Digital Billboards Drive Industry Growth
By Darrin Friskney
Watchfire Digital Outdoor
Not
much has changed in outdoor advertising over the past 100
years, but the industry is poised for an evolution that will
boost revenues significantly.
While
traditional mass market media has struggled in recent years,
the introduction of digital billboards is helping the
outdoor advertising industry thrive. Outdoor
advertising has become a frontline contender for advertising
investment dollars. Here are the trends driving this
resurgence:
1.
New focus:
one board for many advertisers.
Aside from raising rates, an outdoor advertising (OA)
company’s best strategy for growing revenue had been to
erect additional billboards. The more billboards, the
higher the revenue. However, strict cap and replace
ordinances often limit the number of billboards a company
can own. This will lead outdoor advertising companies to
look to technology—in the form of digital billboards—to grow
revenue through more efficient boards. Digital
billboards allow several advertisers to share the same
billboard, multiplying revenue from an individual board by
as much as six to eight times.
2.
Selling
strategies become more sophisticated.
OA companies will get more out of their digital billboards
by finessing their selling strategy. Strategies such as
exclusive category sponsorships, unlimited copy changes and
automated database-driven updates are important selling
points and potential premium offerings that will help
advertisers maximize returns on their outdoor advertising
investment.
3.
Digital
billboard networks will rival other advertising media.
Networks of digital boards will rival TV and radio
advertising in everything from market coverage to ease of
updating timely messages. With traditional static
billboards, advertisers with time-sensitive offers would not
consider outdoor advertising as an option. However,
digital billboards will change that.
4.
Ad testing
will improve creative.
With the ability to change the content and creative of
digital billboards almost instantly, advertisers will test
creative techniques and tweak their billboards for maximum
ROI.
5.
Advertisers will demand digital.
As the benefits of digital billboards become better known,
outdoor advertisers will demand that their OA company offer
a digital alternative to static boards. Demand for outdoor
will continue to grow as it is one of the few remaining true
mass-reach advertising vehicles with no way to block or
pre-empt the message. OA companies need to be ready for the
demands.
6.
Revenue
models will solidify.
OA companies will become comfortable with new revenue
models, such as board sharing, day-parting, exclusive
sponsorships, short-run premiums and others.
7.
State and
local governments will see the light.
As digital billboards prove that outdoor advertising can
look good and offer a community service by running Amber
Alerts and other public notices, state and local governments
will continue to review and write ordinances to permit
digital billboards.
8.
Digital
outdoor advertising will expand beyond the "big boys."
The largest
outdoor advertising companies have dominated digital outdoor
advertising. In 2007, the rest of the OA companies
will come on board in a big way.
9.
Programming will begin to move in-house.
As advertisers become comfortable with digital billboard
software, they will begin to schedule and program their own
boards. Ads can be formatted as static JPGs, sent to signs
via a DSL connection and scheduled using user-friendly
software.
10.
Mobile
outdoor will adopt digital.
Mobile billboard trucks, noticing the success of digital
billboards, will trial and adopt digital boards. All
the same advantages that apply to traditional outdoor apply
to mobile.
Darrin Friskney is
the director of Watchfire Digital Outdoor, manufacturer of
the most durable and dependable digital billboards
available. He can be reached at
Darrin.Friskney@watchfiresigns.com or by calling (866)
949-9282 or visit
http://www.watchfiredigitaloutdoor.com/
