Every year, as soon as the holiday season approaches, one thing is always sure: OOH inventory sells out fast!

Billboards can (and should) be booked months in advance, and if the placement is premium, it can disappear overnight.

The holidays cause spikes everywhere in demand, and premium, secondary, and even tertiary placements become extremely hot commodities. This occurs as a perfect storm forms from purchase-forward consumer behavior, increased travel, and brand competition.

If you want to make sure you’re early to the game next year, here’s why outdoor formats go fast and why it is vital that brands secure placements in advance.

Holiday Shoppers Are Everywhere

The holidays bring massive increases in daily movements and traveling as people are:

• Shopping more frequently
• Traveling to see family
• Attending events and gatherings
• Running errands before the New Year

This incredible surge in foot and vehicle traffic makes OOH visible to all and very difficult to ignore. There are a myriad of ways to reach larger and diverse audiences with billboards, transit ads, mall displays, and digital screens.

Competition Skyrockets Across Industries

The holidays are the most competitive season for:

With a ton more brands fighting for visibility, demand for premium OOH placements explodes! High-impact formats like airport digital displays, highway billboards, and city-center digital screens are often reserved months ahead because brands know outdoor ads capture attention like no other format during this peak spending season.

A Time-Sensitive Season

Holiday campaigns often operate on tight timelines. One missed week in November, a high-value month, can mean missing:

Because the holiday spending window is so short, advertisers bid aggressively for limited inventory. Once a premium placement is reserved, it’s gone for the entire season, which creates even higher demand and urgency.