Out Of Home (OHH) Outdoor Advertising Vs Facebook Google Digital Advertising

The sign, graphics, and visual communications industry are poised for continued above-average growth in 2018.  Growth in all segments is forecasted to continue above trend through the end of 2018.  For suppliers into the printing industry, the positive outlook from 2017 will carry through into 2018 without taking much of a hit.  Public spaces will grow further as out-of-home (DOOH) advertising sales continue to drive growth in advertising revenue.

No matter how companies do it, advertising remains one of the most important aspects of a business.  However, advertising has evolved so much over the past decades that it has become nearly impossible for businesses to keep up.  From simple posters to giant billboards to taking your ads into the online realm, advertising continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Advertising boomed during the 19^th century and the most common mediums used were newspapers ads. However, it was in the mid-1800s where the idea of the billboard was born. Billboards and other out of home advertising (OOH) became the go-to choice when it came to advertising. It helped people pick out which soda they wanted and even convinced men to sign up for wars.

However, the success of the Internet opened new frontiers for advertising. The sheer online audience was too juicy for companies to ignore. Google and Social Media like Facebook, Linked In, and Instagram made sure that people would devote a huge chunk of their time online. As a result, the Internet also became a place of commerce and along with it came advertising.

While the Internet is fast becoming the choice of companies for advertising their wares, OOH advertising still remains a popular and effective medium. As these two types of advertising medium fight for supremacy, companies are left with the gargantuan task of finding out which is better between digital advertising and OOH advertising.

Before going any further, let us first define the two terms in a much detailed manner.

What is Facebook Google Digital Advertising?

Digital advertising is when companies use the internet to showcase promotional materials to consumers. Common tools used in digital advertising are e-mail, Facebook social media sites, Google search engine ads, and Google online banner ads.

However, since the Internet is a relatively young invention, Facebook Google digital advertising is a continuously evolving product. Today, companies are already dabbling in the use of chatbots and virtual reality for their advertising needs.

What is Out of Home Advertising (OOH)

OOH is defined as any advertising material shown outdoors that promotes a business. Common tools and spots used for OOH are billboards, benches, vehicles, and walls. OOH also includes newer advertising tactics like flash mobs and digital billboards.

Now that we have a clearer view regarding this two types of advertising, it is now time to learn more about when you should use OOH and Digital advertising. Which one should you use?

Where are Wide Format Print Deals?

The restaurant and food services industry has a huge appetite for investing in digitally printed wide-format graphics to drive sales, generate awareness, promote services, and create ambiance.

The entertainment and amusement industry invests heavily in digitally printed wide-format graphics to promote attractions, create experiences, generate awareness, and drive sales.

Advertising agencies invest heavily in digitally-printed wide format graphics to engage audiences, trigger action by those audiences, and build brands.

Retailers invest heavily in digitally printed signs, point-of-purchase displays, banners, shelf talkers, floor graphics, and more. The retail industry is a top growth market for digitally printed wide format graphics.

The franchise market offers solid and vast opportunities for selling communication products and services. Print products are an important component in supporting a franchise operations business and their marketing goals.

This financial services industry offers big opportunities to market a wide variety of print products and services. The industry encompasses a broad mix of entities that include commercial banks, investment banks, credit unions, financial advisors, credit card companies, and stock brokerages. All of these firms require print and promotional products to drive operations and sales.

Healthcare is one of the world's fastest-growing industries, absorbing over 10% of the gross domestic product within the most developed nations. The healthcare industry is a vital force in treating, diagnosing, curing, and preventing illness. Its success on all four fronts depends on efficient operations, cost control, and solid communication channels to educate customers, drive new business, and fund operations.

The hospitality industry is one of the largest services industries and is made up of a number of interrelated businesses that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise lines, and additional fields within the tourism industry. Selling and managing hospitality and travel products and services is a communication intensive process.

The education market invests heavily in communications products and offers big opportunities to sell a variety of digitally printed products. The market is a leader in integrating print with digital media such as online and mobile; it is also a market investing in Web-enabled workflows to drive efficiency. Understanding a market’s dynamics is a critical step to developing successful communication products and services.

Wide format prints are a perfect fit for fleet or transit graphics.  This is the least tapped market segment and promises huge amounts of unceasing and repetitive printing.

Is OOH right for me?

While most companies are quickly transitioning from traditional to digital advertising, it might be wise to step on the brakes and reassess your strategy. According to Ad Age, OOH advertising is the only form of traditional media to get a bump in terms of sales.

And there is a good reason for companies to still patronize OOH. While it is true that this type of advertising has been overshadowed by the digital kind, there is still some merit that OOH can give to businesses. Outdoor advertising still has a huge audience – Bus bench advertising in cities like Los Angeles, for instance, can still command an audience of 35000 to 50000 people per day.

How Out-Of-Home (OOH) or Outdoor advertising is moving beyond awareness.  Outdoor advertising is not just a vehicle for raising awareness, it can also drive purchase consideration and intent, and be used to communicate brand positioning.

The scale, viewability and dramatic effect of outdoor advertising helps marketers create cut-through and capture consumer attention in a world where other messages struggle to get through.

Less appreciated is the variety of marketing objectives it can achieve.  As brands have shown recently, outdoor has applications at different stages of the purchase funnel and can execute on several elements of a marketing strategy.

The objective of outdoor is not to go viral on social, it’s to build awareness and increase engagement.

Outdoor not only gives scale, it helps brands connect with audiences.

In a world of Facebook Google digital advertising, social media and high-profile TV slots, outdoor advertising offers the scale and theatricality to drive not just mass awareness but also the consideration and intent to purchase.

Conclusion

It would be a big mistake to ignore OOH advertising completely. If done well, OOH advertising could still be effective depending on the needs of your business. People still spend 70% of their times outdoors and there are still some advertising opportunities that you should not miss there. So it would highly depend on the needs of your business. OOH advertising is still effective to those seeking long-term brand awareness and targeted results (i.e. car owners for billboards).

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Sincerely,

Sam Leong, BSc. MSc. MBA.

CEO SAM★INK® WhatsApp +65 9011-2282.