How to Leverage the Psychology of Outdoor Advertising

APRIL 12, 2024| DillonShane

Despite our digital age – and maybe in spite of it – outdoor advertising remains a powerful tool for your marketing efforts. While SpeedPro can help you from ideation to installation for all of your outdoor graphics, we’ve found that understanding how these advertisements work on a deeper level will help you craft more successful marketing campaigns.

The Data Behind Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising

The Psychology Behind Why Outdoor Ads Work

Outdoor advertising excels by engaging with consumers on a subconscious level with frequent levels of repetition – influencing decisions and preferences without the overt intrusiveness of digital ads. Here are the key psychological factors that make outdoor ads so effective:

Visual Dominance

• The sheer size and spatial positioning of outdoor ads force them into the view of your audience. Whether someone is driving on a highway or walking down the street, outdoor ads – like a wall mural for example – can exist in the same visual hierarchy as tall buildings and the natural sightlines of walking civilians. Their colors, when designed strategically, also aid in helping them dominate their environment through the juxtaposition of the environment’s natural color palette with the high-contrast graphics of the ad.

Familiarity Effect

• We’re habitual beings by nature, often taking the exact same routes to and from work, to go to the grocery store, to visit our families, etc. These predictive patterns provide the perfect opportunity to place your brand in front of your target audience day in and day out. Repetitive exposure to your ad fosters a unique sense of familiarity, driving a quality awareness of your brand. And, given that consumers are 250% times more likely to do business with a brand they recognize over a lesser-known competitor, this effect becomes quite powerful.

Contextual Relevance

• Placing ads in settings that align with your target audience’s lifestyle and interests makes the ad that much more relevant to the viewer. For example, an ad about a new public transit app would perform superbly as a bus wrap since the target audience is not only in ideal proximity to the ad, but they’re also emotionally primed for the information the ad is trying to convey – a perfect recipe for increased engagement in such a highly trafficked location.

Implicit Memory

• Outdoor advertising also excels at subtly influencing consumer perceptions, impacting behaviors through a cognitive process known as “implicit memory.” This may sound like a bold claim at first, but research has actually shown that even if a viewer doesn’t explicitly recall the outdoor ad they saw, their consistent exposure to the brand will still implicitly influence their purchasing decisions in the future.

5 Tips for Creating Successful Outdoor Campaigns

Strategically Pick Your Locations

• Given the variety of locations available for outdoor advertisements, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from for the placement of your ads. To pick the optimal spots, start by understanding your target audience: key demographic factors like age, location, income levels, and much more will help you make a more informed decision.
• Once you identify broader locations, next identify media spaces within each area that would resonate best with your target audience and campaign. For instance, jumping back to our example of the public transit app, a bus wrap displaying an ad to download the app may perform better than a billboard. This would be due to the ad being placed at eye level as well as the ability for the ad to reach a broader audience given the mobile nature of having it displayed across the vehicle itself.

Keep Things Simple and Concise

• Ensure that your copy is straightforward, easily understood, and legible to help your ad register clearly with the viewer; you’ll often have less than 30 seconds to convey your message.

Utilize Contrast & Bold Imagery

• Employing high contrast and striking imagery draws attention to your ad, distinguishing it from its surroundings. From utilizing the actual environment as part of the ad to leveraging unique perspectives and materials, try to be creative with your designs to create a memorable effect.

Leverage CTA’s When Needed

• A clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) guides the audience toward your desired outcome, whether it’s visiting your website, making an in-store purchase, or engaging with your brand on social media. However, CTAs are not always required, especially in brand awareness campaigns where brand recognition and recall are more important than immediate action.

Track Results & Optimize Your Campaigns

• From tracking phone numbers and QR codes to advanced methods like geofencing techniques, we always recommend that you leverage analytics when possible to measure the performance of your ads. This data will then help you optimize future campaigns, adjust your investments, and drive higher returns across your outdoor advertising campaigns.

Work with SpeedPro for Your Next Outdoor Campaign

Whether you need creative/design consultations or unmatched large-format printing services, we’re here to ensure your next outdoor advertising campaign is a success. Contact your local SpeedPro studio to get started, today.