Digital signage has enhanced outdoor advertising, allowing businesses to capture the attention of their target audiences with eye-catching visuals and ideal illumination, no matter the time of day (or night). As more industries leverage digital signage for outdoor advertising, from retail to restaurants, businesses want creative ways to make a statement. Consider these outdoor advertising examples from DSA Signage to inspire your next campaign.
What Is Outdoor Advertising?
As it sounds, outdoor advertising (sometimes called out-of-home advertising) refers to any ad displayed outdoors, typically in public spaces. The billboard is perhaps the most iconic example of outdoor advertising. However, these ads might also appear at bus stops or in train stations and parks. Other outdoor ads are displayed by private businesses on their storefronts, making them visible to passersby.
The rise of digital channels might have some advertisers and marketers wondering if outdoor advertising still has any value. Teams that recognize the significance of outdoor advertising reap unique benefits, such as:
- Reaching a broad, diverse, and local audience
- Generating brand awareness and enabling potential customers to recall the brand/business when they need its products/services
- Putting messaging in front of potential customers and allowing them to interact with it organically
- Strengthening digital campaigns by highlighting websites/social media pages or implementing QR codes
1) Billboards: Making a Bold Statement
The billboard is perhaps the most iconic example of outdoor advertising. The goal of this long standing advertising method is to make a statement. How can your statement stand out? Consider creative billboard ideas, which take advantage of digital signage, location, size, structure, and the natural environment to capture attention:
- Keep ads dynamic and up-to-date with digital billboards
- Incorporate an interactive element
- Infuse elements of nature, such as a billboard that changes at night or creates shadows in the sun
- Offer a promo code to get traffic to your site
- Experiment with billboard structure (i.e., a candy company might cut a portion of the billboard out in the shape of teeth marks)
2) Guerrilla Marketing: Creativity Unleashed
Guerrilla marketing relies on the element of surprise. In the context of outdoor advertising, it involves incorporating a temporary installation into a public environment. For example, putting branding on a sidewalk or street. The goal is to engage audiences, encouraging them to share the marketing on social media and generate buzz. It’s a great instance of outdoor advertising working alongside digital channels. Guerrilla marketing is also often cost-effective, but it can take time to execute well.
3) Transit Advertising: Moving Messages
Many people use public transportation systems like buses, subways, and trains daily for their commutes. Transit advertising takes advantage of these locations, placing ads as wallpaper along subways, in train stations, or even on buses themselves. Commuters using public transit represent a wide pool of potential customers so this outdoor advertising can reach multiple segments of your target audience. Plus, unlike an ad before a YouTube video or on social media, they can’t skip or scroll past. Transit advertising commands attention.
4) Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH): Interactive Experiences
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) brings the capabilities of digital marketing to traditional outdoor advertising. It refers to digital ads that appear in locations audiences wouldn’t interact with only on their computers or TVs at home. Often, DOOH means outdoors in areas accessible to the public, but it could include other locations accessible to the public like malls and elevators.
Brands are limited only by the available technology and their creativity with DOOH advertising. Some approaches to consider include:
- Large-format: Large-format DOOH is easy for passersby to spot, whether an interactive billboard or used for transit advertising. Placed in strategic locations, it offers a cost-effective way to generate brand awareness among a wide audience.
- Location/place-based: This targeted approach to DOOH seeks to reach audiences in the areas where they spend the most time outside their homes. A great example would be using digital signage to advertise health and beauty products near a spa or salon. Place-based ads provide contextually relevant messaging that can more effectively seize the target audience’s attention.
- Point-of-purchase: Ads placed in store aisles or near checkout lines engage high-intent audiences. They can heavily influence decisions by increasing visibility soon before customers purchase.
5) Street Furniture Advertising: Seamlessly Integrated
Street furniture advertising takes advantage of the many elements commonly found in public spaces, such as benches, bus stops/shelters, or wayfinding kiosks. Like guerrilla marketing and transit advertising, it blends seamlessly with urban environments, potentially catching people by surprise. Advertisers and marketers can also explore creative ways to use street furniture to enhance the impact of their messaging. Whether waiting for the bus, strolling around the mall, or simply walking along the street, your target audiences’ eyeballs are drawn to street furniture advertising.
6) Experiential Marketing: Immersive Encounters
Part of what makes outdoor advertising so exciting is that your options are limitless. Use these campaigns as an opportunity to experiment with more immersive approaches. Customer engagement is at the center of many campaigns, and outdoor advertising offers ways to resonate not only with your known target audience but also with segments you didn’t realize.
Innovative technologies have already – and will continue to – grow the possibilities of immersive advertising. Geotargeting can tailor content for local audiences, while data analytics personalizes experiences for your customer base. Touchscreens and augmented/virtual reality turn outdoor advertising into a quick image that passersby see and remember into an interactive ad that keeps them interested. Pop-up installations and live events create excitement and can make your campaigns go viral.
Signage Options to Make an Impact
Digital signage offers great potential for outdoor advertising, but you don’t have to choose between digital and traditional. Instead, implement both into your outdoor advertising efforts. DSA Signage custom manufactures high-quality static and UL-listed LED display products, helping businesses across industries sustainably brighten and elevate their brands. Choose us to help showcase your brand with LED light boxes, digital signage, and video walls, among other options.
Push the boundaries of outdoor advertising and find a reliable partner for innovation in DSA Signage. Contact us today for more inspiration or to request a quote.
