Our out-of-home media formats have proven effective to drive foot traffic to retailers, c-stores and grocery stores. For retailer marketing plans, you want to attract those nearby and drive them in-store. Out-of-home (OOH) media increases brand awareness and generates that foot traffic.

Nielsen’s 2019 OOH Advertising Study reports that 20% of OOH viewers immediately visited a store advertised, and that 74% of visitors made a purchase. (Source: OAAA). OOH media makes a big, bold statement in the real world. It cannot be skipped, blocked or viewed by fraudulent bots. It’s an attention-grabber! It works well when placed in strategic locations nearby stores where specific audiences can engage with the message. Yes, OOH media can be hyper-targeted yet offer coverage at scale in a market. (Win-win, yes?)

In your retailer marketing plan, how much budget do you have allocated to out-of-home media? Leverage more OOH space to strengthen your overall mix. OOH calls-to-action generate immediate visits, acquire repeat customers and promote your top-line brands. It plays well with the other marketing messages which your audience is exposed.

Here are a few ways to maximize your OOH investment to reap the biggest return.

Co-op with in-store brands
We’ve seen a lot of brands successfully partner together to create more impact across multiple store locations. As a retailer, you have a lot of potential partners on your shelves.

There are two ways retailers can look at this. One, sell placement on the OOH creative or reward slots based on promotional agreements. Or two, reach out to brands advertising near your stores and request to be included on the creative. After all, you’re a primary location to buy the featured products. Either way, both retailers and product brands mutually benefit from the OOH campaign. The budget can be split across multiple plans for wider coverage.

I once attended a workshop about sponsorships. We learned about a big box retailer who sponsored a NASCAR car. But they sold off the smaller logo placements on that car for a total greater than the overall sponsorship. The retailer actually made money from their expensive sponsorship deal. In-store brands got featured on the car, and they also got preferential shelf space. Yet, the retailer had the clear advantage on the racetrack.

This co-op idea is great at driving in-store traffic. But if brand-building is the objective, co-ops can still divide the burden. For example, Pepsi and Dollar General ran a co-op program together at the CMA Fest. This campaign reminded country music fans to pick up their Pepsi at Dollar General. It also created an affinity association to what this audience was passionate about: country music.

Pair OOH media with your digital circular
We’ve had great success pairing mobile display advertising with our mobile billboard campaigns. We’re consistently achieving higher click-through-rates for advertisers by serving display ads to the same OOH audience.

One option for the display ad is to deliver your store’s circular or weekly promotions upon click-through. Or, use a rich media and dynamic banner ad to showcase different brand specials based on daypart, day of week or a host of other variables.

Digital coupons have become a key component to retailer marketing efforts. Why not generate more views of your specials across the OOH audience?

Simon Malls recently ran a campaign that called out the stores within their mall. Stores can run similar campaigns calling out their attractive in-store brands, with or without a co-op at play.

Promote on-site sampling/tasting or live remote events
Collaborating with an in-store brand on the OOH campaign can also open up tasting or sampling opportunities at the store. Perhaps, the OOH media drives foot traffic to an in-store activation for key brands. The creative can also change out based on which brand is having point-of-sale activity.

If you’re a beauty shop, promote the various hair and makeup brands you carry; offer on-site consults with those featured products. For home improvement stores, offer a tools or building workshop featuring the brands you co-op with for the campaign. Besides in-store sampling, make sure you set the tone with the right music. Cloud Cover Music and similar music streaming services offer mood and business-specific playlists. Consider getting it, because setting the in-store music can positively boost the customer’s mood, and could help your business.

Or, host a live radio remote or other splash event to generate extended excitement beyond the OOH ad campaign. Under Armour, for example, would often host athlete signings at their stores.

When you combine the OOH media with field marketing, you move from generating awareness to stirring the buzz.

The field marketing component can be a long-term installation, or it can move from store to store. This type of in-store presence allows you to stand out and compete in the digital age. OOH draws the audience there – and the retail experience keeps the shoppers engaged.

Divide and conquer among franchisees or store locations
Whether you’re a corporate marketer or are a franchise organization, the OOH spend can be divided among multiple locations.

We rely on our sophisticated mapping data to help us schedule mobile billboards according to number of locations. After plotting each retail address, our software helps us efficiently group those locations and assign mobile billboards. This way, we ensure that each location is getting the right amount of coverage.

We’re experts at scheduling the mobile billboard to provide equal – or specifically weighted – coverage to various store locations. When we’re providing coverage for one store, we’ll stay within a tight (usually 3-5 mile, depending) radius around the store before moving the campaign to the next store. With a national fleet of 125 units, we’re also able to provide coverage in multiple markets across many stores during the same flight.

If you’re devising a national retailer marketing plan, we can easily distribute your media spend across stores without any hassle on your part.

Mobile billboards are one of the most flexible media buys in the OOH industry.

Add ways to engage with the OOH creative
With OOH media, the formats are large and creative opportunities endless. If you’re looking for engagement, OOH delivers.

According to Nielsen, 66% of smartphone users have taken mobile action after seeing an OOH ad. To increase your odds, why not have a digital call-to-action right on your creative?

This CTA could be one of many things, such as a QR code, a Spotify code or even an augmented reality trigger graphic. These mobile tags are an interactive way to merge your digital marketing efforts with your OOH campaign. It bridges the gap and creatively works well in both spaces.

Integrating multiple channels with one activation is a savvy retail advertising strategy.

Verified walk-ins
I’m coming back to this point, again. The retail industry depends on warm bodies walking into their brick and mortar stores. In the past, foot traffic was hard to attribute to OOH. Today, it’s not so difficult anymore.

By leveraging mobile data, we can determine if someone was near the OOH message, was served an impression and then later walked into a store. The exposure to the OOH media is part of the attribution report.

Cue the angels singing. For retailer marketing plans, the attribution metric is the crowning glory.

Mattress Warehouse ran a short 5-day and 10-day flight in two small markets, and were able to generate 127 verified walk-ins from their OOH campaign. When was the last time you walked into a mattress store?

In a review of 45 case studies, it is reported that incremental store visits ranged from 50.2 – 127.4% for those consumers exposed to OOH media compared to those who weren’t exposed. Another study of QSRs in Texas showed a 0.70% conversion rate for visits. Yet a third study on grocery stores in three markets showed that 43% of consumers exposed to and OOH ad visited the store within three days. (Source: OAAA).

Wowza! There is now proof that the exposure to the OOH media generated new business. As an OOH advertiser, you’ll receive the verified walk-in report at the end of your retailer marketing campaign.

The proximity-based media campaign could include a mobile billboard driving within a few miles of your store, brand ambassadors energetically talking up your store and its brands, as well as the digital piece mentioned above. This dynamic out-of-home campaign will drive foot traffic and generate immediate sales. No matter the maturity stage of your retail location, this integrated OOH media package can boost your advertising and garner real results.

For additional retailer marketing recommendations, please reach out to us.