DOOH or Die: Why Digital Out-of-Home Advertising is a Boon for Marketers

Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising has long been a powerful tool for brands looking to make a big impact in the physical world. From towering billboards to transit advertising and street furniture, OOH captures audiences in their daily routines, creating brand awareness at scale. 

As consumer behaviours evolve and digital transformation accelerates, traditional OOH is being redefined through new outdoor advertising trends and technological evolution. Enter Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH), a smarter, more dynamic evolution that blends the impact of classic outdoor advertising with the precision and agility of digital technology. For marketers, DOOH marketing offers real-time flexibility, data-driven targeting, and the ability to engage audiences in contextually relevant ways, making it a game-changer in today’s media mix.

So how can marketers truly maximise the impact of Outdoor Advertising and Digital Out-of-Home, in particular?

Let’s explore the key factors that drive effective DOOH marketing and its measurable marketing benefits:

1. Unparalleled Audience Reach and Precision Targeting

Gone are the days of broad, one-size-fits-all outdoor advertising. Today’s DOOH allows marketers to leverage data for precise targeting, ensuring the right message reaches the right people at the right time. With real-time audience analytics, location intelligence, and programmatic buying, brands can optimise their campaigns based on demographics, behaviours, and even weather conditions.

According to Vistar, 88% of adults have seen an OOH ad in the last 30 days and more impressively 82% remember these ads long after viewing them. While many marketers consider OOH as a pure brand awareness channel that is mainly focused on capturing attention and generating awareness, research has shown that OOH also drives real action from consumers. 

Why DOOH Reach and Targeting is a Marketer’s Dream:

• Mass Exposure with High Visibility – Digital Out-of-Home ads are unskippable, unblockable, and always on, ensuring brands stay top-of-mind as consumers go about their daily lives.
• Strategic Placement for Maximum Impact – Ads are positioned in high-traffic areas, such as city centres, shopping districts, and transit hubs, reaching millions of potential customers.
• Reaching Audiences in Key Mindsets – Digital Out-of-Home Advertising connects with consumers when they are on the move, in decision-making moments, whether commuting, shopping, or socialising.

On average every dollar spent on OOH generates approx $9 in sales, making it a star performer from the advertising tool kit. DOOH takes these benefits further with greater flexibility, interactivity, and enhanced targeting capabilities. This makes every marketing dollar deliver even higher returns, as ad relevancy increases and changes to ad placements can be made mid campaign. 

2. Dynamic & Contextual Content

Unlike static billboards, DOOH enables brands to deliver dynamic content that adapts to real-world triggers. Whether it’s time of day, live sports scores, or even social media trends, brands can craft highly relevant and engaging creatives. Contextual relevance enhances engagement, making campaigns more effective in driving awareness and action.

For example, a fast food chain can display breakfast promotions in the morning and switch to dinner specials in the evening. Additionally, brands can leverage environmental factors such as temperature or air quality—an iced coffee ad on a hot day or flu medicine messaging during peak illness seasons can drive higher engagement.

How Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Content Stays Relevant:

• Seamless Integration with Other Digital Media Channels – DOOH can be programmatically activated, aligning with social media, mobile, and other digital campaigns. While Programmatic DOOH is a subset of the broader Digital-Out-of-Home marketing activity, it is certainly the most efficient, integrated and flexible campaign execution component.
• Contextually Relevant Ads Increase Engagement – A study by DoubleVerify found that 69% of consumers are more likely to look at an advert if it is relevant to the content they are viewing. For example, featuring an ad for a restaurant within a food court area or an advertisement for clothes within a shopping centre would significantly increase the impact of the ad and the brand perception by consumers.

3. Seamless Omnichannel Integration

DOOH seamlessly integrates with other digital channels, enhancing the effectiveness of omnichannel marketing strategies. By bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds, it creates a more cohesive and engaging brand experience. 

How Digital Out-of-Home Campaigns Amplify Marketing Outcomes:

• Mobile & Social Retargeting – DOOH can trigger retargeting campaigns on mobile and social platforms, keeping brands top-of-mind beyond the initial exposure.
• Programmatic Synergy – DOOH can be bought programmatically, aligning with digital ad campaigns to optimise reach and targeting.
• Enhancing Online-to-Offline Journeys – DOOH drives searches, website visits, and in-store traffic, reinforcing brand messaging seen across digital and social platforms.
• Cross-Device Attribution – Advanced analytics enable marketers to measure the impact of DOOH exposure on online actions and in-store visits.

Digital Out-of-Home Advertising integrates seamlessly with a range of third party technologies and omnichannel marketing methods enhancing campaign reach, engagement, and performance, making it a powerful addition to any omnichannel marketing mix. Running an Omichannel campaign which includes Digital Outdoor Advertising can have significant positive improvement on the overall campaign and on other media channels, especially when it comes to retail and e-commerce. Check out our ModiBodi case study which saw Return-on-Ad-Spend (ROAS) improve by 94% on Video ads by incorporating Digital-Out-of-Home Advertising into the campaign.

4. Smart Retargeting & Personalisation

One of the most powerful Digital Out-of-Home Advertising trends is its ability to collect and utilise real-time data. By capturing mobile device IDs from users within the vicinity of a DOOH ad, brands can retarget those individuals with additional digital ads across mobile and social platforms. This ensures that the message stays with the audience beyond their initial exposure to the DOOH placement, reinforcing brand awareness and driving conversions.

Moreover, location-based marketing allows for hyper-targeted messaging. Retailers can trigger exclusive in-store promotions when users are near a store, or travel brands can display ads for last-minute getaways when consumers are at transport hubs. This kind of personalised engagement enhances consumer response rates and drives more meaningful interactions.

A study by JCDecaux and a leading Neuroscience research company, Neuro-insight, indicated that there was over 32% increase in brain response when displaying the most relevant content at the most relevant moment via DOOH advertising. The study showed that there was a 12% increase in response rate when an ad was shown at a relevant moment and an 18% increase when displaying an ad in the right with high relevancy such as location, weather, time or including a live update as a stimulus trigger. In addition to increased brain stimulus, using smart retargeting or personalisation of content increases ad recall and sales response in a significant way.

5. Measurable Performance & Attribution

One of the biggest advancements in moving from OOH to DOOH is the latter’s ability to provide measurable results, bridging the gap between traditional OOH and digital performance tracking. Marketers can now track campaign effectiveness with greater precision, leveraging real-time data and attribution models to optimise performance. 

Key Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Measurement Capabilities:

• Mobile Tracking & Geo-Location Attribution – DOOH can be paired with mobile data to track how many users exposed to an ad visit a physical store. It can also be used to track how many users visited your website, or downloaded your app, enabling brands to measure direct conversions. A great example of such use by Bench Media can be found in our Stake case study.
• Footfall Attribution & In-Store Impact – Advanced tracking solutions allow marketers to analyse foot traffic patterns to determine if a DOOH campaign influences in-store visits, giving retailers actionable insights. By pairing a client’s CDP or CPM with DOOH activity, we can directly link real sales activity to their exposure of DOOH ads using loyalty programs or credit card data to track purchases of customers who were exposed to the DOOH ads.
• Brand Lift & Awareness Studies – Surveys and sentiment analysis tools assess how DOOH exposure impacts brand perception, recall, and engagement. This helps marketers gauge campaign effectiveness beyond direct conversions.
• Programmatic Optimisation in Real Time – With programmatic DOOH, marketers can track ad performance and adjust creative, placements, and targeting on the fly to maximise impact.
• AI-Powered Analytics & Predictive Insights – Machine learning and AI tools analyse large datasets to predict user behaviour, helping marketers refine targeting and messaging for future campaigns.

Recent research from oOh! Media shows that brands incorporating DOOH into their marketing mix see an average ROI increase of 39% compared to those relying solely on TV advertising. This demonstrates that Digital Out-of-Home Advertising is no longer just about visibility, it’s a performance-driven channel delivering tangible, measurable results.

6. Creative Excellence & Storytelling

Digital Out-of-Home Advertising provides a canvas for high-impact storytelling. It goes beyond static billboards, offering brands an opportunity to captivate audiences with dynamic, immersive storytelling that adapts to context, time, and audience behaviour. 

The combination of high-impact visuals, real-time data integration, and interactive elements makes Digital Out-of-Home Advertising a powerful canvas for creativity. 

Creative Strategies for Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Success:

• Dynamic & Contextually Relevant Content – Unlike traditional OOH, DOOH enables brands to deliver real-time, context-aware messages. Ads can change based on weather conditions, time of day, local events, or even traffic patterns, ensuring relevance and engagement.
• High-Impact Visuals & Motion Graphics – Digital screens allow for full-motion video, 3D animations, and eye-catching creative that demand attention in high-traffic locations. Studies show that animated content captures 2.5x more attention than static images.
• Personalisation & Adaptive Messaging – With programmatic technology, DOOH creatives can adapt based on audience demographics, behaviours, and interests. For example, a sportswear brand can showcase different ads based on whether a passerby is near a gym or a sports stadium.
• Seamless Storytelling Across Screens – Digital Out-of-Home Advertising can be used as part of a multi-stage storytelling strategy, where different creatives are displayed sequentially across multiple screens, creating a narrative journey that engages audiences at different touchpoints.
• Immersive & Interactive Experiences – Interactive Digital Out-of-Home Advertising campaigns can include touchscreens, QR codes, NFC, and Augmented Reality (AR), allowing audiences to engage with the content in real time. This increases dwell time and brand recall. While some of these technologies are still catching on in Australia, they are gaining popularity.
• Social Media Amplification – Digital Out-of-Home Advertising campaigns can encourage user participation by integrating with social media. For instance, brands can display live social feeds, user-generated content, or interactive polls to create a two-way conversation with consumers.
• Hyper-Local & Community-Driven Messaging – Digital Out-of-Home Advertising allows brands to tailor messages to specific neighborhoods, cities, or cultural moments, making the campaign feel more personal and relevant to the local audience.

A well-crafted Digital Out-of-Home Advertising campaign doesn’t just inform, it entertains, inspires, and persuades. With attention spans shrinking, the ability to craft visually compelling and contextually relevant messaging is crucial for driving lasting brand impressions.

The Future of Digital Out-of-Home in Your Marketing Mix

As digital and physical environments continue to merge, Digital Out-of-Home Advertising is becoming a crucial part of omnichannel marketing strategies. With its ability to deliver targeted, measurable, and engaging content, it’s no longer just an awareness play—it’s a performance-driven channel. For marketing managers and CMOs looking to make a lasting impact, DOOH presents an opportunity to blend creativity with data for maximum effectiveness.

Are you ready to harness the full potential of Digital Out-of-Home Advertising?

Bench Media can help you craft data-led, high-impact Digital Out-of-Home Advertising campaigns that drive real results. Get in touch and we’ll be delighted to craft a tailored strategy for your next media campaign.