Tech companies and Facebook pushed the limits of direct to audience ads like email solicitation and Google ads and their marketing came up short. When the company reached out to Billboards, bus stop ads and other out-of-home advertisements they found success.
Boxed.com has an app that sells and delivers wholesale packaged-goods. They purchased subway poster contracts to drive app downloads. Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed says, “We’ve tried a lot of ROI-based ad networks, and [out-of-home] averages out if you do it right. Even though it is more expensive, we can recoup the costs.”
Out-of-home ads are tougher to track than digital ads but the Boxed study shows that users kept the app on their phones for a long period of time which drove customers to their store in large numbers. They’ve been successful in teaching people to shop from their phones and their brand is gaining momentum.
Paypal, Seamless and Venmo have run successful billboard campaigns as well. The proof is in the contracts. They’ve upped their investment and the only reason why a company would do this is because it works.
Facebook launched its first out-of-home campaign in LA and Chicago to brand Messenger, its new mobile messaging app.
“By using a variety of [out-of-home] creative in our ‘Say Anything Better’ brand campaign, we could be a part of the city landscapes while simultaneously showcasing different messaging for Chicago and L.A.,” said Rebecca Van Dyck, head of Facebook’s brand marketing.
Local businesses can learn from the leaders of industry. If they know the benefits of billboard advertisements, then so should you.
