Social media’s strong point is engagement and two-way communication, but it is easy to ignore and many digital adverts are simply not seen. Integrating social media campaigns with DOOH boosts visibility and reach. In this way, social media and DOOH are the perfect pairings.

Social media allows the audience to interact with an OOH campaign. With DOOH they can become a part of it, their message can be shown on the billboard, as can a photograph or video they share on social media through innovative technological integration.

DOOH increases visibility and mass reach of digital campaigns

Google has estimated that about 56% of digital ads are never seen, and considering that 61.5% of all web traffic is non-human (bots), the chance of having a non-visible digital ad is quite significant. According to Peter J Solomon Company, adding billboards to a social media campaign can increase reach by up to 203%, while adding billboards to a mobile app and web campaign can increase reach by as much as 303%.

According to an article on Outfront Media, 'out-of-home advertising and mobile are natural partners, and allow brands to forge a greater connection with their customers.' DOOH can connect to social media platforms or harness mobile technologies like near field communication (NFC), augmented reality (AR), QR codes, beacons, or visual search to drive sales and increase brand awareness.

Amp up social media engagement through DOOH

Becky Saunders, social media executive at Ultimate Asset, says, “When I see an advert that makes me laugh, catches my eye or just looks pretty cool, I share it on social media and I know I’m not the only one.” She says that pictures work well on social and this integrates perfectly with DOOH which is visually based medium. Innovative OOH campaigns make great shareable content for the web.

Kenneth Brinkmann, senior vice president of DOOH advertising agency Posterscope in the United States, says in his article on Adweek, that social media makes true engagement with DOOH possible 'by serving as an engagement funnel for location marketing and helping to amplify campaigns.'

DOOH can seed a social campaign offline

“A recent Nielsen study found that approximately 17% of digital billboard viewers visit an advertiser’s website or search online within a month of seeing its message,” says John Stevens, business consultant and marketer, in his article on Adweek. “OOH offers huge value to local brands, given the medium’s location-specific nature and all-around effectiveness,” says Brinkmann. He adds that DOOH can seed social media campaigns offline.

Social media content strategy informed by DOOH

Brinkmann also explains how DOOH can inform social content strategy, particularly one that is created for mobile. Human attention spans have decreased (to less than that of a goldfish) since the inception of social and digital media. OOH, and DOOH strategy has always aimed at getting maximum brand exposure in the minimum amount of time and social media content strategists can apply these same principles.

DOOH is location-based and is perfectly suited to hyperlocal content; it can inform social media content strategy through user-generated content. Brinkmann adds, “For social media specialists, location marketing is the next frontier; an opportunity to bring concepts, ideas, and trends into the real world and create genuine interaction with your audience while driving earned media and, what everyone is after, measurable and impactful returns on the marketing investment.”

For more information, visit www.primediaoutdoor.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.