DOOH Isn’t Branding Anymore: How To Measure Foot Traffic and Conversions

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising has become something much more than static branding. Modern DOOH is a performance-driven channel that marketers can use to track ad exposure and its real-world interactions, such as website visits, purchases, and in-store traffic. Unlike DOOH of the past, which was largely judged by estimated reach and impressions, the shift to today’s modern approach has made DOOH much simpler to quantify. And, it has changed the way marketing campaigns are planned and measured. 

Linking Advertisements and Mobile Location Data To Gain Insight

Modern DOOH redefines the approach to the old model, allowing marketers to ask what people did after seeing an ad versus simply considering how many people were exposed to it. 

Today, it is possible to link exposure to ads to outcomes such as:
-In-store visits
-App downloads
-In-store purchases
-Website sessions

Being able to measure these interactions matters for businesses, and the change has led to an uptick in DOOH spending. According to one report, global DOOH ad spend is expected to grow to $39.12 billion by 2030, reflecting advertisers’ growing confidence in linking data to outcomes through methods such as mobile location data. 

Mobile Location Data: A Key Advancement

Of all the advancements in DOOH, one of the most important is the ability to see and verify mobile location data. This data can give your brand more information when consumers pass by digital billboards or transit displays and then help determine if that same device turns up at a physical store or event at a later date. 

In practice, it works like this:
-The device is exposed to a DOOH ad within your defined region or geographic area. 
-The device exposure is logged 
-The same device is later identified within the store’s geofenced location
-The visit is attributed back to the original ad exposure

While this is not a foolproof method, it allows marketers to go beyond assumptions by confirming that foot traffic is likely driven by campaigns in certain locations and time frames. 

This level of attribution is particularly important because so many purchases still take place in physical retail stores and outlets. With 70% of buying decisions still taking place in-store, advertisements placed near points of purchase can be vital in influencing consumers to make a purchase.

Why Modern Outdoor Advertising Works Best With Mobile Retargeting

DOOH works best when it’s not siloed. Pairing it with mobile retargeting is one method that can work well for marketers. It works by identifying the mobile users who have seen outdoor advertisements and then delivers follow-up ads to their mobile devices. 

By doing this, messaging stays consistent, and the likelihood of conversion increases. Since data shows that 76% of consumers take some kind of action following exposure to a DOOH advertisement, backing up those advertisements with retargeting is an appropriate strategy to capture additional conversions. 

Digital retargeting also helps extend the lifespan of outdoor campaigns, continuing the conversation started by DOOH exposure through other channels, such as websites, social media platforms, and mobile apps. By doing this, the customer journey becomes better connected and smoother while also increasing the value of the original DOOH ad placement. 

Using Controls for Attribution Measurements

Control groups help determine the exact percentage of store visits that were driven specifically by your outdoor placements versus other marketing efforts.

This process works by comparing the behaviors of consumers not exposed to a DOOH campaign with those who were exposed to the advertisement. Measuring the differences between the two groups over a set period allows marketers to better understand increases in store visits, incremental lift, conversions, and the overall effectiveness of the campaign. 

As advertisers continue to focus on gaining measurement data and tracking performance, the use of control groups and attribution modeling will grow in importance. These methods are a key approach to ensuring your marketing team gets the insight it needs into what drives conversions while also being able to optimize content and media strategies moving forward. 

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