Best news of the spring: SmartyAds supports DOOH advertising!

SmartyAds keeps proving its reputation as a truly omnichannel advertising solution — last month, it announced the arrival of audio ad format, and today it introduces innovative DOOH traffic opportunities. As you know, the number of contact touchpoints between the customer and the brand is increasing every year. According to studies , the number of people who make purchases both offline and online is steadily growing, while the number of those who prefer only one medium decreases. Focusing on advertising reach maximization, SmartyAds decided to surprise advertisers with something completely new - it’s time to discover what opportunities DOOH traffic will bring in.

Online advertising in the offline world: major innovation of DOOH

Online advertising slowly but surely penetrates offline media. Incorporating technologies, such as geofencing and radio beacons, DOOH makes it possible to track and personalize advertising communications almost with the same level of precision as is possible on the web.

The main advantage is that DOOH allows brands to address their target audience in public spaces (on the streets, in transport, on highways, in stadiums, and on other premises), depending on certain targeting parameters: socio-demographic characteristics, location, weather data. DOOH inventory is represented by digital billboards and screens, media facades, and digital city formats. Those are the big-screen playgrounds for engaging the audiences, increasing brand awareness, and fostering brand loyalty.

Why the popularity of DOOH will grow

During the pandemic, when brick-and-mortar stores were closed and the whole world had to stay indoors – and, thus, in front of their screens - the significance of DOOH lost its previous relevance for many advertisers and brands.

However, even during the pandemic, some brands were still investing in building meaningful and relevant relationships with their customers. Trying to support their customers during the crisis, Dunkin’ Donuts launched DOOH campaigns that featured emergency funding provided for families in need. The brand also kept informing its customers about discounts and changes in service processes, deliveries, etc.

As the pandemic comes to an end, people will spend more time outdoors, and DOOH advertising will be among the strongest advertising leverages to capture user attention outdoors. In fact, as global economies recover and loosen restrictions, experts expect that DOOH ad spending will increase and reach new heights in the near future (from $2.72 billion in 2020 to $3.84 billion in 2023 according to eMarketer).

What is the mechanism of ad experience personalization in DOOH?

So far, the personalization in DOOH can be achieved thanks to information about current weather conditions, face recognition technologies, and other data that is obtained from the source responsible for collecting the information in real-time.

Thus, for instance, the bike-rental company Santander advertised its services through contextual advertising on DOOH media throughout the city. The ads displayed a map with nearby bike rental stations and information about how many bikes were left available at each station.

Another example is Heathrow Express. It placed DOOH advertising screens right next to airport baggage carousels. The ads were shown to users in different languages (based on the incoming information about the country that visitors arrived from). The ads also included information on how to spend time in the county (activities were defined based on current weather conditions).

Benefits of DOOH advertising

● ? ? ? Targeting. Although it is not possible to tailor DOOH ads exclusively for one person (as is possible on the web), the current targeting capabilities of DOOH already allow brands to deliver ads at the right time and place. Thus, it increases the likelihood that the ad will be seen and memorized.

● ? ? ? Retargeting. For retargeting, advertisers can use geofencing (e.g., create a virtual border around a digital billboard using GPS and trigger a response when a customer’s mobile device enters or leaves an adjacent area).

● ? ? ? Measurement. Measuring the performance of simple, out-of-home advertising (like a billboard) is hardly possible. However, the digital component in such advertising makes it achievable (thanks to various types of data and sensor readings; e.g., GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth).

●? ? High level of engagement. Over the past decade, engagement with online advertising has declined to the point where our vision learned to ignore banners located on web pages (aka banner blindness). Immersive big-screen experiences, absence of ad blockers, and competition with other ads are the basic DOOH benefits advertisers can take advantage of to increase awareness and increase conversions.

What’s more to come?

Advertising examples and practices that we’ve reviewed here give us just a brief glimpse of what DOOH is capable of. Being stirred by growing demand and technologies, like programmatic, this advertising segment will grow and develop rapidly in the near future. When the tech infrastructure is ready (along with cloud technologies and standardized integrative hubs of anonymized targeting data processing), ad campaign precision and personalization on DOOH will reach even greater heights.

Want to know more about the digital, out-of-home format? Follow me and SmartyAds on LinkedIn to stay updated on the latest ad tech news. Don’t forget to check my page in June for the new article on DOOH format!