Out of home (OOH) advertising is the most effective offline medium in driving online activity, according to a new study released by Nielsen. The study found OOH delivers more online activity per ad dollar spent compared to television, radio, and print. According to the OOH Online Activation Survey, online activations generated by OOH indexes at about four times the expected rate. For example, OOH media accounts for 26 percent of gross search activations generated by television, radio, print and OOH, combined. However, it only accounts for 7 percent of the total combined advertising spend. “OOH’s connection to digital media is undeniable,” said OAAA’s Nancy Fletcher. “OOH campaigns boost online engagement more than other traditional media can. As digital ad spend increases, so does OOH’s, because it drives people in the real world online.”
Nearly 46% US adults have used an Internet search engine to look up information after seeing or hearing something advertised on a billboard, bus shelter, or other OOH format in the past six months. Nearly 40 percent have visited a Facebook page or posted a message on Facebook after seeing an OOH ad. MAGNA and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) report digital advertising replaced TV as the top medium in 2016. The IAB states mobile advertising ac-counted for about $36.6 billion, of all digital ad revenue reported in 2016. Of that, 47 percent, or $17.2 billion, came from mobile search, according to the report. Mobile search is of out-sized importance, and note in the chart below OOH dwarfs other offline media in its ability to drive search.
OOH vs Traditional Media
