DOOH advertising remains one of the most reliable marketing channels for influencing behaviour and creating positive outcomes for brands. Here, we break down exactly how it works, and how you can use DOOH to stay ahead of the game in 2021.
March 1, 2021
Understanding your customer is crucial to creating successful campaigns. Because once you understand them, you have a much better chance of influencing their behaviour. But, to really get to grips with their needs, wants and challenges, you must do your research and in doing so, gather data.
The digital revolution has transformed market research. Interactions between brands and consumers have become more digital, meaning brands have more access to customer data. More data means more opportunities to get to know your customers and understand them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further driven the shift toward digital customer interaction, since more customers are ordering goods and services online due to social distancing regulations.
Companies that can harness this information via the optimum channels have the potential to create some of the most targeted, personal and effective marketing campaigns ever.
So, what is the optimum channel? Read on….
DOOH advertising is an especially useful channel for brands to influence consumer behaviour. OOH ads are well trusted by the public, with billboards and other outdoor ads being the 4th most trusted form of advertising according to Nielsen, behind only TV, newspapers and magazines, and ahead of all forms of paid online advertising.
But the digital renaissance has taken OOH advertising to a whole other level, paving the way for interactive campaigns that engage audiences in a whole new way.
Here are 3 of the most exciting ways DOOH advertising can help you influence consumer behaviour.
Through the use of cameras, QR codes and mobile connectivity, brands can connect digitally with consumers and deliver a more engaging and influential experience.
Take your average bus station, for example. Normally a pretty boring environment that everyone just wants to get out of as quickly as possible. But stick an interactive billboard in there and you give people not only a welcome distraction, but also a chance to connect to your company, and sometimes to each other, too.
This was exemplified in a Women’s Aid campaign a few years ago that used digital signage and cameras to show a woman with bruises on her face that disappeared as more people looked at the sign at once. The message was that the more people notice abuse towards women, the greater the chance that we can stop it.
DOOH advertising gives you huge reach with a campaign that can be managed centrally, meaning that you can roll out new messaging and media with a few taps of the keyboard.
Digital advertising allows brands to deliver content that is up-to-the-moment relevant, bringing them closer to their customer’s reality than ever before.
Companies can take even greater advantage of this flexibility by using the data they can collect from customers as they interact with DOOH campaigns, by tracking:
The result of this constant optimization is more personally relevant ads delivered with impeccable timing – the ideal recipe if your goal is to change consumer behaviour.
The perfect marketing campaign will deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time.
DOOH advertising gives you the best possible chance of hitting all 3 elements (message, customer and time) perfectly. How? By giving you access to a much bigger audience while using big data to narrow your targeting within that audience.
GPS data, buying patterns, mobile retargeting and personal information such as interests and values paints a detailed picture of your audience that you can use to craft personalized ads and deliver them at the most opportune moment. This gives you the best shot at influencing behaviour.
Starbucks does this very effectively by pushing notifications to customers’ phones as they approach a store, encouraging them to dive in and order their usual on their way to work.
How does COVID-19 factor into this? Well, one of the many things that COVID has changed is consumer behaviour – specifically the way people interact with media, including advertising media.
What did businesses do when they lost the ability to interact with their customers on a person-to-person basis? They did what all good businesses should do – they innovated. They accelerated their adoption of digital processes and systems and gave customers contact-free ways to browse, buy and otherwise interact with them.
This was always going to become the norm, but we are where we are a heck of a lot faster thanks to COVID.
The beauty of DOOH advertising is that it can be wherever your customers want to be, whether that is taking a walk around their town during lockdown or in their apartment buildings.
We have already seen people start to venture out of their homes and into public spaces again, and as restrictions continue to be eased they will be venturing out more and more.
DOOH advertising allows brands to follow their customers anywhere, and deliver a personalized marketing experience across multiple locations. By leveraging the data they have on where their customers are and what they are interacting with, brands can stay present in their customers' world as they see it return to normal - providing reassurance and continuity that many customers will value immensely.
But, don’t forget that while we’re all still spending time at home, that elevator advertising is a great option for businesses to create targeted messaging. And, since residents are used to reading news in their residential elevators, your advert or message will gain a lot of traction.
As restrictions start to lift, people will want to spend more time out of their homes. Those companies that use DOOH effectively to bridge the gap between a) the highly targeted ads they can deliver on people’s smartphones and computers and b) those people’s lived reality outside of their homes will have created a mini ecosystem in which they can engage their customers wherever they are with the same reassuringly personal message.
Weaving your brand into your customers world in this way brings an opportunity to influence behaviour through integrated in-home and DOOH advertising.
With the right partner, your company can thrive in the current and post-COVID world, so speak the team here at Vertical Impression today to learn more about influencing consumer behaviour with DOOH advertising.
