Let’s start with the obvious question. What is out of home advertising or OOH? OOH is a broad term, encompassing any type of advertising where brands interact with potential customers outside their homes. This includes billboards, point of sale displays, bus or street signage, and guerrilla or grassroots marketing events — to name a few.
Unlike many emerging digital trends, which focus on highly customized, targeted campaigns, OOH marketing uses broad with mass appeal to attract large swaths of potential customers. Destination marketing efforts focused on communities or destinations are ideal candidates for this tactic because they may attract a variety of market segments and personalities.
Why OOH is great for destination marketing:
Imagine yourself living in New York in the dead of winter. There is a foot of slushy snow and an icy breeze biting at your heels as you enter the subway. You sit down, look up, and there are pictures of Florida’s sunny shores beckoning from the subway walls. Visit St. Pete-Clearwater has captured hearts and minds (and wallets) of New Yorkers for close to half a decade using this visceral, out of home strategy.
The ads are generic, with tag lines such as, “Feel It,” “Craft It,” “Live It,” “Love It,” allowing a wide variety of viewers to connect with the ad at once. Calls to action included website links, text message prompts, social media, and even a sweepstakes opportunity. Potential travelers could interact with this destination marketing campaign in a variety of ways, ultimately leading to a booking. This is the quintessential picture of how and why OOH campaigns are ideal for destination marketing. When done correctly, they can reach a wide variety of customers by appealing to a shared emotion. In this example, it’s a desire to get out of the cold New York snow. Regardless of your vacation style preferences, this universal need resonates.
Taking out of home marketing to the next level:
A key to keeping out of home advertising relevant is successfully connecting it to your brand’s digital ecosystem. In addition to linking back to your website and social media accounts, consider taking advantage of digital signage or beacon-based marketing opportunities that give the illusion of a more personalized OOH experience. Today’s digital signs can update and optimize content in real-time, giving marketers more nuanced control over their out of home experiences than ever before.
When linked with CRM data, social media, or other analytic triggers (such as weather conditions or traffic patterns), out of home marketing is also primed to become a critical direct response tool to encourage on-demand booking. Virtual payment options such as Apple Pay, PayPal, and payment via Twitter can all enable instant bookings as customers interact with your brand on the go. This eliminates one of the major hurdles of OOH marketing, which is the “cooling period” prospective customers experience between the time they see your out of home trigger and when they are able to research your destination and make booking decisions.
Let us help you craft an out of home destination marketing campaign that will capture travelers’ imagination and encourage them to explore your venue and engage with your omni-channel strategy for a unified and immersive marketing experience. OOH marketing is often a low-cost, high-impact opportunity within the travel industry and a great way to build brand awareness. We have worked with brands like yours to transform the travel industry, check out our website to learn more about our services and contact information.
