Everything you need to run a successful DOOH campaign — how programmatic DOOH works and where it fits your strategy. Read it all here, or get the eBook by email.
Marketers around the globe have a whole new world of advertising potential at their fingertips.
Digital out-of-home advertising — or DOOH — has entered a brand-new era, unleashing unparalleled opportunities to reach the right audiences in precisely the right place at exactly the right time.
Thanks to the power of the internet and sophisticated programmatic technologies, marketers can now reach their target audience with personalized, relevant, data-driven and measurable marketing — not only across online media channels, but via outdoor advertising as well.
This ability to use data — the new gold for marketers everywhere — to target consumers in the physical world through digital signage means DOOH advertising is delivering enormous value to brands looking to engage audiences on the move.
DOOH marketing is a rapidly evolving space, and there’s a lot to get to grips with. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about DOOH campaigns, how programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) works, and why you should include DOOH in your marketing strategy.
Let’s dive in.
If you’re brand new to DOOH, it helps to begin with a clear, concise definition.
In simple terms, DOOH advertising is the practice of using digital screens to deliver advertising and marketing content in public places — that is, out of home. The term covers not only the advertising you see outdoors, but the ads and other DOOH media you see indoors too, in shopping malls or elevators, for example.
Put simply: as long as the advertisement is digitally displayed outside of a home, it is a DOOH ad.
An umbrella term covering all advertising found outside the home: print and painted billboards, banners, wallscapes, ads on trains and buses, and paper posters in carriages, elevators, bus stops, phone booths and buildings.
A subset of OOH. As the D implies, it’s out-of-home advertising delivered digitally — via digital screens, signage, billboards and other digital displays, with content that changes dynamically throughout the day.
DOOH ads are everywhere — and as cities expand and upgrade their buildings, transport systems and infrastructure, thousands of new digital screens join the network every year.
Billboards, bus shelters, urban panels and spectacular displays. Digital billboards show images, video, animation and text beside freeways and other high-traffic routes — and unlike traditional billboards, the content changes frequently, cycling different ads for different brands throughout the day.
Airports, train stations, bus stations and subways. Transit DOOH reaches travelers and commuters — screens on the sides of buses and trains, on the backs of ride-share vehicles and taxis, and static digital advertising on platforms and at airports.
Shopping malls, grocery outlets, liquor stores, pharmacies and gas stations. Large digital posters cycle ads throughout the day — from mall posters and elevator screens to gas-pump displays that catch people with little else to do while filling up.
DOOH advertising is growing fast — global ad spend on DOOH is on a steep upward curve.
Global DOOH ad spend in 2020
Projected global DOOH ad spend by 2027 — more than doubling in seven years
Data source: Statista — DOOH advertising market size worldwide, 2017–2027.
Why are brands and marketers spending more and more on DOOH campaigns? Because DOOH reaches people in the real world and in real time — without the problems afflicting other advertising channels.
Online advertising suffers from low viewability, ad blockers and extremely low click-through rates. Online ads have become so ubiquitous and intrusive that most people don’t even see them anymore — a phenomenon known as banner blindness.
of web users say they notice online ads
overall online ad click-through rate
of internet users block ads entirely
The top reasons people give for blocking ads: too many ads on the internet (22.3%), annoying or irrelevant messages (22.3%), and sheer intrusiveness (19.9%). Much of the billions spent on online ads every year is likely going to waste.
Data source: Backlinko ad-blocker usage research.
In stark contrast to online advertising’s shortcomings, Nielsen and the OAAA find that DOOH reaches exceptionally large audiences — when they’re alert, active and not buried in their phones.
of Americans aged 16+ reached by DOOH every week
reached every month
of viewers take at least one measurable action after seeing a DOOH ad
Data source: Nielsen / OAAA Digital OOH Advertising Reports.
The general advantages of DOOH are persuasive on their own — but DOOH becomes even more valuable once programmatic capabilities are added.
pDOOH isn’t so much a type of advertising as a way of buying it. Historically, purchasing out-of-home space was cumbersome and slow, with middlemen negotiating prices and little campaign data to track success. Programmatic DOOH solves both problems: it is the automated buying, selling and delivery of DOOH advertising using specialized software and state-of-the-art data feeds.
Where the online world uses cookies to understand audiences, programmatic DOOH uses mobile location data to understand how consumers move through their day — commuting routes, store visits, gyms, restaurants, entertainment venues. Humans are creatures of habit, and the places they visit reveal a lot about who they are.
Marketers set the conditions — demographics, audience behaviors, budget and duration — and the technology identifies the screens where the target audience has the highest propensity to be, bids competitively for the space, and displays the ad automatically when the conditions are met.
No wonder pDOOH spending keeps climbing: programmatic was just 3.2% of US DOOH spend in 2019 and grew to an expected 14.8% by the end of 2022 — remarkable growth for a young technology.
Data source: eMarketer — US programmatic digital out-of-home ad spending.
To get the most out of programmatic DOOH, you need a platform that is flexible, effective, transparent and easy to use.
At The Neuron, we’re committed to making digital display advertising more accessible than ever. Our platform connects you directly with established, globally renowned media owners so you can find the perfect inventory for your campaign — with easy-to-use analytics to track success and optimize. A typical marketer can spend weeks building a campaign; on The Neuron you only need minutes.
Streamline your buying process and manage all your D/OOH campaigns on one single platform.
Increase your reach with real-time availability of premium inventory from top D/OOH companies around the world.
Customize your criteria and enjoy data-driven decisions for optimal targeting and higher ROI within set budgets.
Upload dynamic artwork and creatives, and execute campaigns in mere minutes with just a few clicks.
Benefit from in-flight adjustments of campaign elements and inventory configuration in real time.
Advertising on digital screens outside the home — billboards, transit, retail and place-based displays — bought and measured like a digital channel.
It can't be blocked or skipped, reaches people in the real world, and consumers rate it more memorable and trustworthy than online ads — while still offering digital-grade targeting and analytics through programmatic buying.
Automated buying against conditions you set — audience, location, time, weather — plus real-time delivery data per screen, replacing weeks of manual negotiation.
Impressions, screen-level playouts and eCPM for delivery; footfall lift, retargeting performance and branded-search uplift for outcomes.
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