If you’re looking to expand your brand’s presence, achieve immense numbers of visibility, or turn a profit, out-of-home (OOH) advertising is the perfect way to achieve all of your goals.

Billboard Advertising 101

From attention-commanding billboards, dazzling digital displays, and even swiftly passing bus ads, OOH accesses unimaginable advantages and will take your brand from the foundational level to being sprawled against behemoths of architecture.

We’ve compiled three tried-and-true beginner OOH plans to allow you to break into the OOH advertising field with simple, easily digestible, and powerful strategies to bring your hopes and dreams of business success into reality.

Plan 1: The “Test the Waters” Approach

Beginning with an introductory strategy, “testing the waters” allows you to dip your advertising toe into the OOH field and see how well it works for you.

Steps:

1. Concentrate On One Format: Start with traditional out-of-home advertising options such as a static billboard or bus stop ad to kick off your brand level-up.
2. Locate Your Target Audience: Do your research and find the place where your desired demographic spends the most time.
3. Run Your Ad: Craft a compelling message and design, then reserve your ad space in a high-traffic and high-visibility area.
4. Analyze & Expand: Monitor your key performance indicators (KPIs) (i.e., views, interactions, etc.) and further the campaign into related areas.

This plan will allow beginners to break into the OOH field to complement their advertising and marketing efforts. This is a low-risk and low-cost strategy that will serve to further your ad campaign and discover where and what your desired audience best relates to. 

After reviewing your introductory OOH ad, you can move forward and expand or re-group and change direction.

Plan 2: The “Well-Rounded Walter” Plan

More experienced OOH users will likely enjoy this plan, especially those looking to expand their reach and push a strong ad campaign into the advertising ether. 

The cost is higher for this campaign but is inclined to yield exponential growth and a positive return on investment (ROI). 

Balance is key for “Well-Rounded Walter,” reaching a multitude of audiences and building a strong presence online and in person. Your message will be seen by all, instilling deep awareness and recall in countless viewers.

Steps:

1. Diversify Your Message Mediums: Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. Run ads in varied formats and locations in order to reach a widespread and diverse audience (i.e., Bus ads, billboards, and wallscapes in New York, Chicago, and L.A.)
2. Define & Segment Audiences: This advertising strategy will be for a mass audience, so it is vital to research and find out exactly the general demographics you want to target in order to reach them directly and the locations most aligned with their lifestyles.
3. Integrate Social Media & Push Online Presence: The purpose of this plan is to cover all possible bases to create a well-rounded and balanced ad campaign. Pushing your message on social media will serve to reach this goal and hit diverse and valuable audiences, expanding your reach and visibility.
4. Review & Re-Group: Multiple formats mean there are several moving parts and active ads that must be monitored. Do consistent performance reviews and cut underachieving ads.
5. Revise: Test different locations, audiences, and formats, implementing new methods and tactics when necessary.

Plan 3: The “King of the Community” Method

If you’re a small business or established company in a local community hoping to make your mark, this is the method for you.

This plan is designed to target a local audience, focusing OOH efforts in a single community. You are sure to become a local celebrity in your community and be the go-to brand at first thought.

Steps:

1. Scope Out The Field: Find exactly where your target audience hangs out the most, frequented establishments and their related interests.
2. Use Eye-Level OOH: Local communities have many that traverse them by foot, meaning OOH that can easily be seen by human height is ideal (i.e., smaller billboards, bus bench ads, transit shelter advertisements, and even posted flyers).
3. Make a Connection: Relate your ads to the community by using local imagery, referencing relevant events, and showcasing why your nearby company is better than another one in the next town or city over.
4. Become a Community Pillar: Get into the local newspapers, position your OOH in key areas, and run long-term campaigns. Establish dominance and visual power, becoming synonymous with the local community.