7 ways marketers can get started with Programmatic Digital Out of Home

Programmatic Digital Out Of Home (also known as DOOH, funnily enough) has finally entered the Northern European chat, after much anticipation. If you didn’t know, DOOH ads are digital billboards or screens you see in public places, like shopping malls, bus stops, or train stations.

Until very recently, setting up DOOH ads was quite complicated, because neither the Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) nor the providers were ready to launch… a classic chicken and egg situation.

But now, there’s nowhere to hide since we pushed the blockers aside – the logistics have been resolved so it’s time for you to start taking advantage of first-mover opportunities in DOOH.

Aaand to set you off on the right track, here are our top 7 tips to hack your way through Programmatic DOOH.

#1: Find the right DSP

Start by choosing the appropriate Demand-Side Platform (DSP) for your DOOH campaigns. While major omnichannel DSPs in Northern Europe (DV360, Adform, and The Trade Desk) offer DOOH capabilities, consider leveraging niche platforms such as Vistar for more granular control. Vistar empowers marketers to plan down to individual screens, providing insights into estimated reach and associated costs.

#2: Take advantage of low entry barriers

With DOOH entering the Programmatic ecosystem, it brings the flexibility and adaptiveness inherent to the Programmatic DNA. In the past, only big companies could afford to run ads on digital screens in public places. But now, even smaller companies can join in. So yes, it is affordable even if you’re not a big FMCG player, because there are no minimum spend or budget requirements.

So go ahead and buy that one screen next to your good friend’s apartment and show them how much you appreciate them in the time slot of 7.05-7.10 every fourth Tuesday. No, that’s not creepy, it’s called friendship. You should look it up.

#3: Time your ads and be smart about it

Say you have 70,000 friends who all hang out in the same stadium at the same time (impressive!) and you want them all to see your message. With Programmatic DOOH, you can plan your ads so that lots of people will see them, like during big events (concerts, football games, marathon races…).

DOOH impressions are measured by looking at the impressions you bought, and then multiplying this number by an estimated footfall calculation. This footfall is measured using IPSOS and is updated on a quarterly or bi-quarterly basis. With the knowledge of real-time footfall traffic, you can exploit certain screen placements during big events, as these would not have been factored into the IPSOS analysis.

In other words, you can reach a lot more people for an artificially lower price. Smart, right?

#4: Prices are low, so be a cheapskate

Imagine you are at an auction house bidding for a really cool, antique lamp. At the auction, the lamp has a starting price (a floor price) of 100€, but there is no max on how high the bid can go – so bidders can bid as high as they want, and the highest bidder will get the lamp.

But you also know that you can also buy this lamp directly from an antique store, though its price is 200€. So if you bid 100€ or 150€ at the auction, since that bid is close to the floor price, then you know you might not get it – though if you did, then it’d be a great deal, since you know it’s more costly somewhere else. If you reaaally need the lamp and you’re willing to pay more, then you can go to the antique store and buy it for 200€.

The prices of DOOH follow a similar pattern. A floor price (the minimum bid) is set by the publisher, and then the advertisers are free to bid however much they want for whatever placement they want to buy. Of course, if you bid very high, then you’ll most likely win many auctions, but should this become more expensive than buying the placements via an Insertion Order (the antique store) directly at the publisher, then the advantage of buying it programmatically diminishes 🙁

However, if you are smart about it (which you are, because you have read this article), then you’ll get acquainted with the floor prices and be able to hit a sweet spot where you: a) Win enough placements to fulfil your campaign KPIs, and b) Do it whilst not exceeding the prices you’d get from an IO purchase.

#5: Be smart with your Geo

As it was hinted towards earlier in this article, you could essentially buy the screen next to your best friend’s apartment. And while this could be fun, we live in a capitalistic society, so you have to think of ROI and all that.

What you could do is look into the placements that are close to the audience you wish to expose your message to. Imagine you are selling cat litter on a subscription basis, you may want to be close to a veterinarian clinic or a pet shop, as that would increase the likelihood of reaching a cat owner.

I’m not saying it will be as effective as selling water bottles in the Sahara or sunscreen to vampires, but with a limited budget you may want to be selective about the screens, and having this in mind could make your investment worthwhile.

#6: Be creative with your creatives

Most DOOH screens follow the dimensions of a 9:16 aspect ratio – like IG stories 😉. And why is this great? Because it simplifies the process of creative delivery and provides you with the opportunity to re-use creatives from other media sources.

Think about the creative options that exist on display with DCO, or on META through Smartly: the same process can be applied to DOOH. You can run one creative in the morning and another one in the evening, or one when the sun is shining and a different one when it rains.

When customising your creative to DOOH, try answering these questions:

• If the screen is placed in a venue, what sort of venue is it?
• What do we know about the population in this location?
• Will your audience have time to absorb the message in the ad, or is it near a bike lane where time in view is limited?

The answer to these questions will help you optimise your creatives for the best results.

#7: Be ware of the (potential) QR codes trap.

Ah, the infamous QR codes.

While you can’t click a DOOH ad, you can scan a QR code displayed on the ad, which then prompts a desired action, such as accessing the advertiser’s website or leading to a payment link to MobilePay or Vipps. You might’ve encountered use cases of this, such as NGOs collecting money for a charitable cause. Such examples prove that DOOH can have tactical purposes as well.

But it is important not to lose sight of what DOOH is inherently good at, and that is: the possibility to innovate, being relevant and fun with your creatives and placements, whilst giving users an ease to digest ad experience.

The QR code trap then lies in evaluating your DOOH campaign’s impact based on how many people scanned your code. This is like evaluating your day in Tivoli based on the churros you had, and nod based on all the fun rollercoaster rides 🎢

TL;DR

• Programmatic Digital Out Of Home (pDOOH) is gaining traction in Northern Europe, offering new advertising opportunities.
• Choose the right Demand-Side Platform (DSP) to launch your DOOH campaigns effectively.
• Entry barriers are lower than ever, making it accessible even for smaller businesses. Start small and work on incorporating DOOH into your media mix.
• Strategically time your ads for maximum exposure during big events.
• Take advantage of low prices by understanding floor prices and bidding smartly.
• Target specific locations relevant to your audience for better ROI.
• Be creative with your ad designs to engage viewers effectively.
• Use the readily available data.
• Beware of the QR code trap: focus on innovative and impactful campaigns, not just scan counts.

Psst! A successful pDOOH strategy goes hand in hand with understanding attention and viewability. Lucky for you, we’ve written about it 😉