Advertising has gone a long way from the tedious flyering and newspaper runs to today’s billboards and massive LED screen shows. One of the most effective advertising efforts that marketers conduct today is made outdoors. This is what made outdoor advertising a well sought-out approach for many companies.

Companies choose outdoor advertising considering 71% of consumers admit to looking out for messages on the outdoor billboards installed by the road. The price of billboard marketing is also much less than television advertising, which is a good option for companies who prefer doing outdoor campaigns. If you’re also considering the same marketing strategy for your company and product branding, learn about the different types you can use to maximize your marketing efforts. 

Diving Into What Outdoor Advertising Is

Outdoor advertising simply means promotion made outside of the establishments. Promotions of companies, products, services, and events may be accomplished through this method to achieve marketing goals. They are often installed in public areas, where many people often gather, including the following:

• Transport hubs
• Along the streets
• Highways 
• Stadiums
• Above buildings/establishments
• On buses and trains

Marketers only need to use the right and creative content to fully catch people’s attention since when it comes to location, these advertising tools are strategically placed to get maximum exposure. 

Pros of Using Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor advertising is defined as a marketing scheme used by businesses to promote the company and the products and services they offer. What makes this type of advertising different is that they are found outdoors. The reason why many marketers choose to advertise outdoors to support their business operations is because of the advantages of outdoor advertising, including the following:

High Visibility 

These advertisements are installed outdoors, where many people can easily see them. Because of its location in a high foot traffic area; they have a great audience reach. 

Cost-effectiveness

Outdoor advertisements may have a high upfront cost and their real value will be evident after some time, where you get the ROIs from the marketing spectacular. If you compare them to TV commercials, outdoor ads are significantly more cost-effective and won’t break your bank.

Meeting Marketing Goals

Outdoor advertising is used by businesses from all types of industries, primarily due to the fact that they help meet their marketing goals. Besides better brand awareness, this type of advertising also helps increase the number of customers that visit the company stores and branches and may even lead to people’s buying decisions.

For the former, curiosity due to the advertisement can move people to visit stores and check out whatever was marketed on the marketing tools. For the latter, along with increased foot traffic in stores, it can also increase sales due to catching people’s attention. 

Excellent Flexibility

They are also designed to be flexible in the content to be shown. Marketers are free to be as creative as they want and depending on the type of outdoor advertising, they can showcase all sorts of colors, shapes, and sizes. 

Highly Efficient & Convenient

Besides being effective, these advertisements are also efficient both from the perspective of the market and the company alike. Once they are put up, they offer constant exposure to the company and specific products currently promoted. 

Some outdoor advertisements last for a long time to the point that they are put up for months and years. However, this may depend on the type you use. 

Finally, this type of advertisement is non-intrusive and won’t annoy people that they would rather not see your brand and products anywhere like many online ads today. 

Cons of Using Outdoor Advertising

Besides the amazing advantages you can happily benefit from, take into account the drawbacks that come with this marketing decision. These are some of the obvious disadvantages you may experience when you choose to market your company and ka pa v products outdoors.  

Limited Sighting

The success of outdoor advertising lies in the strategic location. Choosing the ideal location is essential for your marketing stunt outdoors to be successful. If not, you’ll be left with an advertisement that has limited sighting and can easily be forgotten by audiences.

Another essential factor to consider is the content. Since many audiences are just passing by the ad,  if your content is not eye catchy or doesn’t really stand out, audiences will just pass through the ad without looking back. 

Issues Measuring Success

Knowing if your outdoor ad is successful or not may be difficult, especially if the ad didn’t really make a loud commotion from your audience and market. When it’s hard to know if it’s successful, chances are you will be wasting a lot of money with it. 

Exposed to Outdoor Elements

Since the ad is installed outdoors, it’s only expected that they are exposed to elements that can damage it. First, it is exposed to weather conditions so the wind, rain, and sunlight can cause irreparable damage, depending on the type of outdoor advertising you’re using. In addition to that, it is also open to other people’s pranks and evil deeds. It’s not surprising if you see your ad vandalized with spray paint. 

12 Types of the Best Outdoor Advertising Campaigns

If you’re considering marketing efforts to do outdoors for your company, there are several choices you can look into. You can use different outdoor marketing tools to improve the company’s branding or promote new products and services. Outdoor advertising agencies can easily provide you with the selections of the different types you can choose, but if you want to know a bit more about them, this is the best place to learn them one by one. 

1. Billboards

When it comes to outdoor ads, billboards are the traditional kings. They existed for as long as the 1830s when they rose to fame because of their effectiveness. Despite the innovation and existence of advanced technologies, they are still effective and popular with companies. They are often installed outside, where there’s high foot traffic and the area is massive, including the following locations:

• Airports
• Bus stations
• Highways
• Rail Stations
• Sports Arenas 
• Streets

These marketing tools help a company reach a wider reach and create awareness either regarding the brand or the products that the company offers. This static content can include eye-catching images with catchphrases that can easily grab the attention of the audience. 

2. Banners 

One of the most common outdoor advertisements you can use is banners. Traditionally speaking, banners refer to a strip of cloth bearing a slogan or design wanted by the company. Today, they come in various forms, including the following:

• Printed Papers
• Vinyl
• Advertising Flag
• LED Banner Displays

These are often displayed on the walls, buildings, and streets to promote products and services, events, and even people prefer this type of advertisement because it is significantly cheaper than other types of outdoor advertisements. 

3. Retail Advertising

Retail advertising refers to all the marketing tools and efforts to promote a company’s products and services. They can come in different forms of paraphernalia, depending on what the companies and marketers need. Some of the most popular channels used for retail advertising include the following:

• Advertising Flags
• Banners
• Billboards
• Commercials
• LED Signs
• Print Ads

The idea for this type of outdoor advertising is to convince the market to take a specific action, whether that’s buying new products or visiting new stores, to improve business operations and increase sales too. 

4. Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising is the product of combining the marketing and transportation industries. In this type of outdoor advertising, marketing ads are installed on public transport. This marketing strategy started in 1989 when Imperial Tobacco displayed ads on the bus windows to reach more people. Today, the strategy is extended to taxis and trains. 

With many people commuting every day, this type of advertising can easily be deemed effective. Many people use the subways and ride the buses so there’s a high chance that many will see an ad that’s posted on public transport, widening the audience reach. 

5. Digital Billboard Advertising

Digital billboard advertising came to be after the advancement of technologies capable of bringing it to life. From outdoor billboards bearing printed images, they’ve evolved into electronic screens that can show whatever content you want to display without changing the entire ensemble. 

The innovation of digital billboard advertising opened up the opportunity for businesses and audiences alike to enjoy the present-day digital billboards. The modern displays currently used are not just trendy but also revolutionizing, in terms of both technology and the impact that they offer the marketing industry. With the advancement of technology, these modern displays can come in the following forms:

• LCDs or liquid crystal displays
• LED displays or light-emitting diode displays
• OLEDs or organic light-emitting diodes displays
• Projector screens

The best thing about using digital billboards is that whatever content you wish to display can now be shown in a colorful and realistic presentation. Depending on the marketing content you choose, you can make the entire viewing experience immersive for the audience, which is a lot more interesting for viewers. It is a popular outdoor advertising for many companies and marketers because of the following:

• High visibility
• Flexibility and convenience
• Wider audience reach
• Real-time content management
• Excellent customer engagement

6. 3D Advertising

This type of outdoor advertising is often used in digital billboards, utilizing more advanced technology and tricks in the process. While you can argue that it may belong under the category of digital billboard advertising, it deserves its own category because of its excellence and influence on the market and society in general. 

The existence of 3D advertising, especially 3D billboards, marked the height of marketing and the best of spectacles. From New York’s Times Square to Japan’s Shinjuku, the use of 3D billboards became a standard of power not just in terms of the market but in the specific industries that the companies deal with. Suffice to say, only the best of the best can use 3D advertising because of the effort it takes to create the content and the cost that comes with it. 

These 3D advertising billboards show all sorts of content, from life-like images of real people to animated characters. The edge of this type is its advanced images and incredible aesthetics that will make people stop and stare. This is the power of 3D advertising. The drawbacks come from the high expenses you’d have to pay just to create good content and keep it running for days. 

7. Street Furniture Advertising

Street furniture advertising refers to marketing efforts you’ll find and see along the street. They can be ads that are mounted on the following: 

• Benches
• Bike racks
• Bus stops
• Kiosks
• Shelters
• Streetlights
• Trash cans

They can be posters mounted on the walls and facade of buildings or they can be small banners displayed on the street, like in the sidewalks and public areas like plazas and markets. This advertising type is deemed effective because of its wide reach and high engagement rate. 

8. Stadium Advertising

This refers to the outdoor advertising type you’ll find in stadiums, an area that’s often filled with people when there are events hosted, from concerts to live games. With thousands and even millions (if the event is broadcasted online or on TV live) of people, marketers see this as a great opportunity to showcase products and services a company may offer. 

The great thing about stadium advertising is that besides the people inside the stadium, millions all over the world can also see any ad displayed on the stadium. NBA and FIBA games are some of the examples of this type of advertising. Many well-known companies use this type because of its wide market reach and effectiveness. 

While stadium advertising is effective, it can be pretty expensive. Besides that, using this ad will require hiring professionals to assist you all throughout. 

9. Aircraft Advertising

This refers to the marketing spectacular involving an aircraft. Remember people proposing using planes to ask the question? It’s a bit similar to that but rather than the question, it’s something related to the company and the products and services they offer. They can be posters, banners, and even LED displays used to promote a business or product. 

Many preferred this type of outdoor advertising spectacle because of the following: 

• Wide reach to a larger audience
• Cheap operating maintenance (Expensive upfront cost) 
• Cost-effective investment
• Long-lasting impression on the audience and the market

10. Point of Sale Advertising

Point of Sale or POS Advertising are marketing items you can find outside the physical stores of businesses. These are some of the forms of this type of advertising. 

• Billboards
• Coupons
• In-door static signs
• LED displays

While many used static billboards and signs before, today LED displays are becoming more popular businesses display on their storefront to attract customers. 

11. Guerilla Advertising

This outdoor advertising type is the actual marketing spectacle that involves an action as a marketing stunt rather than an actual object like posters and billboards. In guerilla advertising, marketers create a fun campaign to attract people’s attention. Some of the most popular ones are the following:

• Public dancing
• Public stunts
• Street art

These unconventional marketing schemes were created to encourage prospective customers and provide awareness to everyone about a new company or product.

12. Wallscapes

These are the biggest advertising signs that can be installed outdoors, considering they often take up an entire wall of a building. These are often painted on the exterior of the wall for everyone to see. 

Businesses who use wallscapes need to have their own establishments or buildings that they can paint or they would have to rent a large wall from a building with high foot traffic. They are bold and trendy and people will stop by just to get a peek. Besides painting on the actual wall, some choose printed posters and banners for convenience. Businesses with walls to use can save a lot of money by using wallscapes for their marketing needs. 

Outdoor Advertising FAQs Answered

Before jumping to getting your outdoor ad up and running, here are some FAQs that can help you along. 

What outdoor advertising type should I use?

There’s no one true answer to this question because it’s entirely subjective. You need to decide which among the different types of outdoor advertisements will benefit you and your needs the most. The good thing is that all of these types are effective and it’s really a matter of choice. To help you decide, these are some factors you can consider:

• Budget
• Message and content
• Target audience and market
• Industry

Take into account all of these factors in planning your outdoor ad and make sure that your content and the location you choose, on top of the type of outdoor advertising you use, are compatible with your target audience. 

What are the technologies used in outdoor advertisements? 

Similar to the first question, it’s pretty subjective. When it comes to technology though, your budget plays a major role in this decision. If you are limited in your budget, choose banners and wallscapes. For a no-limit budget outdoor advertisement, stadium advertisements and 3D billboards are some of the best options you can consider for your marketing spectacle. For a unique and catchy ad, street furniture and mobile advertising work wonders. 

Which type of outdoor advertisement is the most effective? 

All types of outdoor advertisements are effective and the success of your marketing scheme will rely on two things, including the content of the marketing tool and the location. The effectiveness of outdoor advertising can depend on the following:

• Location of the outdoor ads
• Target audience and market
• Ad message and content
• Expected results

Conclusion

Outdoor advertising opened up many opportunities for businesses and marketers alike. It paved the way towards a wider audience reach, hoping to improve business operations, including increasing profits, image branding, and so many more advantages to benefit from. There are many outdoor advertising agencies you can ask for help but it’s important you know your options and how one type is different from the other.