How Commute Data Can Help OOH Companies Identify Valuable Advertising Audiences

OOH messages allow advertisers to connect with consumers as they are traveling to work, to shop or to events. Daily commute data helps OOH companies to pitch their spaces to marketers that want to reach consumers. AdMall, a local marketing research platform, contains valuable data about the number of people who commute to work in the U.S. down to the ZIP code level. In addition, OOH companies can use this data to show prospects the type of commuting happening in the local market, ranging from subway to taxi to drive time. AudienceSCAN by AdMall survey data also reveals psychographic data on over 1,500 audience types, including the percentages that respond to specific media formats, including OOH.

What Commute Data Reveals About OOH Advertising Audiences

Commute data encompasses multiple details about how U.S. consumers get to work. The data points range from how long commuters travel to the types of transportation they take. In addition, commute data may include the peak traffic times and identify the most popular routes, both on the road and on public transportation. Understanding these details can help OOH companies sell more of their media space to businesses that target specific audiences.

Daily Travel Patterns and Commuter Routes

OOH companies sell their billboards and transit-related space based on traffic levels. On a daily basis, consumers may travel by billboard locations. These traffic patterns typically vary on the weekend. Government agencies survey consumers about their commute patterns. In addition, highway sensors and cameras can capture traffic counts. Public transportation systems also use smart cards to track ridership levels and patterns.

Peak Commuting Periods and Travel Frequency

The data compiled by various agencies can be modeled to show the peak commuting times in a market. When an OOH company sells digital space, they can price the peak commuting times at a higher rate as the number of impressions rises. Similarly, smart card data from transit systems allows users to understand how frequently commuters are on a subway or bus each week.

Travel Patterns Around Employment and Commercial Centers

Stored data about traffic flow can show advertisers the potential reach of their messages as consumers go to work or travel to commercial centers such as malls.

How Commute Patterns Reveal Potential Advertising Audiences

Travel patterns allow sales teams to show prospects the size of audience exposure. In their geographic market, OOH sellers can share the number of vehicles that pass a billboard site on a daily basis.

Identify Routes with Relevant Audience Exposure

If the average commuter sees between 50 to 100 billboards every day, how many make an impact? Research shows that morning commute mindsets are focused on getting work done. OOH reps should be selling coffee shops and financial services accounts the morning billboard spaces. At night, consumers are more open to restaurant and entertainment messages.

Researchers have also noted that consumers who drive into the city at night should be targeted with “premium” product messaging as they are likely coming in for entertainment.

Consumers leaving the city are potentially also ending their shifts at places like hospitals and make a good audience for “value-oriented messaging.” For example, AudienceSCAN reports that 40% of K‑12 teachers have a one-way commute that lasts between 21 and 60 minutes.

Understand Commuter Movement Around Business Districts

Most urban areas have defined business districts. When selling OOH space, sales reps can show advertisers how their offerings can reach specific types of consumers. Central business district OOH space can target professionals such as attorneys and bankers, for example. Arts districts draw consumers seeking entertainment.

Explore Opportunities Near Retail and Commercial Areas

With traffic count information, OOH sales reps can show advertisers the exposure messages will get. The information can include counts on the number of consumers on public transportation during rush hour. As consumers pass by OOH messages near retail and commercial areas, impressions are made.

Combine Travel Patterns with Audience Demographics

When OOH sellers combine travel patterns with audience psychographics, they can first show advertisers the level of exposure to their ads. This data, combined with which audiences respond to OOH media, can improve the chances of winning a new client.

How OOH Companies Can Evaluate Advertising Locations Using Commute Data

OOH companies can optimize revenue by understanding how specific locations in their inventory will deliver results to their clients. One solid strategy is to evaluate the locations based on commute data.

Evaluate High-Traffic Roads and Commuter Corridors

When selling their inventory, OOH reps should have access to recent data on the high-traffic roads in the market. Commute corridors may vary depending on employment centers. Employees at a suburban healthcare complex comprise a very different audience from the workers at a downtown high-rise bank.

Assess Locations Near Transit Hubs

Pricing OOH assets near transit hubs may require a different mindset. Depending on the time of day, advertisers can target college students or shift workers who are riding buses or the commuter rail.

Evaluate Advertising Opportunities Near Commercial Centers

OOH spaces near commercial centers can also provide a valuable boost to advertisers who purchase static or digital space. Commute data can play a role in advising retailers at commercial centers about when their ads should run.

Match Available OOH Inventory with Advertiser Objectives

With commute data, OOH sellers can review their inventory as they consider advertiser objectives. Digital spaces on OOH formats allow some advertisers to reach the morning commuters while other marketers can purchase evening ad space with audiences who are looking for dining out options or evening entertainment.

Identify Businesses Along Commuter Routes

OOH sales teams can use mapping data or a business intelligence service to generate lists of advertisers operating along the most popular commuter routes.

Explore Advertiser Opportunities Across Business Categories

Sellers can also identify which companies are in categories that have the biggest advertising budgets. In some cases, these marketers are national companies seeking to influence local consumers.

Prioritize Prospects by Market and Audience Fit

Using their licensed intelligence sources, OOH sellers can build their prospect lists. Prioritizing the information by industry vertical and best audience fit will help to optimize the list.

Connect Local Businesses with Relevant Audiences

After OOH sales teams identify the best prospects for their media, they can begin their pitches. In addition to understanding the prospects’ goals, they can present information on target audiences. This information includes traffic counts for the purposes of estimating audience size and the openness of the audience to the OOH media format.

How AdMall Helps OOH Sales Teams Identify Valuable Advertising Audiences

AdMall contains multiple datasets designed to help OOH sales teams optimize outcomes for themselves and their accounts. The intelligence ranges from details on businesses verticals to ad spending. And on the audience level, the intelligence offers valuable details for advertisers.

Identify Prospects Across Local Business Categories

AdMall’s Local Account Intelligence reports contain licensed and proprietary data about business size, revenue and advertising budgets on over 400 business verticals. For every market and vertical, subscribers can build lists of local businesses to target.

Use AudienceSCAN to Understand Consumer Behavior

In addition, AdMall’s AudienceSCAN data contains detailed information on over 1,500 audiences. The data points range from purchase intent to demographics and psychographics to advertising response.

Research Local Markets with ZIP Code-Level Insights

AdMall also contains data on ZIP code-level purchases along with a 5‑year projection. Multiple demographic data points such as age, gender, income, and family are available at the ZIP code level. And OOH sellers can get counts on occupation and commute times.

Use Prospect by Advertising Response to Support Prospecting

Advertisers want to know how many consumers take action after seeing an OOH ad. With the Prospect by Advertising Response feature in AdMall, OOH sellers can share that information. OOH sellers can also learn which audiences have more affinity for OOH messages.

Turn Market Research into Relevant Sales Pitches

This data, along with AdMall’s information about consumer spending on specific products, down to the ZIP code level, helps OOH sellers turn market research into successful sales pitches.

Challenges of Using Commute Data for OOH Advertising

Commuter data alone is not enough to verify and validate details like exposure to an OOH ad. To be more precise, OOH sellers must recommend specific physical placements for an ad. And they can connect data about the targeted audience’s attitude about advertising to ensure stronger results for the marketer.

Incomplete or Outdated Travel Information

Knowing where people travel does not explain their shopping habits, preferences or purchase intentions. In addition, travel data may be incomplete or outdated.

Differences Between Commuter Volume and Audience Relevance

To effectively sell OOH placements, media sales reps should acknowledge the difference between commuter volume and audience relevance.  Not every commuter will connect with a billboard that promotes a specialty business such as home healthcare services.

Limitations of Inferring Demographics from Travel Patterns

Similarly, OOH sellers should be cautious about reading demographics into travel patterns due to a lack of sufficient information. For example, commuters may be driving by a local hospital because it is a shortcut to highway access. They may not be potential hospital patients.

Validating Placement-Level Audience Metrics

It is not always possible to verify the exact demographics or psychographics of people who drive past a highway billboard or who walk by a sign in a mall. OOH sellers may need to collect additional information about people who travel past a placement.

Conclusion: Turn Commute Data into Better OOH Sales Opportunities

Commute data reveals where people travel, the routes they use, and when they are most likely to encounter outdoor advertising. AdMall contains commute data at the ZIP code level. And AdMall’s AudienceSCAN adds insight into consumer demographics, purchasing behaviors, interests, and spending patterns, helping OOH salespeople match advertisers with the audiences they want to reach.

Combining commute patterns with AdMall’s consumer insights allows OOH representatives to move beyond simply selling billboard locations. They can explain who an advertiser could reach, why that audience matters, and how an OOH campaign supports the advertiser’s business goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

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