Atlanta tops the charts when it comes to the number of miles it takes for local commuters to get to and from work. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it’s a 12.8-mile commute for local drivers, on average. This beats out bustling metros like Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville and Detroit. It also means Atlanta commuters are often in their cars for longer than most. While not necessarily a favorable statistic for those going to and from work, this information is beneficial to businesses looking to utilize out-of-home or OOH advertising and under stand the effectiveness of out-of-home advertising.

Commute time and distance travelled combine to help establish the reach of OOH advertising. With more commuters on the road now than ever before, there’s a bigger audience spending more time exposed to your billboards, posters, or transit pieces. More exposure increases the effectiveness of OOH advertising based on existing information related to who’s seeing your ads.

Maximizing reach

According to a recent Nielsen OOH Study, OOH advertising reaches 90 percent of US travelers over 16 each month. Eighty-one percent of adults notice at least one billboard within a month, and 55 percent notice a digital billboard. Taking into account the number of travelers in the Atlanta area, that’s a significant number of views.

Taking notice doesn’t equal engagement though, so additional statistics were collected for more detail. Whether or not people are seeing your OOH ad is the primary element to engagement. Someone could know a billboard is there, but are they reading what’s on it? According to Nielsen, 85 percent of people who saw a billboard noticed the ad message as well. This is important as studies have begun to demonstrate that the medium can drive short-term metrics like sales in addition to long-term factors like brand awareness. There’s a, “clearly identifiable correlation between out-of-home advertising and consumers’ online interactions with brands,” says Jonathan Bacon of MarketingWeek. Another example of the effectiveness of out-of-home advertising.

Getting noticed

While billboards are the most common advertising pieces associated with OOH, and the most numerous, it’s not all the medium has to offer. Traditional, print billboards top the list of what commuters notice most on a monthly basis, but digital billboards and posters aren’t far behind. Seventy-eight percent of people notice ads in other areas of OOH advertising such as:

• Airports
• Railways
• Subways
• Busses
• Taxis
• Wrapped vehicles

Getting seen, regardless of the medium you select for your ad is what leads to consumer follow-through. The more your OOH advertising piece is seen, the higher your chances are for some action being taken on your marketing message. You’re also effectively building brand awareness through this visibility. If you want to be successful you need to focus on the effectiveness of out-of-home advertising.

Looking around

Establishing that being seen is integral to OOH advertising effectiveness, the next step is to decide where to put your ad. You can’t go wrong with a billboard on a busy highway or main road. An unobstructed view with a location close enough to the road to for easy reading by someone zooming past in their car is also essential. 

When tapping into the commuter audience, a well-placed billboard can be seen by the same person every day on their way to or from work. This repeated exposure helps embed your marketing message and gives the commuter an increased comfort-level with your brand. It becomes familiar. 

When they’re not driving around, people are more inclined to notice advertising at:

• Movie theaters
• Shopping malls
• Bus shelters

Additionally, advertising placed at street level also gets noticed more often by non-drivers. If you target a busy area of town, like downtown Atlanta, you can attract an audience composed of people on foot as well as people taking advantage of public transportation. Using this data, one ad piece can appeal to two audience segments for a positive return. Two audiences means you are likely getting effectiveness of out-of-home advertising.

Measuring effectiveness

Calculating a return on your investment happens after you’ve strategically placed your ad in the right spot through the right OOH medium. According to AdWeek, OOH delivers the highest ROI of any media format, with a $5.97 return for every $1.00 spent. This is because consumers see your ad and react to it, either by going online and engaging with your brand or visiting a brick and mortar location. According to Nielsen:

66 percent of people take some sort of action on their smartphone after seeing an OOH ad. This includes a search for the brand online or actually making a purchase through an online store.

74 percent of people who visit a business after seeing a directional OOH ad made a purchase. These are particular billboards that tell you to turn here or exit there to get to the business’ location.

The question isn’t, “Is out-of-home advertising effective?” Based on this collection of data, what you should be asking is, “How can I get OOH advertising working for me?”

With years of experience in the OOH advertising industry, Effortless Outdoor Media can help you find the answers to this important question. From recommending an OOH strategy tailored to your business’ needs to locating the right billboards and outdoor advertising spots for you to assisting with design, EOM provides a complete package of services to help you establish an effective outdoor advertising campaign.

For the best billboard and outdoor advertisement prices, placement and service contact us now at info@effortlessoutdoormedia.com and we will respond within 24 hours or less. We are the best billboard company in Atlanta.

Statistics and study summary provided by Billboard Insider.