Proving ROI on Out-of-Home Advertising Campaigns

How to Prove ROI on Out-of-Home Campaigns

Do you have targets to hit by the end of the year? Are you interested in Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising but concerned you won’t be able to prove the impact of your marketing dollars on your company’s bottom line?

OOH advertising offers broad reach and high brand visibility—a powerful boost for your campaigns—but how can you demonstrate that your OOH strategy drives results?

Some advertisers hesitate to invest in OOH because ROI isn't as straightforward as digital marketing. However, with online channels showing diminishing returns and consumers increasingly fatigued by digital ads on their phones, TVs, and computers, the appeal of OOH is growing. Tracking impressions and conversions in OOH may not be as direct as online channels, but it is possible.

In this article, you’ll learn how to prove ROI on your OOH campaigns, discover useful tools, and explore best practices and key metrics.

How to Ensure an Effective OOH Campaign

Creating an effective campaign with measurable results involves several steps in the planning process. You need to define your goals, identify how you’ll reach them, decide on the metrics to measure success, and determine how to identify what is and isn't working. Here’s what to consider when planning your campaign:

• Define Your Goals: Set clear, measurable objectives. Common goals include increasing brand awareness, website traffic, in-store visits, and lead generation.

• Be Specific: While you may have an overarching objective, break it down into specific goals that consider the customer journey. For example, once customers reach your online channels, what action do you want them to take? Engagement goals help track and measure success.

• Messaging: Incorporate incentives or promotions, such as limited-time offers or discount codes, to encourage action, while following OOH best practices.

• Determine Metrics: What metrics will show you're making progress? Are these metrics directly tied to your goals, and is there a clear cause-and-effect relationship?

• Leverage Past Campaigns: If you’ve run similar OOH campaigns in the past, use those insights to guide your current strategy. Before launching, ensure you have specific, measurable objectives, whether to increase brand awareness, drive foot traffic, or boost sales.

• Invest Appropriately: Look to your OOH Media Experts to guide your investment in the right mix of OOH media formats at heavy enough media weight levels to ensure effective campaign performance.

How to Measure OOH Advertising ROI

Accurate measurement of OOH advertising is key to knowing if your investment is paying off. Beyond simply counting views, you need to connect those numbers to consumer behavior and campaign results. Understanding the reach and impact of billboards, bus wraps, and digital displays helps refine your strategy and optimize spending.

Key Metrics for OOH Advertising:

• Impressions: The total number of times your ad is likely to be seen during a campaign. This refers to overall views, not individual viewers.

• Reach: The number of people or the percentage of the market your campaign reaches.

• Frequency: How many times, on average, individuals see your advertisement. Marketing best practices suggest multiple touchpoints to ensure viewers remember your message.

• Engagement: Does your ad include interactive elements like QR codes, social media handles, or hashtags? Did the ad gain traction on social media?

• Conversion Rates: The number of people who took the desired action on your ad—whether it’s subscriptions, sales, or form fills.

• Sales, Store Visits, or Website Lift: While direct attribution may be difficult, a noticeable lift in sales, foot traffic, or web traffic during or after your campaign often signals OOH success.

• Overall Impact: Broad business objectives, such as revenue growth or new customer acquisition, may be influenced by OOH campaigns. Analyze results before, during, and after the campaign to get the full picture.

OOH advertisers can also gauge brand sentiment. For instance, Blue Apron saw subscriptions increase by 29% using branded trains and platform posters in diverse city centers. By conducting pre- and post-campaign surveys, they were also able to see an increase in brand sentiment as a result of the campaign.

OOH Advertising Methods and Tools

While measuring OOH is not always as direct as online channels, tools and methods exist to track effectiveness. Here are a few:

• Scannable Ads: QR Codes and NFC Technology allow for contactless interaction that can lead audiences directly to online content, which can easily be measured.

• Geofencing: Location-based technology that triggers mobile ads or notifications when a consumer is near your OOH ads.

• Jambox Devices: Track real-time foot traffic and ad exposure by detecting mobile devices near your ad locations.

• Verified Exposure: Eye-tracking technology and surveys can confirm whether people are truly seeing and interacting with your ads. You can also use tools like multi-sensory tracking, WiFi, and Bluetooth to capture data on how consumers interact with your ads.

• Before and After Method: Compare sales or behavior before and after the campaign to see how OOH ads influence customer actions.

• Attribution Models: Attribution helps you determine which touchpoints in a customer’s journey led to a conversion. Multi-touch attribution assigns value to your OOH campaign as part of a broader marketing mix. Following the customer journey helps to better understand OOH’s role in driving results.

• Surveys and Focus Groups: Surveys or focus groups can give you qualitative information about the overall perception of your brand or a campaign as well as recall and purchase intent.

• Compare Costs to Revenue: Compare your cost per impression to your cost per acquisition. This can help you prove that your campaign is cost-effective and that the benefits of OOH outweigh the costs.

Advertisers can use OOH to test new markets ahead of a brand event. For example, Naadam conducted a test campaign in key markets before the official launch of its spring collection. Attribution studies showed that OOH exposure resulted in 350% higher conversion rates. The data gave them the peace of mind to move forward with the OOH campaign with a couple of tweaks to optimize results.

Conclusion

Proving ROI on Out-of-Home advertising campaigns is entirely possible, and the tools to do so are more accessible than ever. By setting clear goals, selecting appropriate metrics, and leveraging modern technologies, you can show that your OOH campaigns are not only effective but also drive measurable results for your business. By understanding and applying these practices, you can make informed decisions that ensure your OOH investment pays off.