Seize the Season: Combining Audience & Proximity Targeting in OOH Campaigns

The holiday season is upon us, and brands are vying for consumers’ attention during this bustling time. In 2024, the stakes are higher than ever, with 92% of Americans planning to shop this season—a six-million increase from last year and the highest participation rate since 2019. What’s more, over 80% of retail sales are expected to happen in-person, signaling a promising season for retailers.

However, amidst the noise of holiday marketing, the challenge lies in cutting through the clutter to influence consumers' wish lists effectively. Sticking to outdated holiday strategies won’t deliver the desired results. To capture a larger share of the holiday spend, marketers need a fresh approach to planning Out of Home (OOH) advertising campaigns.

Recent research from Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) highlights the importance of combining proximity targeting with audience-centric planning to optimize OOH campaigns. Here’s why this strategy is essential for holiday success and how it can make this season unforgettable for your brand.

Benchmarking Miles Traveled: Connecting with Consumers Everywhere

A cornerstone of successful OOH campaigns is understanding consumer travel patterns. CCO’s analysis reveals that while proximity targeting effectively reaches consumers within five miles of their home, it’s not enough to drive maximum performance.

Consumers often travel beyond their immediate neighborhoods for work, leisure, and shopping. Relying solely on proximity targeting misses the broader advertising goal: attracting new customers and expanding your business.

By extending a campaign’s reach and targeting specific demographics based on behaviors, preferences, and lifestyles, advertisers can engage the remaining 50% of potential consumers who travel farther. This approach leverages demographic precision and behavioral insights to ensure your message reaches the most interested audiences, even if they’re not near your physical location.

With 42% of adults reporting that OOH ads influence their in-person purchase decisions, audience-based targeting enhances the ability to guide consumers’ choices as they move through their daily routines.

Optimizing Audience Reach: A Case Study

To illustrate the benefits of combining proximity and audience-based targeting, consider a rapidly growing health-focused quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The brand partnered with CCO to launch a proximity-targeted campaign within five miles of their 20 new locations, generating nearly 19 million impressions in eight weeks and achieving a +5.3% lift in visits. However, an analysis revealed that more than 50% of visitors traveled over five miles to reach the stores.

For future campaigns, the brand could expand its targeting to include audiences such as gym-goers, fitness enthusiasts, or health-conscious consumers. While proximity targeting remains essential for reaching hyper-local audiences, incorporating audience-based strategies unlocks untapped potential and drives greater results.

Tying It All Together: The Power of Dual Targeting

The key to maximizing the impact of OOH advertising lies in blending proximity targeting with audience-based strategies. This dual approach ensures that campaigns are both hyper-local and broad-reaching, capturing consumers near and far while aligning with their behaviors and preferences.

With tools like CCO’s RADARView, brands can seamlessly implement this strategy, making audience planning more accessible than ever. As more agencies adopt audience-centric data, leveraging these insights will be crucial for holiday campaigns.

The holiday rush is no time for outdated strategies. Forward-thinking brands are embracing OOH’s innovative capabilities to cut through the chaos, deliver impactful messaging, and influence holiday shopping behavior.

Make the Holidays Count

This season, smart marketers should leverage the latest in OOH to turn the holidays into a long-term opportunity. By combining proximity and audience targeting, your brand can build meaningful connections, drive holiday sales, and create campaigns that truly stand out.

Discover how OOH advertising can be the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season.

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