It’s tempting to think that online advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads have rendered comparatively traditional, offline means of advertising irrelevant. However, what Marketing Donut calls “out-of-home (OOH) advertising” actually has various compelling advantages over web-based advertising.
When poster- or screen-based ads are displayed on the high street, they are bound to get noticed by a wide range of people – especially as these ads won’t require them to click or tap anything just to see the ad. So, who exactly could these people include?
Commuters
Key to the appeal of high street advertising is that it is often deemed less intrusive than online ads, which tend to take up space where viewers don’t want them to, such as on websites and Facebook feeds.
However, what if someone is doing something they need to do in any case, like commuting (though this has obviously been less of a necessity for many people during the pandemic)? In the process, they could naturally catch sight of OOH ads – such as when walking down the street or looking out the window of a train or bus.
Workers
These can include people making business trips to major towns or cities where the ads are displayed. It could be hard for a business traveler not to notice certain ads if those are placed in bus shelters the businessperson would have to pass on their way to a conference venue.
However, such ads could also be seen simply by office workers who are on a lunch break and so have headed to the main shops to buy something to eat.
Shoppers
Of course, shoppers will be in abundance in a high street area – and, when seeing your ads there, these people will already be in shopping mode.
Hence, if what you are advertising sufficiently interests them, they might not hesitate to act on it – especially if you are offering some extra incentive, such as a discount or three-for-two deal.
Event attendees
Naturally, many people could walk along a high street on their way to see an exciting event, such as a concert or comedy gig. You could even hold an event yourself, as Small Business Trends suggests; think something like a launch event for your new product.
When someone is on a night out and finds that their phone has ran out of battery, they could opt to use a public phone. This possibility would be a strong incentive for you to invest in phone box advertising.
Generation Z
As members of Generation Z – the demographic born after 1996 – have grown up surrounded by internet-connected devices, you might have expected these people to strongly favor online over in-person shopping. However, research by The Grocer tells a very different story.
In this pan-European study, 76% of Gen Z members called going to physical shops enjoyable, while 76% said that doing so with family and friends was special. These findings suggest that you certainly shouldn’t neglect making a concerted effort to target Gen Z with your high street advertising.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
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