Are you looking to start a digital out-of-home marketing campaign for your company? Read on for a few tips that will help.

Digital Out-Of-Home Marketing (DOOH): What Is It?

Digital out-of-home media is essentially a more advanced and customizable form of regular out-of-home marketing. It takes advantage of densely populated areas by placing digital ads in locations with high visibility. The digital nature of these ads gives businesses the ability to be more creative and innovative with their ad campaigns than ever before.

How Does It Work?

Companies that wish to run a DOOH ad campaign have their work cut out for them. In the same way that regular OOH ads work, it is all about researching the location and targeting demographics.

While this can seem like a daunting task, it is really not all that difficult. Here are five tips to help get you started on your DOOH marketing campaign.

Tip #1: Choose The Right Type of DOOH for You

You are probably wondering what a digital out-of-home ad might look like. There are essentially three different types that most companies like to use. These are digital billboards, digital advertising trucks, and digital spectaculars.

Digital Billboards

Digital billboards are probably the first thing that popped into your head when you thought about what digital out-of-home marketing might entail. That is simply because this is the most common DOOH platform.

Billboards are everywhere. On the sides of buildings, next to highways and interstates, and even around sports stadiums. Having an ad on a digital billboard can really grab people’s attention if you do it right.

Digital Advertising Trucks

Next up are digital advertising trucks. These are more common in bigger cities and locations that tend to experience heavy traffic. If you have never seen one before, you can think of it as a digital billboard on wheels. These are great because they often get a captive audience during rush hour in cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Digital Spectaculars

Lastly, digital spectaculars are the rarest form of DOOH, but at the same time, potentially the most effective. One primary example of this that everyone knows is Times Square in New York City. Times Square is a large hub of digital ads that has been featured in countless TV shows and movies. It is truly a great way to have your ad seen by thousands of people every day.

Tip #2: Know How To Buy

Once you have determined the platform for your DOOH ads, you will need to know how to buy them. It can be rather complicated as there are four main ways these types of ads are purchased.  
Programmatic Guaranteed

Programmatic guaranteed is a type of private auction that requires an invitation. This model for ad purchasing is often reserved for major corporations and big contenders.

Non-Programmatic Guaranteed

This method is somewhat grueling as it can often take a long time and a lot of effort to put together. Inventory is sold at a fixed CMP (cost-per-mile) rate, so it is usually a more direct route to take.

RTB

If you are looking for the most cost-effective form of DOOH platform purchasing, look no further. RTB, or real-time bidding, is auction-based and allows for competition between users and different advertisers. With additional inventory and capabilities, this is often a preferred method of purchasing.

Programmatic Direct  

You could probably tell by the name, but this is the most direct form of DOOH ad purchasing. With the programmatic direct method, the sales representatives and advertisers strike up a deal directly. Prices and inventory are usually on a case-by-case basis, based on a fixed CMP.

Tip #3: Location Is Key

Digital out-of-home media is all about location. If you want your ads to make the highest impact possible, you will need to research demographics that are likely to purchase your products or services and place ads in locations they frequent. This ensures that you use these ads to develop genuine customers who will be loyal.

Tip #4: Design to Target

Once you know your demographic and the location for your ads, it's time to start designing. During this phase, it is critical to not only make the catchiest ad. While you want it to be catchy and memorable, you want it to target your preferred demographics specifically.

Tip #5: Monitor the Success

Lastly, make sure that you monitor the success of your ad or lack thereof. If your ad is doing amazing in a certain location, you may want to place more ads like that in similar locations. If your ad is not doing great in one location, you may want to move it somewhere else. Monitoring your ad's success is tricky, but it can be done. And it ultimately helps you make smarter future decisions.

The Bottom Line

Digital out-of-home marketing is a great way to get your brand in front of the demographics that are likely to follow you. Just follow these tips and enjoy your new and improved DOOH ad campaign!