How OOH Companies Can Use Data to Find More Local Advertisers

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising companies use data to identify businesses that are likely to advertise, understand their marketing needs, and match them with relevant advertising locations. They can also prioritize the prospects that are most likely to purchase and highlight the businesses that need a reason to buy ad space. OOH companies need business intelligence, audience intelligence and sales intelligence to succeed. This intelligence is available in AdMall.

What Is Data-Driven Prospecting for OOH Advertising?

Data-driven prospecting entails using a database of businesses operating in the market where an OOH company has media space ranging from billboards to transit stations. The databases typically contain information such as the size of each business, the physical location (unless it’s an online operator), its target customers and the type of advertising done.

In addition, data-driven prospecting also requires information about the consumers who live in the local area. The data should include demographic and psychographic information. It’s not enough to know the percentage of consumers who are between the ages of 30 and 40. It’s also important to know, for example, the percentage of the age group that has young children.

Additional data, such as the number of people who commute to work on public transportation can generate good estimates on the reach of a specific OOH media site.

How Data Helps Identify Potential Advertisers

Over time, OOH companies can track general business conditions in their market area. The number of new businesses that are opening signals economic health. In addition, when new businesses open in a market, they need to advertise to increase consumer awareness.

Types of Data OOH Companies Can Use

In addition to tracking business listings, OOH companies require other intelligence. Knowing the general demographics of the region is helpful. And when OOH companies have mall-based, also known as place-based media locations, they should have access to foot traffic information.

Information about competitor activity is critical for OOH companies to possess. They should understand where marketers are spending their advertising budgets, both on competitive media types and on other OOH businesses. 

Why OOH Companies Need a Data-Driven Approach to Finding Local Advertisers

When OOH companies and media sellers have access to robust market intelligence, they can efficiently identify businesses in the local market. These locally owned businesses should be advertising to enhance their branding and to drive revenue through promotions. An easy-to-use database can become the kind of tool OOH companies need to meet their sales goals regularly.

Finding Advertisers Beyond Existing Networks

Established OOH businesses have an existing list of customers. But advertiser churn is real. To meet their goals, OOH businesses need access to a list of other businesses that are likely to advertise in their market.

Identifying Businesses With Local Growth Potential

OOH companies should understand business life cycles. Businesses in high-growth verticals typically spend more on advertising. Selling OOH media space to these businesses will yield solid results.

Reducing Time Spent on Manual Prospecting

With an easy-to-use database available, OOH companies can find prospects in their market quickly. And when datasets of businesses can be populated on a map, OOH companies can see locations in relation to their media space. This type of information can reduce the time spent on manual prospecting.

Improving Lead Quality and Sales Efficiency

Good market intelligence tools can improve lead quality for OOH companies. Their sales reps can quickly identify the best leads in their market. And they can improve their sales efficiency.

What Types of Local Businesses Should OOH Companies Target?

Historically, some business verticals have consistently used OOH advertising. But digital formats have become a bigger part of the OOH mix, giving advertisers more flexibility. In addition, digital media now takes up consumer time and attention. Marketers are realizing that OOH placements can make an impression on consumers who are driving through the local region.

Legal services

The OOOA reports that legal services, especially the personal injury sector, has grown considerably in recent years. Large national firm place ads in local markets. This development has prompted local law firms to raise their visibility through OOH ads.

Quick-serve restaurants

Quick-serve restaurants are struggling to grow revenue as inflation pinches consumers. They buy billboard and other place-based ads to boost sales from consumers who will be physically close to the restaurants. OOH companies should know that many QSRs are part of franchises and must spend a set percentage of ad money in their local markets.

Local services such as HVAC businesses

Local service businesses such as HVAC operators have multiple opportunities to advertise to consumers through the year. As seasons change, system checks can turn up problems. Increasingly, HVAC operators are advertising system checks along with something new: Services contracts that offer on-demand attention by a technician.

Hospitals and medical centers

Hospitals and medical centers can also advertise their services through the year. As they add facilities, such as birthing centers or dialysis units, they promote the changes to raise awareness in the market.

Colleges and universities

The cost of college tuition has grown at the same time that the traditional college-bound age demographic is shrinking. This market shift has left colleges scrambling to secure applicants. More colleges are now advertising the benefits of their programs, and some are using OOH ad campaigns to promote big tuition discounts.

How OOH Companies Can Use Data to Identify High-Potential Advertisers

In-depth business and market data helps OOH companies prioritize promising prospects. OOH operators should establish a methodical review of their business and market research intelligence to optimize their prospecting. It’s critical to separate market noise from true signals that indicate potential opportunities.

Their data sources should allow them to understand the audiences that businesses are targeting as well as what their prospects’ competitors are doing.

Analyze Business Location and Target Audience

OOH prospects must be analyzed in the context of their location. More importantly, OOH operators should know the behavior of the target audience. How often are they likely to drive or walk by a billboard? How frequently are they at a mall or in the transit station where these ads appear?

Identify New Business Openings and Expansions

Comprehensive datasets can signal which new businesses are opening in the local market. Similarly, when an existing business expands its products and services, OOH companies should approach the prospect with ideas for an ad campaign to inform local consumers.

Monitor Competitor Advertising Activity

OOH businesses must track their own competitors. They must be aware of which media companies make sales to local businesses. A tracking and reporting system can help them analyze the activity and change strategy.

Evaluate Local Market Demand and Seasonal Trends

Data can also pinpoint when local businesses experience peak sales. Local demand for products and services fluctuates depending on the regional climate and other seasonal factors.

Prioritize Prospects Based on Advertising Potential

Identifying and prioritizing strong prospects should be a top feature of a marketing research intelligence tool. This information can signal which prospects make the best candidates for buying ad space and media services.

How Location Data Helps Match Advertisers With the Right OOH Inventory

OOH companies maintain a variety of inventory for media placements. But not every location works for every advertiser. Advertisers need to reach specific audiences. And they may have goals ranging from branding to promotional campaigns. Good location data, especially regarding vehicular and foot traffic is critical. 

Identify High-Traffic Advertising Locations

High-traffic zones are critical to OOH and their client’s success. When OOH companies can provide evidence of the number of cars passing a billboard on a daily basis, they can explain the impact of an ad to a prospect. Similarly, an auto repair shop might prefer to run an ad campaign on a billboard seen by drivers versus on a subway car placement.

Understand Local Audience Demographics and Psychographics

When preparing a presentation for an OOH campaign, sellers should first know who the target audience is. Demographics such as age and gender matter. But details about the percentage of the audience that might patronize a specific QSR is valuable psychographic data.

Match Advertising Locations With Business Goals

As OOH companies work with prospects to develop ad campaigns, they will ask about business goals. Their discovery process for the business needs will be matched to the advertising locations they can offer.

Find Advertising Opportunities in Underserved Areas

In rural markets, OOH companies may not have transit furniture and station placements to sell to advertisers. But local businesses still need to reach consumers and can do so through billboards and placements in malls and other public areas. AudienceSCAN research by AdMall shows that 16% of rural residents responded to an OOH ad in the past 30 days.

How OOH Companies Use AdMall Insights for More Advertising Sales

As a local marketing research tool, AdMall provides users with proprietary and licensed data to help out-of-home and other media companies Sell Smarter!® In addition to marketing intelligence and business intelligence, AdMall offers advertising sales data by vertical.

Personalize Outreach With Business-Specific Insights

Media sellers can run a local account intelligence report for any business in their market. The report lists key data points about the business along with detailed intelligence about the industry vertical.

Recommend OOH Placements Based on Audience Response Data

AdMall’s AudienceSCAN and B2B BuyerSCAN profiles highlight which audiences are the most likely target for specific local businesses. In addition, these profiles reveal the percentages of each audience that respond to specific media formats ranging from out-of-home to streaming TV.

Use Local Market Insights to Build Stronger Pitches

AdMall contains local market insights to assist media companies as they build pitches and presentations. Market intelligence reports include population counts and consumer spending on itemized goods and services.

Use Seasonal Data to Pitch to Local Businesses

Businesses must continue to advertise to maintain a presence in the local market. In addition to running promotional campaigns, they should advertise to connect with consumers in the right seasons. AdMall provides this intelligence to users.

Common Challenges in Finding Local Advertisers and How Data Helps

The best market intelligence systems address the challenges that media companies face. Specifically, they provide information about local businesses and their advertising potential. They also provide accurate lists of businesses in the local market.

Incomplete or Outdated Business Information

Whether it’s an internal CRM or an old mailing list entry, outdated information slows down sales reps. The best-in-class business information databases contain recently verified details. 

Difficulty Reaching the Right Decision-Makers

Decision-makers do not make their contact information easily available. Solid business intelligence provided by a reputable company can make the process easier.

Limited Visibility Into Advertising Budgets

Privately held businesses protect data from competitors and this includes advertising budgets. A good business intelligence firm can estimate and project ad spending in the local market by smaller businesses.

Competition From Digital Advertising Channels

When pitching their format, OOH reps need information about their prospects’ competitors and how they are advertising. This information can be hard to find without access to a tool like the Digital Audit provided by AdMall.

Final Thoughts: How Data Helps OOH Companies Discover More Local Advertisers

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising companies can use business intelligence, location insights and lead qualification to identify high-potential advertisers, improve sales targeting, and grow revenue. With the right data partner, OOH sales teams can discover business information ranging from company size to advertising activity.  Location insights help them connect advertisers to the audiences they want to reach. These insights can be based on consumer psychographics, traffic patterns and physical locations at specific dayparts. Lead qualification ranges from business needs to likelihood to purchase advertising.

These insights help OOH companies find the right advertisers, match them with the right locations, and prioritize the prospects most likely to buy—creating a more efficient sales process, stronger advertising proposals, and greater revenue opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

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