Revolutionizing Programmatic Marketing: The Dynamic Shift of OOH in the Digital Era

Mayank Sagar, Associate Consultant, Data and Analytics, MiQ

Billboard advertisements have long been admired for their impactful presence and extensive reach. However, integrating billboard ads with online media poses a significant challenge for contemporary marketers. Billboards have not kept pace with the complexity of online advertising, lacking user targeting, seamless integration, and readily available success data.

For marketers seeking to craft unified campaigns and fully leverage Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, the disparity in efficiency between OOH and other mediums has emerged as a significant obstacle. Nowadays, advancements in technology enable the seamless collaboration of outdoor and digital advertising. This synergy introduces computer-like precision to outdoor advertising, incorporating robust features such as data analysis, linked displays, and automated purchasing.

Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising is emerging as a dominant force in the advertising landscape, gaining momentum with increased footfall post the conclusion of the pandemic in 2022. The market’s value reached approximately $23.24 billion in 2022, and there are expectations of a robust annual growth rate of 11.2%. Projections suggest that by 2029, the DOOH market could soar to a staggering $48.88 billion.

Additional research indicates the potential for even more substantial growth in the global DOOH market. In 2020, its value stood at $18.80 billion, but forecasts indicate a remarkable surge to $58.67 billion by 2031. The anticipated annual growth rate between 2022 and 2031 is estimated at 11.6%. These figures unmistakably illustrate the transformative impact of digital technology on outdoor advertising, positioning DOOH as an integral component of the global advertising landscape.

DOOH advertising has emerged as the latest trend, offering a more dynamic, interactive, and intelligent alternative to traditional OOH advertising. With digital screens and other cutting-edge technologies, DOOH has replaced the static nature of traditional OOH, bringing a livelier and more engaging experience for viewers.

DOOH brings with it real-time content updates, precise target aiming, and immersive experiences. The industry has witnessed a significant surge in the adoption of digital screens. The increased flexibility of screen ads has contributed to their enhanced success and engagement. This transformation marks a substantial shift, reshaping the interaction between advertisers and consumers by combining the broad reach of traditional ads with the precision targeting of digital ones.

Utilizing DOOH solutions can significantly benefit brands, fostering positive impacts on their business through the following strategies:

1. Cross-Channel Marketing Approach: Implementing a cross-channel strategy that synergizes with DOOH can elevate awareness, generate interest, and drive conversions.
2. Audience-Based Creative Targeting: Leveraging DOOH campaigns enables precise targeting based on audience demographics, ensuring more effective and tailored messaging.
3. Optimizing Spend and Budget Allocation: Achieve effective spend and budget distribution by evaluating performance and leveraging flexibility through pDOOH (out-of-home automation). pDOOH utilizes real-time computing for planning, purchasing, targeting, selling, delivering, and tracking advertisements on digital screens.

By integrating DOOH into the post-optimal path to conversion through a cross-channel approach, brands can enhance return on investment (ROI) by fortifying the awareness layer of the marketing funnel.

This integration allows advertisers to incorporate DOOH seamlessly into their marketing funnel, creating holistic consumer journeys and unlocking new opportunities for increased efficiency and financial impact.

The Rise of Programmatic DOOH

Central to the evolution of DOOH is the capacity to engage in programmatic OOH purchasing. Programmatic DOOH streamlines the processes of planning, buying, optimization, and reporting, seamlessly incorporating the precision targeting and optimization characteristic of digital advertising into the realm of OOH advertising.

Through programmatic DOOH, buyers can:

• Employ audience insights to target specific segments based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
• Utilize dynamic creative optimization to tailor messaging according to audience context.
• Gain access to real-time analytics for monitoring campaign performance.
• Retarget consumers who have been exposed to OOH ads across various digital touchpoints.
• Initiate sequential cross-channel journeys, guiding consumers from awareness to conversion.
• Utilize triggers based on weather, time trends, and traffic trends to display DOOH ads strategically at the right place and time.

As programmatic DOOH experiences exponential growth, OOH is undergoing a transformation into a precision medium.

MiQ: Pioneering Programmatic DOOH Innovation

As a leading programmatic partner, MiQ has been at the forefront of using technology to unlock DOOH’s potential.

MiQ’s solutions empower advertisers to:

Discover high-value DOOH inventory and optimize plans using data-driven audience and proximity insights. MiQ’s planning tools simplify DOOH activation.

Activate DOOH campaigns in real-time based on factors like weather, events, keyword searches, first-party data, audience and location patterns. MiQ connects DOOH to other channels for true omnichannel sequencing.

Measure DOOH performance through multi-touch attribution and location analytics. MiQ is partnered with DSPs and SSPs to work on Measurement and attribution of DOOH performance.

The Future of OOH is Digital

In 2024, DOOH advanced its impact on the digital landscape, introducing cutting-edge solutions and innovations to enhance the channel’s effectiveness, strategic alignment, and connectivity within a cross-channel framework.

MiQ continues to spearhead this evolution of DOOH as an integral component of a multi-channel approach. We strategize the most effective marketing methods for our advertisers, leveraging a data-driven approach and optimizing performance across all three layers of marketing: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion.

Mayank is an Associate Consultant in MiQ’s Bengaluru-based capabilities team. Outside of work, you’ll find him solving the Rubik’s Cube, playing chess, TT, and learning guitar.