As we enter 2023, businesses are faced with a rapidly evolving marketing landscape that demands a comprehensive and diverse approach.
One strategy that should not be overlooked is local outdoor advertising, which offers unique advantages and opportunities for businesses seeking to build brand awareness, engage customers, and drive growth. A strong local outdoor advertising campaign can help local businesses reach several of their marketing goals.
In this blog post, we will explore 12 compelling reasons why local outdoor advertising should be a key component of your mix media strategy in 2023.
1. Focus on location
Location is (still) everything!
Despite the obvious Despite the obvious appeal and massive use of digital marketing, experts agree are finding the increasing surprising influence of the real world on how we search, shop, and sell in the virtual one.
In his outstanding book, David R. Bell demonstrates beautifully “how our motivations and patterns for using the Internet are rooted in our physical locations and circumstances – and how those patterns may evolve”.
2. Leverage local SEO
With the rise of Local SEO and the increase of “near me” queries, small businesses owners are now forced to integrate a “local marketing” piece in their overall marketing plan. The smartest and most efficient way for them to do is to relay and connects both their digital and offline marketing initiatives.
3. Optimize Google’s micro-moments
In one its consumers insights famous research reports, Think With Google demonstrates that whether they’re in-store or on-the-go, consumers use mobile to compare prices, brands and products. The research shows that the increased use of smartphone in each moment of our daily life (“micro-moments”) offers more options for where and when to buy. This has led to a constant back and forth connection between on and offline purchases.
4. Trigger online activation
Local outdoor advertising is a fantastic way to connect a small business marketing strategy and specially to bridge online tactics with the offline world.
According to a study released by Nielsen, it’s now established that Out-Of-Home-Advertising ((OOHA) is the most effective offline medium in driving online activity. The study found OOH delivers more online activity per ad dollar spent compared to television, radio, and print.
According to another study, the OOH Online Activation Survey, online activations including search, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram activity generated by OOH indexes at about four times the expected rate given its relative ad spend.
For example, OOH media accounts for 26 percent of gross search activations generated by television, radio, print and OOH, combined but it only accounts for 7 percent of the total combined advertising spend.
5. Adopt cross-channel marketing
Cross-channel marketing refers to the practice of leveraging multiple marketing channels, both online and offline, to create a cohesive and consistent brand experience for your target audience. This approach has become increasingly important for businesses aiming to attract leads and drive sales.
cross-channel marketing, which combines outdoor advertising with online local advertising, offers businesses a powerful and effective way to reach their target audience, deliver a consistent brand experience, and drive growth. By leveraging the strengths of various marketing channels and creating an integrated campaign, businesses can attract more leads and increase sales in today’s increasingly competitive and interconnected marketplace.
6. Fight digital fatigue
Covid has brought a digital fatigue and a massive decrease of efficiency in a 100% digital marketing strategy, especially for small businesses. Shoppers are searching online but they make their decision offline, and their purchases are often made during what Google called some “micro-moments” of their day.
7. Reach niche audience
Local outdoor advertising enables to crossing down 2 major factors of success of a marketing campaign: a very specific audience in a dedicated point of interest. For example: a ticket lawyer who would advertise locally in Elevators of the Court of Justice parking garage.
8. Capitalize on influencer marketing
Influencer marketing, which leverages the reach and credibility of popular individuals on social media platforms to promote products and services, has experienced rapid growth in recent years. This shift in marketing strategies has influenced the way outdoor advertising is approached and executed.
Recognizing the potential of influencer marketing, many businesses have started to integrate it into their outdoor advertising campaigns. This can involve collaborating with influencers to promote outdoor ads or featuring influencers in the ads themselves. By leveraging the influencer’s existing audience and credibility, businesses can enhance the reach and impact of their outdoor campaigns.
9. Build brand awareness
OOH is ancestrally known to be the most powerful branding medium. Hand on. But brand awareness is barely built with only 1 large billboard on the highway. For a local business to build strong brand awareness, the brand needs to trigger what the buyer’s psychology experts named the mere exposure effect. Local outdoor advertising by being super cost effective, is the only way a local brand can expose her presence several times in many different but nearby locations at a very cost-effective budget.
10. Generate In-Store foot traffic
OOH ad units positioned strategically near store locations have been observed to increase in-store visitation.
Local outdoor advertising can effectively generate in-store foot traffic by capitalizing on its ability to reach consumers as they move through their daily routines, navigate shopping districts, or commute to work. By strategically placing advertisements in high-traffic locations, businesses can capture the attention of potential customers, encourage them to visit their physical stores, and ultimately increase sales.
11. Trigger online actions such as web conversion
To stimulate website traffic and engagement, utilize street-level OOH ad formats, incorporate explicit calls-to-action in your creative, and optimize your purchases based on website visitation metrics instead of just impressions.
12. Drives social mentions & reviews
Local outdoor advertising has the potential to drive social mentions and online reviews by capturing the attention of potential customers and prompting them to engage with the brand both online and offline. When executed creatively and strategically, outdoor ads can inspire consumers to share their experiences on social media platforms or leave online reviews, further amplifying brand awareness and credibility.
Since you have full control on the design of your Ads, the sky is limit in terms of creativity. With OOH’s versatility, you can implement almost any unconventional idea that you can imagine. Boost your creativity to encourage social mention.
13. Increase community engagement
Local outdoor advertising is building a strong connection between online Local outdoor advertising can play a significant role in increasing community engagement by fostering a connection between businesses and the local community, promoting local events, and supporting causes that resonate with the target audience.
Considering how communities that are booming since the hype around Web 3 and the Metaverse (especially for Gen-Z) and offline communities, leveraging local outdoor advertising will be one of your smartest move for your 2023 mix media.
To wrap it up
By understanding and leveraging these trends and opportunities, your business can benefit from the many advantages that local outdoor advertising has to offer in today’s competitive marketplace. Stay tuned as we dive into each of these reasons and provide valuable insights on how to make the most of your advertising efforts in 2023.
