Designing effective content
Several strategies have also been identified in recent years for the development of successful content for DOOH campaigns.
“All content considerations should first be led from the brand,” says Brian Bibler, director of creative services for software developer Keywest Technology. “From there, make decisions about goals, initiatives and objectives. To do otherwise will doom a content strategy to being ineffective at best and off-message and harmful to the brand at worst.”
While Bibler recommends observing and evaluating currently deployed content to identify popular trends in the DOOH business, he emphasizes the value of thinking outside the box by beginning each individual campaign with a blank canvas. The vision for the campaign will then be limited only by what can be conceived for the brand, given its own context.
He also advises learning as much as possible about the audience. The failure to do so can derail otherwise well-executed campaigns, simply because the message is lost in translation.
“A good campaign delivers a targeted message that is innovative, clean and easy to read,” he says. “Guiding the audience through the campaign guarantees the brand message will be received and remembered.”
As Bibler points out, ‘less is more.’
“Be sure the text is concise, the images compelling and the dwell times sufficient to allow the audience to absorb the message without losing interest,” he says.
Audience metrics
The final piece in the DOOH campaign puzzle is metrics, i.e. collecting and analyzing verifiable data about content playback and how the campaign is actually viewed by an audience. Paying advertisers, for instance, will demand to see a log of which messages have run in which locations and at which times.
It becomes easier to sell DOOH ads when specific information about viewership and audience size is provided by a third-party source like the aforementioned Arbitron or Nielsen, both of which have recently used a combination of measurement technologies and audience sampling techniques to develop metrics for this medium. This information is also helpful in allowing those responsible for DOOH campaigns to evaluate their approach, tweak their messaging and redeploy their assets.
The big picture
When a DOOH campaign successfully integrates all five of these ingredients, it will support the needs of marketers, advertisers and network operators alike. They can impart information, influence consumer decisions and reap the rewards.
David Little is director of marketing for Keywest Technology, which helps businesses implement digital signage hardware and content, and a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association (DSA). For more information, visit www.keywesttechnology.com.
