How to Implement Effective Social Media Strategies Using Out-of-Home
As a marketing professional, you or someone on your team probably use social media daily as part of their job duties. Depending on your brand, you may have a person or team dedicated to your social media efforts and strategies. But are you leveraging the real world to make more effective digital posts?
In this article, you’ll learn popular strategies for amplifying your social media by incorporating outdoor advertising, including:
What is out-of-home advertising?
Benefits of using OOH as part of your social media strategy
Strategies for integrating OOH into social media campaigns
How much OOH Costs
What is Faux OOH?
How to get started
What is Out-of-Home Advertising?
In the broadest sense, out-of-home is where brands visually intercept the public when they are out of the house. This can include all kinds of things.
It can include on-premise store signage. It can include event signage. More traditionally, out-of-home includes billboards, ads you see while on transit, in places like train stations, malls, airports, stadiums, and arenas. There are also giant manifestations on walls and buildings like wildposting, stickers, and street-level things that are opt-in, ethereal, and temporary.
It can even include street teams and pop-ups. It is anything that allows brands to visually intercept the public when they are out of their homes and off of their screens.
Humans are visual. Humans are social. Brands want to reach humans. Therefore, out-of-home exists.
There’s something magical in that public, tactile, visceral, concurrent moment when, through serendipity, you discover out-of-home media while you’re out of the house. It’s something found unexpectedly throughout your day. Most other types of media interrupt or stop the viewer. They ruin the flow, whereas OOH is more like a sculpture in the park.
Billboards deliver intrigue, humor, or some level of discovery that people tend to love. They want to share it with their friends and loved ones. People almost never share stories about online ads they’ve seen. Billboards work as a one-to-many medium but connect intimately one-on-one with the individual.
Benefits of Adding OOH to your Social Strategy
Knowing that out-of-home reaches people when they are receptive, and that they are excited enough about it to talk about the ads they see, is it any wonder that many people share outdoor advertisements on social media? One in four people have posted an outdoor ad on social media and OOH drives nearly 4 times more social activations per ad dollar spent than any other media, according to a Nielsen study. In fact, it was found that OOH campaigns are 31% more effective at driving social media interactions than online banner ads.
Not only does outdoor advertising encourage social media posting, but it encourages searching form more information about a brand. After seeing an outdoor ad 33% searched social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, according to a Comscore/OAAA study.
An integrated OOH and social media campaign can reach millions of viewers through the OOH ad’s reach in the physical market and by driving social searches, posts, and engagements that keep your brand top of mind long after its run. The next section shares different strategies you can use to amplify your social media messaging through OOH.
More people are actively avoiding other advertising mediums such as online, tv, podcast and other ads, according to another Nielsen study. Out-of-home is unavoidable, and people tend to think of it more favorably than other ad channels. OOH can increase reach by as much as 300% when combined with social media.
Beyond engagement, integrating OOH into your social media plans can lead to a higher return on investment (ROI), according to a research report by Onescreen.ai. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed reported that OOH increased their social media engagement and 96% said that OOH helped them achieve their marketing goals.
Out-of-Home Social Media Strategies
1. Share a “Proof of Life Billboard”
One of the simplest ways to integrate OOH with social media is to document your OOH presence. A billboard, for instance, serves as proof that your brand exists in the public space. By taking a picture of your billboard and sharing it on social media, you extend its life beyond the physical realm. This approach can give your OOH ad a longer lifespan and reach a wider audience.
2. Hashtags
Incorporate hashtags into your OOH ads to encourage social media engagement. A memorable hashtag can bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds, prompting viewers to share their experiences online. This can lead to a surge in user-generated content (UGC), providing authentic, organic promotion for your brand.
3. Encourage User Generated Content (UGC)
OOH ads can be designed to encourage interaction. For example, you could create a scavenger hunt with clues found on various billboards, or a contest where participants take selfies with your ad. These strategies can drive User-Generated Content (UGC), which is highly valuable for social media marketing. Some photobooths can even link to digital screens, allowing your users to interact with your brand and post to their social channels and then see their own image up on a billboard. This not only increases engagement but also generates a wealth of authentic content for your brand.
4. Real-Time Social Media Integration
The interplay between OOH and social media can also work in reverse. Social media movements and memes can be extended into OOH pieces. Using real-time data, advertisers can display social media feeds, user-generated content, or live updates on digital billboards. Showcasing live tweets, Instagram posts, or TikTok videos that use your campaign hashtag can create a sense of community and immediacy that encourages more people to participate and see their content displayed in a public space.
5. Augmented Reality (AR)
Integrating AR with your OOH campaigns creates an immersive experience. The audience uses their smartphones to view AR content that appears to interact with your physical ads. This enhances engagement and provides shareable moments for users to post on their social media.
6. Experiential Marketing
Combine OOH with experiential marketing to create memorable events or pop-up experiences. These events can be designed to be highly shareable, encouraging attendees to post about their experiences on social media. For example, a branded photo booth, a street art installation, or a live performance can attract attention and drive social media engagement.
7. Time-Sensitive Campaigns
Capitalize on time-sensitive events or trends to create timely OOH ads that are relevant to current social media conversations. For example, align your ads with major sporting events, holidays, or trending topics. This can increase the likelihood of your ads being shared and discussed on social media.
How Much Does OOH Cost?
OOH advertising is accessible to virtually every budget tier. It all depends on your goals and the market you are operating in. There are opportunities for brands to spend as little as $20,000 to $50,000.
To get the most out of your investment, it's important to be precise about where you want to be, why, and how you can be there. Narrow your scope and plan carefully to maximize the impact of your OOH campaign. Even programmatic OOH buying is more accessible and can be tailored to fit various budgets.
How Faux OOH Can Help Your Social Media Campaign
Some people may not consider faux OOH to be OOH, but everyone loves creative thinking and fresh ideas—OOH is known for that.
There have been several CGI ads in the past year, such as a giant Barbie coming out of a box or a Maybelline ad with an eyelash on top of a subway train. These executions would be challenging to pull off in the real world. Some brands have instead executed it with CGI or graphic tools and then pushed that out on their social media channels and other platforms.
And it fools people. For a moment, the viewer wonders, “Did that really happen? Could that have happened? How did they do that?”
Though these fantastical executions aren’t real, they show a desire to present unique and engaging messages in the public space, creating some theater on the street.
Though it’s not out-of-home, it could inspire real-life executions. Knowing the power of seeing it on social media, just imagine the impact it could have if it were brought to life. It speaks to how out-of-home is amplified in social media. People tend to take pictures of interesting things they see while they are out on the street and put it on their social.
Get Started with OOH + Social Media
You’ve learned all the benefits of incorporating elements of outdoor advertising into your media mix and you're thinking of ways to incorporate out-of-home into your overall social strategy. Maybe you’re feeling inspired by the unlimited palette of the OOH medium.
Before diving in, do your research and get input from experts. We are here to help. Whether you need assistance with media buying or creative development, there are agencies and firms ready to support your OOH efforts.
Ready to get started? Contact us and let’s bring your brand to life, both on the streets and online.
Many of these insights are derived from PJX CEO Rick Robinson’s guest interview on the Firebrand Podcast.
