)

Watchfire Signs

They’re back! Local shoppers, that is. Local businesses that struggled mightily during the pandemic now need to pull out all the stops to re-connect with customers in person. Just because people are overwhelmingly tired of digital screens and online advertising doesn’t necessarily mean they will flock back into your place of business.

OOH Is a Hyperlocal Advertiser’s BFF

If you’ve started a new business post-pandemic, brick and mortar or ecommerce, you need marketing that will launch you into a successful future.

And ’tis the season for political advertising. Candidates and ballot measure proponents are pulling out all the stops to secure votes between now and November. They, too, are focusing locally, with 88% of this year’s political advertising budgets directed toward local and in-state races.

But Don’t Stop Using Digital Advertising

Where would any marketer be today without social media?! Even your next-door neighbor expects to connect with your business online.

But did you know that simply adding billboards can lift your digital campaign reach by a whopping 340%?

That’s the kind of ROI any brand can get excited about, especially small and mid-size businesses with limited budgets. And then there’s the halo effect – the fact that every positive impression and experience with your brand builds credibility, trust and loyalty. That’s golden, indeed. And it’s even more crucial for local businesses with a limited potential customer base.

Happily, OOH is the channel that surprises and delights best.

Hyperlocal Targeting, Hyperlocal Content

Out-of-home reaches local audiences wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. You can use location-based criteria as well as demographics to pinpoint the most productive ad placements.

Billboards lift advertising results with their unsurpassed reach and frequency, delivering your message around the clock. Static OOH ads can also inspire viewers to take action, with an invitation to “stop in for a yummy lunch, just around the corner.”

However, billboards (and smaller posters and urban panels) are just the beginning. Street-level and indoor OOH media allow interactive features such as QR codes to engage viewers right on the spot. Those with digital screens offer multiple ways to engage.

Customers can connect with you to:

·         Get more information

·         Download a coupon or your band’s latest music

·         Register for your event

·         Answer a survey question

·         Receive a real sample

·         Or even place an order

OOH Goes Mobile, Too

Zoom experimented with wrapped cars, driving them around geo-targeted Denver neighborhoods. In two months they generated 18.5 million impressions. Your scale may be smaller, but the opportunity is unmistakable.

For example, let’s take the Friday night game. You can support the local team with a traditional fence banner. But you can also step up your game with a wrapped vehicle that brings T-shirted staffers to the ball park to hand out branded giveaways. Or virtual reality headsets to check out your newest product or location.

Share the experience in your social media posts, and encourage fans to share their own experiences with your hands-on engaging promotions.

Experiential advertising informs, but it also makes indelible positive impressions that build loyalty. Loyal customers refer their friends and neighbors to your business, and they post great reviews. Use a short quote in your ad content.

And Then There’s Digital OOH

Programmable DOOH amps up your advertising with highly refined targeting and content:

·         Display contextual messaging that fits the venue or relates to a specific store or neighborhood.

·         Dynamic capabilities allow you to integrate movement and video.

·         Start, pause or stop ads any time.

·         Change messaging in real time. Meet the moment with content that changes with the weather or time of day, or tweak content or scheduling to improve ad effectiveness.

Place-based screens take your ads indoors, delivering contextually relevant messages when your targets visit:

·         Grocery or convenience stores

·         Gas or charging stations

·         Fitness clubs

·         Waiting areas at the auto shop or medical office

·         Restaurants or bars

·         Retail stores

·         The mall

·         Movie theaters

·         Conference centers

Place-based DOOH delivers outdoors as well, to locations with screens such as gas pumps and charging stations and stadiums.

Results You Can Take to the Bank

Targeting is only as good as the results you get, and OOH now provides attribution and measurement much the same as digital advertising. You can assess your campaigns based on number of impressions and also deliverables such as post-exposure viewer response (connecting with you, visiting your store, etc.). So you can credibly evaluate OOH performance and also see how much and in what ways it elevates overall campaign performance.

Locally, OOH makes more sense than television advertising, which is increasingly expensive and often wasted because it cannot deliver niche-detail location or demographic targeting. Even better, out-of-home excels in ROI. When it comes to motivating viewers to connect with you online, OOH is:

·         382% more effective than TV

·         200% more effective than print

·         63% more effective than radio

Lighten up!

Generating leads and sales for your business is serious business. But when you’re local, you’re more than a brand name. People know who you are. They know your staff. If not, you certainly want to meet them. People do business with people they like, so let your personality shine brightly in your OOH ads. Others may sell similar products or services, but you are unique and that matters to local customers.

Share this Tasty content!