Planning is the most crucial element that starts an advertiser’s campaign buying process.

This is also the first part of the process where you, the media owner, gets involved.

The trick is to get into the mind of the advertiser and figure out what it is they are looking for.

And what advertisers are looking for, is Data!

The ‘Why’ behind Ad-Spend

When it comes to brands like Samsung or Crypto.com spending money on advertising campaigns, it isn’t about how much they are going to spend, but why!

Online ads have always been easy to explain – the impressions, engagement and analytics provide simple justification for spendings, repeat spendings or cancellations.

It’s not about 100% accuracy either, because every piece of pre-campaign planning data is based on historical campaign performance data – an educated guess you might say – but it is the most effective starting point for any ad-buyer.

It gives them the justification they need to put their money into a campaign – an acceptable outcome that they are willing to compromise on, ever so slightly.

That ‘Why’ has come to OOH!

For decades, the out-of-home industry has been run on broad estimates. The source of these estimates is still historical data – but these sources have been unreliable or inconsistent, and usually not standardized.

For example, a popular data source for footfalls in malls or public spaces would be hand-held tally counters!

Security personnel or greeters at entry points would click away to register walk-ins, which would become the basis of gauging footfall – not entirely reliable considering the number of potential human-error scenarios that exist.

That one example has been replaced with automated counting through security camera systems – a much more reliable way of gathering footfall data.

And that’s the level of justification that has become the norm in outdoor advertising.

Media Owners are Changing the Game

With technology solutions for audience data measurement, media asset owners like you have audience data available at your fingertips!

You can choose your locations, get location-specific audience data and use that as the foundation for building more detailed proposals for advertisers and agencies.

You are giving advertisers and agencies the information they need to make a decision – and by providing that information from third-party software solutions like LMX Measure, you are ensuring that the data is unbiased – and advertisers/agencies know it!

With one simple addition to your arsenal of screens, you’ve simplified the decision making process for your customers, giving them more information than they are accustomed to.

You’re also saving so much time and effort for data gathering, sorting and measurement, that advertisers and agencies have to pay for, otherwise.

What’s more, you are matching the quality of decision making-data that they receive from some advertising channels – like online – and significantly more than what they get from other channels – like print, television or radio!

Removing the Fog of War with Data

When a customer comes to you with an OOH campaign, they are looking for reasons to buy your screens – the best thing you can do is provide them all the information they need to make that decision.

That information is – Audience Data!

With the right tools in place, you can access that data for each and every single location you own screens at, and give your prospects the information they need to become customers.

 Audience data and audience measurement are two aspects that every advertiser needs to justify their ad-spend – and the right tools make you the ultimate source of audience data and information for your client.

And to become that source of information, you need a plug-&-play solution that fits seamlessly into your existing infrastructure and upgrades it to the standards advertisers are accustomed to.

With one click, you can find all the information you need to know whether you are ready to give your customers and prospects the audience data they need!

The world today is screen-bound. Most brands and businesses rely heavily on digital marketing (online) to insert themselves into the lives of their customers. However, out-of-home advertising (OOH) is still widely used by these same brands to reach potential customers on the go, increase brand awareness and drive revenue. 

Brands are taking advantage of this unique opportunity to engage with their target audiences when they are not staring at their computer or mobile screens. Without the ability to skip ads, OOH proves that it is still a reliable advertising medium for marketers. More than reliability, OOH gives marketers the impact they need for a campaign.

With that in mind, OOH is thriving now more than ever. According to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), the first and second quarters of 2022 were very successful for the industry. In the first quarter of the year, advertising revenues increased by 40.5%, and in the second quarter by 28.9% compared to the same periods of the previous year. 

OAAA President and CEO, Anna Bager believes OOH will surpass the same period in 2019, which means the industry is on track to match or perhaps exceed pre-pandemic spend. 

How does This Affect OOH Media Owners like You?

This great news is a great opportunity for OOH leaders. The increase in spending on OOH can only lead to one thing - more requests for ad space! 

With the increase in demand, market-leading media owners with a huge inventory supply are receiving an overwhelming number of inbound requests. This is a good problem for media owners as the demand for your services increases. But this is where it gets complicated. The volume of incoming requests can exceed the capacity of the resources you have on the ground. 

It's difficult for media owners like you to allocate your resources appropriately to handle these incoming requests, resulting in a potential loss of customers and revenue. Alarm bells are ringing in the ears of business owners at OOH.

How do You Address This Challenge?

A temporary solution may be to increase current sales staff. This would mean additional costs for entrepreneurs to train a new team, and this cycle could repeat itself as demand increases. 

There is another solution for OOH media owners today. AdTech companies in the outdoor advertising industry continue to find new ways to simplify the sales and campaign execution processes. One of their more recent developments is self-serve advertising platforms for the industry. The term self-serve advertising means that advertisers or media buyers can now plan an advertising campaign and buy sites that meet their needs without interacting with a physical sales representative or a media owner themselves.

In other words, a self-serve advertising platform allows advertisers to choose the specifications they need for their campaigns - campaign duration, site location, audience segmentation, type of inventory, and so on. These platforms may also come with a programmatic function that allows campaigns to run automatically based on the specific details selected.

How Would This Help Your OOH Business?

Media owners can now own your own "e-commerce" platform that sells your inventory at the prices you want. This self-service ad platform can be integrated into an existing website, and media buyers who look you up online or happen to come across your website can now schedule and run their campaigns independently on this platform.

Buyers can schedule a campaign and submit a proposal to you. As a media owner, you have the option to accept or reject this offer. Media buyers can then make payments online using a payment method of your choice - Paypal, Internet banking, etc. This creates transparency for both media owners and media buyers. 

With LMX Online, you can now have your own white-labelled self-service ad platform that can help you close deals online. It can also serve as a lead generator. Your self-service platform will be customised according to your needs - adding parameters, location data, inventory packages and more.

You can book a demo today to understand how a self-serve ad platform works and experience it for yourself.