Out-of-home (OOH) advertising took a big hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns across the world.
OOH has for the past few years been the only form of traditional advertising that has maintained steady growth and the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on this.
The Digital Transformation
The digital transformation of OOH was already in process when the pandemic hit. The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of the medium. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies which in turn has brought about new opportunities for DOOH.
It is expected that the post-COVID-future of OOH is DOOH. The number of digital displays is increasing at a rapid pace and due to new technologies and signage solutions that also keeps customers’ safety in mind, new and bigger opportunities are becoming available for advertisers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the data-driven technological shift which brings about agility and speed and gives advertisers the ability to activate and change campaigns in real-time.
Bigger Opportunities
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new and bigger opportunities for DOOH. Programmatic advertisements in DOOH will continue allowing brands to reach audiences with personalised content and ensure brand engagement across multiple channels and devices.
Flexibility, speed, and context are some of the new bigger opportunities for DOOH with advertisers and brands being in the position to unlock new customers with data and technology. Changing consumer behaviours, like interests and preferences, as well as sentiment can be integrated with DOOH planning to identify locations and target the right customers. Creative messages can be optimized in real-time according to an audience, location and date and time.
Audience-Based Planning
By analysing consumers’ movement patterns and changing behaviours brands will be able to better understand their target audiences. This data and new technology can then be used to target other specific audiences and to measure the impact of campaigns. Audience profile segmentation gives advertisers new insight on different audiences in the same location to ensure that the right ads are delivered to the right audience.
Advertisers can embrace the technological advances by focusing on specific audiences and using insights obtained by data to find and target the right audiences in efficient and cost-effective manners. Brands can reach audiences with personalised content in different environments at the right time and place. With the use of cross-channel strategies, brands can maximise their reach and retarget customers.
