How Local Businesses Can Implement Proximity Marketing in Out-of-Home Ad Campaigns

Local businesses often can’t maximize their out-of-home ad campaigns because of a lack of targeting and personalization. This can lead to a poor return on investment and missed opportunities to connect with their target audience. That’s about to change thanks to the emergence of proximity marketing, which leverages GPS and Bluetooth to target shoppers based on their location.

Billboards as we know them first emerged in the late 1800s. Some 150 years later, they remain one of the best known forms of traditional outdoor — or out-of-home (OOH) — advertising.

Why does this form of advertising have such staying power? Because it works. Research shows that 24 per cent of shoppers were motivated to visit a store on the same day they saw its outdoor ad and 32 per cent visited later that week. 

Essentially, OOH advertising is advertising that reaches people where they are in the real world — on the street, in transit or in public spaces. Today OOH ads are digital as well as physical, but the benefits are the same.

OOH ads are:

• hard to avoid and ignore.
• offer repeated exposure throughout the day.
• can be placed where advertisers know they will be most likely to attract their target shoppers.

In the case of local businesses, this means displaying them near their retail locations, where they can entice people to come in and — hopefully — make a purchase.

That said, local businesses often can’t maximize their traditional OOH ad campaigns because they lack targeting and personalization capability. This can lead to a poor return on investment and missed opportunities to connect with their target audience. That’s about to change thanks to the emergence of the latest innovation to OOH advertising: proximity marketing. This new technique leverages location technologies to target shoppers based on where they are in the real world.

Postmedia understands proximity marketing and how local businesses can leverage it to enhance their OOH campaigns. Here’s how it works.

What is proximity marketing?

Brands use proximity marketing to send relevant ads to targeted shoppers based on their location with the goal of increasing the likelihood they will make a purchase.

Proximity marketing uses a range of technologies:

• Global positioning system (GPS) technology allows advertisers to send special offers and other marketing content to consumers when they enter or exit a predefined area.
  • Tip: Time your ads to maximize impact. For example, promote lunch offers around midday. Bluetooth is used in beacons that send messages, such as push notifications with discounts for shopping, to nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices.

• Wi-Fi collects and provides location data to deliver ads in specific areas. For example, a brand can send dynamic marketing content to a customer logging into its store’s Wi-Fi network.
  • Tip: Make sure the ad includes a compelling call to action, such as “Visit now for 20 per cent off.”

• Near field communication (NFC) allows brands to connect with consumers on their smartphones through NFC tags-enabled devices.
• QR codes allow people visiting a specific location to scan a QR code to receive promotional material or other relevant marketing messages.
  • Tip: To make the experience immersive and interactive, integrate augmented reality (AR) into the ad so that when consumers scan the QR code with their smartphones, they see a 3D version.

One of the latest innovations in proximity marketing is the introduction of automation. Digital out-of-home (DOOH) programmatic advertising is the technology-fueled version of traditional OOH advertising. The automated buying and delivery of these ads allows brands to manage campaigns through their programmatic platforms and because DOOH doesn't collect cookies, complying with privacy regulations is not a concern.

DOOH campaigns use geo-fencing, tracking, retargeting, personalization, attribution and a range of formats, sizes and interactive features to engage audiences in a variety of public environments.

Benefits of proximity marketing

More shoppers in the door

Targeting ads and promotions to people who are already near your store significantly increases the likelihood they will walk in.

A better customer experience

Place, context and time are the cornerstones of an effective OOH campaign fueled by geolocation technology. Businesses that focus their marketing strategies to connect in a meaningful way with high-intent audiences in their communities can set themselves apart from their competitors, increase foot traffic, build trust, relationships and loyalty – and drive sales.

Higher conversion rates

Industry research shows that due to the targeted nature of these ads to high-intent shoppers, proximity marketing can lead to a 10.9 per cent increase in sales in nearby stores.

How local businesses can leverage proximity marketing to drive successful OOH advertising campaigns

Choose high-impact target locations

Focus on the shopping malls, office buildings, neighborhoods, subway stations, event venues and other high-traffic public spaces that are relevant to your business.

Use the right technologies

To decide on the most appropriate location technology, it’s important to have a good understanding of your target audience and what you want your campaign to achieve.

Create great content

Content is always king – regardless of the format. Create compelling messages that are customized both to meet the needs/interests of your target audience and to fit the space where they will appear. It’s also important to match the format to the location. For example, large format OOH and DOOH ads work best in high-traffic areas, like highway billboards, outdoor digital walls and transit/bus shelters. Point-of-purchase DOOH ads allow you to influence shoppers in the aisles of their favourite grocery stores, big box retailers and pharmacies.

Implement geofencing

Set up virtual boundaries around physical locations where your ads will be triggered. This will allow you to send relevant ads only to potential customers’ smartphones, when they enter or leave these areas.

Measure and analyze performance

Track key performance indicators, such as foot traffic, conversion rates and increase in sales, to measure and optimize the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. To ensure success, calculate the return on investment by comparing the increase in foot traffic and sales to the overall cost of the campaign.

Proximity marketing is poised to get an extra boost as more cities adopt internet-of-things technology to create connected urban environments. Marketers can use this data to further personalize advertising content and ensure it reaches audiences at the right time. Stay up to date on the latest innovations and use the best practices outlined in this post to get the most from your OOH campaigns.