Why Trading Desks Are Expanding to Take On Programmatic DOOH

Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising has rapidly grown in popularity over the past few years. According to a survey by IAB Canada, 61% of signage bought or sold in the last 12 months was outdoor, and of that, 58% was spent on DOOH.

The effectiveness of this medium is immense, as reflected in a study by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) which found that 22% of consumers search, purchase, or take social action within 30 minutes of seeing an OOH ad.

But a significant change is taking place as different ad tech sectors continue to expand into programmatic buying. In 2019, Trading desks made up only 6% of teams buying DOOH traditionally, whereas on the other hand, they accounted for 31% of teams buying it programmatically.

Programmatic DOOH shifting to 'trading desks'

Trading Desks expanding into programmatic buying at agencies, with fewer 360 Integrated Planner/Buyers involved.​

Team responsible for buying Digital OOH traditionally at your firm (i.e. non-programmatically)

We’ve outlined a series of benefits and the reasons why you may want to consider programmatic DOOH for your next ad campaign.

Dynamic Creatives Based on Environmental Triggers

One valuable benefit of DOOH is the ability to customize external data feeds from an advertisement location’s surroundings to deliver precise and relevant content to the consumer based on date, time, location and real-world behaviors.

Some examples of triggers are weather conditions, nearby concerts, sports wins, or even stock trends. By doing this, programmatic DOOH campaigns deliver precise and relevant content to the consumer with speed and flexibility in a cost-effective way.

The vastness and variety of screens are only growing, and the availability of touch screens allows consumers to further engage with the ad using their hands or devices.

Increased Campaign Reach With Geofencing

Geofencing is particularly useful for DOOH campaign targeting, as it allows marketers to select a specific geographic area and serve ads to those who enter its parameters.

The ability to provide consumers with personalized, situation-specific messages that they can act on immediately if they desire is an incredibly valuable tool.

Once a consumer enters the geofenced vicinity of an ad, brands can then send personalized, retargeted ads to each consumer who passed by the DOOH board.

Better Measurement Using Sophisticated Tech

DOOH location and time-based measurement capabilities are advancing quickly. Technology such as high-quality video simulations of foot and vehicular traffic can be created to estimate impressions. Additionally, travel survey sensors can track when foot traffic stops and starts, and which direction they’re facing to most accurately measure whether the ad is seen.

Visibility research looks for Contact Zones to see how far the ad can be seen, Speed Data to measure how fast cars are passing, and Dwell Time to see how many people dwell in the vicinity and for how long.

Retargeting through Mobile Synergy

Programmatic DOOH can offer even higher campaign engagement rates with coordinated cross-channel amplification. Re-engaging consumers on different devices can amplify reach by up to 303%.

Since consumers are nearly always on the go, leveraging mobile devices’ popularity and location-based strengths creates an opportunity for immediate retargeting.

In fact, consumers who view an ad on a different device after initially seeing it OOH are 46% more likely to engage with the brand on mobile, which is a distinct advantage.

Higher Consumer Footfall

When combined with cross-channel amplification, DOOH drives higher foot traffic by approximately 68%. Brands can harness the power of programmatic to deliver personalized ads, such as a restaurant directing hungry consumers to their nearby location at lunchtime.

A study by Neilson even showed that 19% of OOH viewers go to the advertised brand’s business after seeing the corresponding OOH ad. Compounding programmatic tactics with the power of OOH could be the perfect recipe for campaign success.

There is still a long way to go before DOOH is fully integrated into the programmatic process, but one thing is for certain: programmatic DOOH could very well be the key to creating an effective integrated marketing strategy.