Your ultimate guide to out-of-home marketing (OOH)

Everyone's talking about out-of-home or OOH marketing. Outdoor advertising as a marketing tactic has had mixed reviews, but there's one thing we can agree on: a good OOH campaign cannot be ignored.

Find out everything you need to know about adopting OOH in your marketing strategy in this guide, including some incredible out-of-home advertising examples to feast your eyes on.

Out-of-home marketing, also known as OOH, is any form of advertising that reaches consumers while they're outside their homes. It's the art of turning the world into your canvas and making your brand simply possible to ignore.

We've all been there - strolling down the street, sipping your morning coffee, when boom! A giant billboard catches your eye. That, my friend, is out-of-home advertising in action.

Billboards, bus shelter posters, digital screens along the side of elevators, and wraps on vehicles; OOH comes in all different shapes and sizes, but with one goal. Brand engagement.

Okay so, we get the hesitation around pushing OOH campaigns. They're expensive, hard to measure, can't be easily changed once launched, and don't offer the same pinpoint targeting of digital ads.

However, there are benefits of OOH marketing you may (/will definitely) be interested in:

While OOH advertising might seem like a big investment upfront, its potential to create lasting impact and drive real results makes it a worthy contender in your marketing mix.

Here some the statistics about OOH to prove its effectiveness:

But what are the best practices of out-of-home advertising? How can marketers use it to innovate their work? Here are a few top tips:

You've got seconds to make an impression - make it count with a punchy message.

These collected experiences and data points can really make the difference between a good OOH campaign and a great OOH campaign.

Try something that'll make people look twice... not something that people will choose to avoid on their next commute.

Always make sure your message is readable (and not hidden in any way) from where your audience will actually see it by going to check out the spot before.

There's a lot of choice on where you can host your OOH advertising; billboards, airports, or cars. Think about how your target audience is getting around, and how to get RIGHT in their eyeline.

Think about the surroundings - the environment or structure can be part of your message or how you get the attention you're after.

By throwing in local references, it shows you've done your research and you're bound to get interest through the magic of relevancy.

Make sure your OOH fits with what you're doing online and elsewhere, so you can get some extra love and admiration for it over in the digital world.

OOH advertising is a big job and can be difficult to get right; don't forget about the middleman companies or OOH media owners (shout-out to AdQuick in our case) that already know what works, what doesn't, what costs, and what the data backs.

Gone are the days when measuring out-of-home was kinda like catching smoke with your hands. These days, we've got some nifty tools and techniques to measure the impact of your OOH efforts, including:

Need some inspiration? Check out these examples of out-of-home campaigns (including one sweet, humble brag) that have smashed it in 2024 so far.

The moral of the story: go big AND go (out of) home. Marketing has never looked so fun, folks - so embrace OOH advertising and its benefits.