You are probably not doing enough with your Out of Home Advertising (OOH). Many brands simply pay lip service to the marketing channel - spending leftover ad dollars so that they will not lose budget in the next cycle, putting up ads at the last minute, not creating artwork that fits the medium and not fully integrating it with other campaign efforts. 

In this article you will learn several pitfalls that many busy brands face with regards to their outdoor advertising efforts and the steps needed to truly have an effective campaign. Here are the common mistakes that advertisers make and how to fix them. 

Are You Investing Enough in your Outdoor Ads?

Though by mass impressions OOH is considered a more inexpensive marketing channel than many others, buying a placement based on price is simply not effective. It will either get lost in the clutter or not be in the right place for your audience. It’s not going to perform for you. Working with an OOH specialist can help you with recommendations on the media placements knowing what rate you are getting but remember the old adage - “you get what you pay for.”

Are You Planning OOH Last Minute? 

When you plan your OOH campaigns at the 11th hour, you are taking a huge risk. You can end up with poor quality locations because nothing else is available and may have bad creative because it’s not specifically built for the environment available. This is a missed opportunity with making impressions. Most likely at the last minute the media will be remnant or distressed. Now and again there might be a nice opportunity that was canceled or not sold that you can swoop in and grab, but that is atypical. Is the goal of your campaign to be effective, or just for the sake of spending money so you don’t lose it? Ideally, you would have about two months of lead time for planning before your campaign is set to go live.

Are You Planning Enough? 

To plan an OOH campaign properly, you have to know what your objectives are. What are you trying to do with OOH? What are the KPIs you are going to measure it against? This backs you into a media recommendation. 

To achieve those KPIs you need certain markets, media, and it will cost a certain amount. By getting ahead of it you have the time to research, negotiate and put together a solid plan. When doing any planning there should be some measurement incorporated. It is important to know what you are going to be measuring against ahead of time. You should know the guidelines for that market’s reach to be statistically viable and you will not have the time if you are planning last minute.  Ideally, in addition to at least two months of lead time, you would also have a budget set and take the time to research and find the ideal scenario or process for your outdoor campaign. 

Are You Balancing Programmatic and Digital OOH with Effective Creative?

While Programmatic and Digital OOH can be planned with shorter lead times, it needs to be balanced with effective creatives. Many of our clients that come to us say they have budget for a campaign that has to go up in two weeks or less. As a catch all for the last minute scenarios programmatic allows advertisers to act within tight turnaround windows, while setting customized target audiences and KPIs.  CPM rates can be purchased as late as the week before the advertisement goes live. You may get a great media buy, but that’s only half the puzzle. Without good creative it’s a waste of money. 

Is Your OOH Creative Working? 

Because many brands see OOH as a secondary add-on to a campaign, they may use existing creative layouts that work for print, online or television. However, oftentimes these creatives don’t work to capture people’s interest in the OOH environment. Consider what your placement is. If it’s in a vehicular only environment, then your audience may have just 5 seconds to see, interpret and understand your advertisement. If it’s in a pedestrian setting, then your audience will have more time with it, though they are still on the move. 

By using existing creative and recycling assets from other mediums without considering the nuances needed to adapt the art to the OOH space, advertisers miss out on engaging their audiences. OOH creatives need to be quick hits of information that stand out against the environment and leave a lasting impression on your audiences. Consider some of the creative done in the golden age of advertising from the mid 1900s and how it was so eye-catching that you would want to stop and enjoy it. 

Do You Use Data to Inform Your Placements? 

Advertisers need to use data to inform and pre-index their placements. If a certain billboard is usually seen by a certain demographic, then that insight can be helpful in the planning phase. Leverage technologies and increased intelligence rather than buying units based on what locations are the most highly trafficked. Data tools can help you look at your target audience and find the markets and locations that index well for those populations. 

Are You Fully Integrating OOH With Your Other Campaign Efforts? 

OOH is a medium that amplifies and supports your other channels. When comparing the effect of OOH alone vs OOH in tandem with other media channels the results are explosive. Online campaigns especially sync well with OOH. OOH creates the PR and social media buzz that allows people to take action and click through on the digital site. While creatives for print, tv and online should not be simply recycled for your outdoor campaigns, you can have them relate to those advertisements in a way that works well for the medium and boosts your other channels. 

Do More With Outdoor Advertising

In conclusion, advertisers must avoid these common mistakes in order to achieve successful Out of Home Advertising campaigns. By investing enough in OOH, planning ahead of time, having a solid plan and budget, balancing programmatic and digital OOH with effective creative, using data-informed placements, and fully integrating OOH with other campaign efforts, brands can create campaigns that effectively reach their target audience and achieve their marketing objectives. To ensure the best results, work with Billups OOH specialists, who provide expert recommendations and support to make your OOH campaign a success. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to utilize this powerful marketing channel – start planning your effective OOH campaign today!