Are you new to Outdoor Advertising? Unsure of the value that outdoor advertising can provide your brand? Here’s a beginner’s guide, giving you all the information about why OOH is incredibly effective in a city like Chicago, and how you can begin to implement OOH in your marketing strategy.
Why OOH?
In the Information Era, billboards might seem too traditional. They seem like a thing from the past, lagging behind the current technology. This could not be further from the truth.
First, there’s the obvious difference between outdoor advertising and other forms of advertising: outdoor advertising reaches your audience while they’re outside. Sure, TV and online ads can reach audiences while they’re at home, but the reality is people are much more likely to make purchasing decisions when they’re out, encountering brands and products in real life.
Other differences between different advertising media and OOH point out the most important aspect—OOH is the most cost-effective medium, especially when paired with another medium like online advertising. Advertising is all about making more money in the long run. Whatever your current goal is—increasing brand awareness, increasing foot traffic, promoting a new product—your long-term goal is to generate more revenue. This becomes difficult when you’re spending a substantial part of your budget on advertising.
Chicago commuter advertising is a great way to reach your audience throughout the city. Commuters passing through major hubs or on highways are exposed to your message consistently, providing lasting impressions and higher brand recall.
High Return on Investment
With OOH, you’ll be generating more revenue than with any other advertising medium: for every $1 you spend, you can expect to make $2.80. But this isn’t the only metric that’s worth looking at; with OOH, your reach will also increase. Online ads can cost up to $17 per thousand impressions, whereas OOH costs between $3 and $8. By saving money with your advertising, you’ll have more flexibility with your budget to invest in other aspects of your business.
And, as if we need more reasons to pick OOH, outdoor formats are also embracing technology. Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is soaring across big cities in the US and the world. You’ve probably seen a digital billboard without knowing it. Furthermore, auditing technology like Geopath ensures you’re getting accurate data about impressions. When you’re told you got 1000 impressions, you’ll know that number was not inflated.
Why This Tech CEO Loves OOH
The startup company Brex utilized billboards in order to keep customer acquisition cost down. They found that social media is often overpriced compared to OOH formats. Their CEO said it more clearly: “it was the best investment because it got us lots of customers”. He “didn’t even get a 1/10th of the customers” from social as he did from OOH.
Who is OOH For?
OOH is great for every single industry out there. From Big Tech to small businesses, OOH can help you further your marketing goals and can be tailored to your budget.
Hospitals, for instance, benefit from community advertising and awareness. Advertising to an entire city like Chicago might not benefit a hospital that should only be focused on reaching and treating those in their neighborhood.
OOH can also help many other industries like higher education, attorneys, and small businesses. Any marketing campaign will need to reach people, and many other media don’t have the ability to reach people, day and night, with repeated coverage. With OOH, you can.
OOH deals in location, and another industry that focuses highly on location is real estate. For real estate agents, outdoor advertising is almost an extension of their existing marketing efforts, like “for sale” signs. If you need exposure in specific areas of the city, OOH is the best way to reach the neighborhoods in which you want to build awareness.
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How It’s Done
There are also more than just billboards out there. OOH is a diverse world of formats made to help you fulfill different strategic goals.
Formats
HotSpots are our bestsellers, mainly because they are so versatile. They’re not super large, which makes them more affordable, so there’s usually more in the budget to cover several spots and reach more of your audience. Wild Postings are similar—eye-level spots that account for more space for creative if needed.
When you want to make a big impact, Bus Wraps are the way to go. It’s difficult to ignore a bus that doesn’t look like your run-of-the-mill CTA transit, and you’d be reaching the staggering millions of people who ride or pass by buses in Chicago on a daily basis. Wallscapes are also perfect if you’re looking to make a big and bold impression.
For expanded coverage, try Street Furniture. It works to expand your Chicago coverage into the suburbs, an often-overlooked part of the Chicago DMA. Street furniture also helps increase frequency, exhibiting your brand to commuters throughout their journey from home to work and vice versa.
Each format has its benefits, so it all depends on your goals and your strategy. However, all OOH formats share their hyper-local approach. Whether you want to target a specific demographic, or you need to create a constant reminder of your brand, OOH is versatile and can be molded to fit your needs.
Creative
The size of OOH is a big draw, along with the design possibilities that can enhance your brand in ways other formats can’t.
In order to give your brand that wow factor, you need good creative design. There are many ways to attract your audience, but having a compelling design often requires messaging brevity and focusing on one image.
As we say: Creative is make or break. If you do everything else right and your creative design is stellar, there’s nothing holding you back from reaching your advertising goals.
How to Integrate With Existing Efforts
We’re not here to tell you OOH is the one and only solution to your marketing objectives. Of course, there are benefits to integrating OOH with other advertising media like digital ads. The best-kept secret is this: OOH increases the effectiveness of your digital strategies.
Facebook Ads, for instance, work incredibly well with OOH. Younger people are more likely to take a Facebook ad seriously if they’ve seen the brand on OOH. One study found that almost 40% of people who saw an OOH ad interacted with the brand on Facebook. If you’re only using Facebook (or any other form of digital advertisements), you’re missing out on the potential to boost the effects of your campaign.
It’s not just the digital strategies—OOH increases the effectiveness of any other advertising media. The reason for this is that OOH reaches audiences when they are most likely to make purchasing decisions. And, unlike with digital ads, OOH can’t be turned off or swiped away. They remain in place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, working overtime to help you achieve your goals.
Budget & Pricing
As mentioned above, OOH is one of the most cost-effective advertising media. You’ll spend less and get more out of it, especially if you integrate your OOH campaign with digital strategies. So, how much do billboards cost?
OOH is priced by location, quantity, and timing. There are certain locations that cost more than others due to the amount of traffic and the types of audiences that frequent those locations. Then, the more ad spots you request, the better deal you’ll receive, just like buying a product in bulk. Often, it’s better to spend a little more and get a package because the return on your investment will be higher. Finally, timing is an important factor as well. You can’t compare downtown Chicago in the summer with the same location in the winter. Furthermore, ad spots might be in high demand during certain times of the year, so price might fluctuate depending on these factors.
We work with every client to create a package they feel comfortable with. For some businesses, we create one or two ad sports in the neighborhood of their choice. For others, we blanket the entire DMA with their branding. It’s all up to you, and we are flexible and customer-oriented. We want to achieve the results you seek.
Next Steps
OOH can help you advertise the way you want to. You can set your budget, target specific demographics, and have creative freedom.
Billboard cost in Chicago varies based on location and timing, but it is highly customizable to fit your budget while maximizing visibility for your brand.
Due to COVID-19, we are offering free consultations to help businesses navigate this truly unique situation and the ever changing marketing landscape. During this meeting, we can discuss the strategies you are currently using and how OOH can help enhance those pre-existing strategies.
We can help you create an effective campaign that will help you achieve your advertising goals. Contact one of our account executives today to get started.