This latest study from The Nielsen Company shows a lot of important insights when it comes to the effectiveness of billboard advertising. What are the latest numbers telling us about out-of-home advertising?
Billboard Engagement
The recent numbers have shown an amazing trend towards engagement with OOH media with 40% of viewers being “highly engaged” with the messaging they see on billboards or other outdoor advertising. The Nielsen study showed that 81% of people who noticed an ad engaged with the messaging in some way. Of all out-of-home media formats, billboards come out on top in terms of engagement. This format has 85% of viewers engaging with the advertisement at least some of the time.
BRAND ACTION
Noticing an advertisement is good as a minimum standard, but what action are audiences taking?
The study shows that OOH is effective in driving immediate action. For example 39% of those surveyed said they noticed a directional ad (like a billboard on a highway), with 20% of those going immediately (within 30 minutes) to the business advertised, and 74% making a purchase.
In terms of driving traffic, OOH was shown effective for broad range of sectors with movie theaters and restaurants leading the way, with more than 25% of respondents say they went to a restaurant or saw a movie after seeing an out-of-home advertisement.
Online Activation Is Strong
While billboard advertising was shown to be very effective in the real world, its effectiveness in driving brand action online is even more compelling with staggering a 42% of those surveyed doing a web search of a brand based on messaging they saw on a billboard or other out-of-home ad. In an age when marketers employ a vast array of SEO strategies to improve search engine results, simple billboard advertising is shown to be very effective and driving search activity.
Beyond just online search, the study found the OOH was successful in driving multiple forms of online activation (visiting websites, facebook pages, downloading apps, and posting photos to social media). In all, 66% of those surveyed engage in some type of activation with a brand after seeing their advertisement.
This is something that tech companies have realized for a long time, with many of the biggest names in the technology sector investing heavily in outdoor advertising as part of their marketing mix.
Many businesses today are following the crowd and allocating too many marketing dollars into overpriced online advertising costs. Many are making the mistake of over-valuing tracking and under-valuing results. There are many reasons why billboard advertising is worth the cost.
Speak with one of our experts today who is up-to-date on the latest in billboard and outdoor advertising. We will help you determine the best strategy for your business and which ad format will produce you the best results.
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