The art of reaching new customers with OOH

A huge 98% of people see at least one out of home (OOH) advert a week - that means that nearly everyone has the potential to be your next new customer. Of course, if it were easy to turn every lead into a customer, there wouldn’t be such a need for inventive OOH marketing. When looking at how to reach new customers it’s important to consider three things:

1. The customers you already have.

2. What it is you’re doing to deserve new customers.

3. How you plan to retain new customers should you find them.

OOH advertising offers unique opportunities to reach new customers in the physical world. From billboards to public transport stations to digital screens and street furniture, OOH ads are blank canvases for you to showcase your brand to a wide audience. Here is a guide for how to use OOH to add to your existing pool of customers.

Knowing Your Audience

Any kind of effective OOH advertising begins with a deep understanding of who it is you’re looking to target. This knowledge enables you to tailor your messaging and creative content to resonate with their interests and needs.

If you’re wondering how to reach potential customers, chances are you already have an idea of the kind of people you’re hoping to attract. Maybe they’re the same demographic as your existing audience, and your goal is simply to boost numbers. Or maybe they’re a brand new segmentation; a section of your audience that you’re not used to speaking to.

If your goal is to boost numbers and your current OOH advertising has proven effective so far, it might be time to scale up your campaigns.

If your goal is to attract a new segment you need to focus on making sure your OOH addresses them directly; especially if your brand is known for having a different audience.

One example of a company pivoting to reach new customers is location services app what3words. As described in this listicle, what3words only started to gain traction in the UK when it was advertised as being a useful tool to locate people in emergency situations. What3words then ran a runaway UK-based television campaign pushing this idea, even though it wasn’t what the app was originally designed for. Prior to that, the app was used in Mongolia to counteract the fact that there are no traditional postcodes and a large percentage of the population are nomadic.

Crafting Compelling Messages

Once you’ve carried out audience research and know who it is you’re looking to target you can start to work on what it is you’d like to say. OOH advertising is all about being engaging and concise - when someone might only glance at your billboard in passing, you need to focus on delivering a single, compelling message that has the potential to resonate with them even in that split second. Clear copy has been proven to make ads more memorable.

Action-oriented messaging helps to inspire your audience to do something - whether that’s make a purchase, follow you on social media, or subscribe to a newsletter. If you’re looking to appeal to a new demographic, you can use intrigue about your change in direction to make people curious about your brand, and encourage them to find out more.

Embracing Creativity in Design  

Creativity and innovation are well-rewarded in OOH ad design. You want to do everything in your power to grab the attention of passers-by, so thinking outside of the box is the best way to set yourself apart from the crowd. Experiment with unique design elements, such as clever use of typography, interactive features like QR codes and touchscreens, or 3D immersive experiences. 

Go as big as you can justify, but remember to align your creative content with your brand identity.

Leveraging Strategic Placement 

Strategic placement is crucial for maximising the impact of your OOH advertising campaigns. When identifying high-traffic locations for the audience you’re looking to target, think about footfall, visibility, and placement. Trying a brand new location for your OOH campaign could easily lead to a brand new influx of customers - but make sure your choice in location is backed up by data, and not just a stab in the dark.

Integrating Digital and Physical Channels 

While OOH’s major strength is the fact that it resides in the real world, it’s important to support your physical marketing channels with digital elements. QR codes leading to websites and socials, NFC tags, or even augmented reality experiences can help to enhance the allure of your brand, and lead new customers straight to where you want them.

Measuring Impact

The best way to show that you’ve understood how to reach new customers is through measuring the impact of your OOH advertising campaigns. Here are some things you can monitor that might reveal your efforts have been successful.

• Website traffic

• Engagement across socials

• Sales rates and conversions

It would be a shame to have put so much thought into how to reach customers with your OOH advertising, only to forget to record evidence of your success.

Partnering with Clear Channel for OOH Success

We can help you to build your OOH campaign from top to bottom, and advise you on how to carry out the audience research guaranteed to lead to new customers. We’re passionate about driving business growth for the brands that come to us for solutions. Get in touch today to see what we can do for you.