Over the last two years, consumer behaviour has evolved in ways that no one could have predicted—adapting to new parts of day-to-day life, such as hybrid working methods, changes in how we shop online and consume digital media, and fluctuations in both indoor and outdoor advertising trends.

Audiences are becoming wary of the constant bombardment of digital advertising methods competing for their attention. This has spurred the need for innovative and relevant strategies as the world emerges from isolation and Out Of Home Advertising Advertising makes its comeback.

Discover how OOH Advertising Trends for 2022 will unfold.

Embracing Digital Advertising

Digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH) has gained popularity in recent years, and for good reason. The digital transition of out-of-home advertising will continue to accelerate in 2022. Digital advertising provides more flexibility by allowing you to start and stop campaigns with the click of a button, as well as providing dynamic content in real-time.

Digital billboards are considerably easier to transport to different sites. And, with digital displays, various adverts may be broadcast on the same screen throughout the day. This increases the profitability and earning potential for billboards, allowing advertisers to assign multiple time slots to different display ads.

An Increased Focus On Data And Key Performance Indicators

Given the world’s unpredictability in recent years, 2022 will be a year for OOH advertisers to concentrate more on collecting and analysing data. As a result, the ability to provide real-time figures on Key Performance Indicators will be a critical component of a successful business strategy.

With better real-time data, companies will be equipped with precise information to target a particular audience and demographic with both conventional and digital out-of-home advertising methods, ensuring that they do not spend part of the advertising budget on an audience they are not attempting to reach, and instead secure a solid Return On Investment.

Taking Responsibility For Environmental Sustainability

All indicators suggest that environmental consciousness and sustainability are more prominent in the minds of individuals and businesses now than they were before the pandemic. As a result, brands will continue to explore methods to decrease waste, rethink their manufacturing processes, and be more transparent about how their business decisions will impact communities.

Modern technologies offer ways to improve the way billboards are designed and manufactured using materials that are more environmentally friendly and to utilise products that reduce the carbon footprints in various industries.

In the OOH advertising sector, eco-friendly power generation solutions are constantly emerging. Technologies exist that enable the Harnessing solar power technology to meet the electricity needs of a digital building or even the power needs of a building where a billboard is placed. Going forward, brands need to focus their efforts towards environmental responsibility in every aspect of business and industry.

Creating A Compelling Narrative

When it comes to successful marketing campaigns, brands have long understood the importance of a great narrative. In other cases, though, they are so focused on delivering a single message that they fail to see the need of creating a history to go along with it.

With the constant influx of new brands entering the market, businesses will need to focus more on conveying a compelling narrative via their advertising in 2022. Telling a story that excites and creates a buzz surrounding advertising campaigns is the best way to drive audience engagement and word of mouth.

Outdoor advertising will have great potential for storytelling in advertising campaigns; if brands only present a portion of the storyline at a time, viewers are left wanting to know what happens next.

A History Of Billboard Advertising: From Printable Flyers To Modern Day Digital Outdoor Advertising

The history of outdoor advertising is fascinating. Since the days of stonemasons engraving store signs, the industry has made great strides. The following is a collection of some notable instances that impacted the modern outdoor advertising landscape and contributed to the development of the outdoor art form and onward to the growing trend of digital outdoor advertising.

The Invention Of Outdoor Advertising

Johannes Gutenberg pioneered movable type printing in 1450, which resulted in the first-ever advertisement piece. Initially, starting as flyers and onward towards illustrated posters in 1796, outdoor advertising continued to evolve as the lithographic process was refined, becoming more like the billboards we see today.

Laying The Foundation For Billboard Advertising As We Know It

When advertising icon Jared Bell understood that a large scale poster was the ideal method to promote the circus’ larger-than-life attractions to New Yorkers in the early 1800s, he created the first known billboard. As a result, the circus was a massive success, and the foundation for modern-day billboard advertising had been laid.

The Growing Need For Billboards With The Development Of City Infrastructure

Billboard advertising became more popular in the early twentieth century due to the rising use of motor vehicles and highway and road infrastructure development. As a result, vehicle retailers, hotel establishments and roadside eateries would purchase or lease billboards to attract new consumers.

Billboard advertising became widely used in developing towns and cities to persuade travellers to spend some time exploring their surroundings before continuing on their journey. As a result of the success of these billboards, a new sector of the advertising business was born, as companies sought better and more visually appealing adverts to tempt passing travellers to stop and spend their hard-earned money.

Digital Technology Leading Billboard Advertising Into The Future

With the advancement in digital technology, hand-painted billboards soon became replaced by computer designed and generated imagery. The 90s saw a rise in digital place-based advertising, and by 2003 about 2% of outdoor advertising mediums consisted of digital displays; by 2010, that figure had climbed to more than 10%, and today it is significantly higher.

The first digital billboard appeared in 2005 and was a spinoff of conventional outdoor advertising choices and digital place-based screens. Advertisers realised that they could distribute interactive video content to a broader audience.

Innovation Will Take Outdoor Advertising Firmly Into The Future

Marketers now use digital billboards to create advertisements that can be readily changed and shown in real-time. This enables them to reach a wider audience with more than one advert or message. Digital outdoor advertising continues to evolve with the implementation of solar and wind power technologies, now used to power displays and with a very innovative concept, using billboards combined with solar technology to power the buildings in which they are placed.

Thanks to improved data collection and analytics reporting, hyper-targeted digital advertisements have been made possible. In addition, innovative brands are finding ways to enhance consumers’ digital outdoor advertising experience by combining it with virtual and augmented reality.

The evolution of billboards and the progress of civilisation really do go hand in hand – with the constant development of technologies and trends, the industry’s future promises to be as fascinating as its history.