DOOH is everywhere: stores, cabs, restaurants, airports, bus stops – absolutely everywhere. They can be as small as smart shelves in your local Trader Joe's, or a single screen in your office lobby, they can be huge like the unbelievable 7,639 ft² video wall in Dubai Mall or even world-famous like the iconic screens at Times Square or the Piccadilly Lights. Digital out-of-home has brought brands unprecedented continuous success; it allows brands to target consumers at every touch point without spending all of the money in the world on marketing. If for some reason digital out-of-home isn’t still integrated into your 2019 marketing plan, this is the time to download your digital signage app and get started. Meanwhile here’s a list of 7 crucial tips for any DOOH marketer to follow on their way up.
Tip 1: to quote the absolute genius that was Lewis Carroll: “Begin at the beginning". Translating into marketing that means: start with knowing who your customers are. DOOH allows marketers to test out their content, to target audience based on their gender and age, their daily journey, the time they spend in front of your screens and the frequency with which they appear before them, they’re online searches, time of the day, weather, whatever it is – brands can bring to perfection their massaging, content and storytelling based on understanding of their customer base. It’s impossible to engage with your audience and get the results you want without understanding who your customers are.
Tip 2: quality digital signage should be a priority for successful DOOH marketers. With research data showing that you have 8 seconds to grab your customer’s attention it almost always comes down the soft to get quality content on the screen. Starting with the ability to seamlessly deploy your material, quality soft should be easy to use, run main media formats, integrate with the newest mobile or web technologies, track and report errors. With professional DS soft connecting to your audience on a few screens or throughout a network of screens around the world will be equally easy. And, going back to that 8-second attention span rule: with great DS software, you’ll be able to create mind-blowing visuals, instantly engage the audience, change content and even interact with your customers to keep things exciting. Our DS soft partner offers all of the above and a cherry on top – for us “cherry” was actually the ability to use our Apple TV media players, it is almost impossible to find professional DS soft for Apple. Check them out at the kitcast.tv, we love them for their Apple TV app alone – the first time we were using their app we were set up and ready to display our content in 10 minutes.
Tip 3: go Programmatic. Though programmatic DOOH is a relatively new way of selling, buying and displaying ads it is definitely here to stay. Ultimately, these days the marketer’s programmatic DOOH expertise equals success. Programmatic offers the ability to segment the ad placement and base it on any data relevant to your campaign, such as time of the day, audience proximity to your business, your consumer’s daily route, etc. With programmatic ad sales, you’ll eliminate the need for the middle man and gain full control over your advertisement. Deploying a nationwide campaign in a day or two is now a programmatic reality.
Tip 4: take advantage of the new type of targeting, the DOOH + smartphone one. Digital-out-of-home screens are now literally everywhere: you name the place and we’ll find a screen there for you. Plus, more than 70% of Americans use smartphones – if that isn’t an impressive advertising duo, we don’t know what is. Adding mobile to your digital-out-of-home will help you to deliver the right messages in the right locations every single time. This kind of multi-channel targeting will boost foot traffic, as well as sales, engage customers, and significantly increase your reach. DOOH and mobile integration are now showing unprecedented results: location-based mobile marketing just might be the best bet for a marketer these days.
Tip 5: always choose video. This isn’t even a tip, it should be a rule for every marketer aiming for success. Video marketing revenue reached nearly 28 billion dollars last year, and the projected yearly growth now is 15%. If for some unexplainable reason you are still on the fence about converting to video content, here is some more amazing video marketing statistics to help you make an informed decision: 81% of brands and companies already use video as a marketing tool, an overall hour count for the daily YouTube videos is over 500 million hours, and, of course, videos are the main watched content across all the social media platforms. Last, but not least: PwC projects that by next year dynamic content ads will have fully overtaken the traditional media.
Tip 6: go big, or go home. Digital-out-of-home has given companies so much creative freedom and a lot of brands have really risen to the occasion. Over the last year, we have seen endless examples of innovative high-tech absolutely unforgettable marketing campaigns. Know your DOOH key trends, incorporate AR/VR and AI, programmatic DOOH and intelligent data analysis. Whatever it is, by utilizing the newest and biggest achievements of the industry, marketers can fast-track their journey to success.
Tip 7: take a stand. These days’ customers are looking for brands that share their values; it is almost a demand as 73% of them believe that companies should do more than just offer a product or service. We have seen a lot of corporate DOOH ad advocacy, brands are taking stands on civil rights, human rights, announcing their support or publically distancing themselves from political or TV personalities. Brands are now publically held responsible for their ads: we all remember how Laura Ingraham’s show was dropped in a heartbeat by almost all of the advertisers with just a tweet. And till this day, though her show’s ratings are surging, big brands are still steering clear and boycotting Ingraham’s Fox News show. This isn’t the time to hide out and every marketer needs to understand that. Over the last couple of years, we have seen huge brands choosing a side, whatever that side may be, and standing with their customers on gun control, the BLM movement, closing borders to refugees, the travel ban, the transgender military ban, recent abortion bans and much more. Our tip here is: there is absolutely no better way to communicate your values to your audience than on a huge billboard in the middle of a buzzy street.
