What Outdoor Advertising Is

Outdoor advertising is any type of advertising that you can see out of your home. It can be placed on the roadway, highway, in public transport, on buildings, in the premises of various organizations, and so on. The main aim of outdoor advertising is to attract people's attention to a brand or product, increase its awareness and increase the number of sales. There are a huge number of types of advertising structures. The most commonly used are the following:

• - Billboards;
• - Trivision billboard;
• - Citylights;
• - Digital billboards (or monitors);
• - Transit advertising and so on.

Examples of outdoor advertising

Let's talk a little bit about each type of outdoor advertising separately.

Billboard

A billboard is a large–sized advertising structure (usually 6x3 meters) in the form of static posters. They are usually placed in passageways where many people see them every day: for example, on highways or near shopping centers. Billboards are the most popular type of outdoor advertising.

Trivision billboard

A trivision is a large screen whose surface, unlike a billboard, can change. On this type of advertising structure, you can place three completely different plots, replacing each other with the help of a special mechanism: rotating prisms. Due to their "liveliness" and dynamism, trivision billboards attract the attention of passers-by more often and more successfully, and therefore are in high demand, despite the fact that they are quite difficult to set.

City light

City light (or city format) is an advertising structure consisting of a two-sided light box showing some advertising material. They can be dynamic (with a scrolling mechanism inside the box, which usually allows you to share up to 5 stories) and static (without a scrolling mechanism). City lights are usually located near the entrances to shopping malls, squares, underground passages, bus stops or near cinemas.

Digital billboard (or monitor)

Digital billboards are a large dynamic screen capable of broadcasting video. They are also located in crowded places, attracting attention with a bright and lively picture. Nowadays, billboards and static ad spaces no longer surprise anyone, so advertisers who want to stand out, use monitors, because, as research shows, they really attract more attention than other types of advertising structures.

Transit advertising (advertising in public transport)

You can find this type of outdoor advertising in buses, trams, electric trains, and other types of public transport. Advertising surfaces in public transport are usually small, but, nevertheless, attract attention and work effectively. This is because a large number of people see them, especially during rush hours. This kind of advertising can be either a sticker, an advertising banner and located inside the transport, or it can be an image on the transport itself, which attracts even more people.

Pros and cons of outdoor advertising

Let's start with the advantages:

• - Using outdoor advertising, you can capture an additional target audience. For example, advertising in shopping malls is seen by a variety of people, so it can be very effective.
• - The absence of intermediaries between the consumer and the advertising itself. For example, potential buyers or customers do not need to do anything to access the advertisement and see the product.
• - Another important advantage is that the audience is highly likely to pay attention to outdoor advertising, because TV advertising, for example, can be skipped by switching the channel, but it will not work with outdoor advertising.
• - The advertiser can choose a specific area of the city, region, and so on to work more pointwise. If you have a store in the central area of the city, you buy advertising spaces located next to it. This way, it will attract more people, and it will be more effective than, for example, TV advertising.

Now let's talk about the disadvantages:

• - Difficulties with influencing a certain target audience and the inability to measure the total number of impressions or views.
• - Limited space for placement of advertising and informational materials. Billboards, transit advertising or trivision billboards are functionally weaker than banner advertising on the Internet.
• - High competition. Now there are many types of outdoor advertising. To achieve success and increase the number or clients, you need to resort to creative solutions that are more likely to interest a potential client.