In these tough economic times, no one likes to face the uncertainty of a financial crisis. With new businesses starting left and right, they require the space and platforms to grow further. But why are they not seen? What’s the significant factor holding them back from expanding like their already established counterparts?
It's simple. They have no room for outdoor advertising for their products and services. A business cannot properly expand its horizons unless it gets new customers. And it won’t receive new buyers unless people can read about them on outdoor signage while driving by.
What Is Outdoor Advertising?
Outdoor advertising is all the outdoor signage you see on your way to work or the supermarket. It refers to any advertising you’re exposed to outside of your home or in an offline fashion. This includes billboards and transit posters.
Although some may argue that online advertising through social media influences potential buyers much more, that sort of advertising gives targeted ads based on algorithms, so it may not always reach the desired clientele.
On the other hand, outdoor ads don’t cater to a specific demographic. They are made huge and simple so everyone passing by can easily understand them. Not only that, but they also convince individuals not interested in that particular service to try it out.
Forbes Innovation
Consistent Increase In Digital Outdoor Advertising
Following the digitalization trend in every field, digital outdoor advertising has seen an exponential rise in usage. People have been looking at standard, motionless ads for decades now and have probably grown weary of them. Animations have captured people’s interests and influenced their choices significantly more than basic picture ads in this fast-paced world.
Digital billboards, the most common form of digital out-of-home media, have seen a marked increase in usage over the past five years. In 2015, DOOH (digital out-of-home) media spending comprised a meager 17% of all outdoor advertising, but this number is estimated to grow up to 42% by 2023 in the U.S. There has also been a 43.4% increase in numbers from 2016 to 2020, increasing from 6,700 to 9,600 digital billboards all over America.
It is no secret the growth of DOOH media is not slowing down anytime soon, and investing in it is a much wiser decision compared to motionless outdoor ads, especially considering the rate at which technology is progressing. With people introducing new, innovative techniques to make their products stand out, there is no doubt digital outdoor signage will leave its counterpart obsolete in the near future.
How And Why Is Outdoor Signage 100% Dominated By Businesses?
Outdoor signage, especially things like billboards, is always in the hands of businesses. This is primarily because the owners of these structures know without a doubt that big businesses can pay considerably more compared to smaller business owners.
They prefer these corporate clients over newer startups, as they stand to profit a lot more, especially considering how the place where a billboard or poster is situated determines its value.
A billboard found on a busy highway is priced so high that oftentimes it is out of reach for smaller businesses, and that is why you’ll usually find large-scale outdoor signage to be in the hands of businesses. This severely stifles the growth of up-and-coming brands as they cannot get their product out. With large businesses having a solid monopoly over these structures, other ways seem less significant and impactful due to which they have little to no chance of competing.
Make The Shift Now!
Inflation is at an all-time high, and it’s not coming down anytime soon. With more prominent brands constantly raising their prices to earn more, it is becoming difficult for smaller businesses to take part in this race to earn.
Start investing in local businesses and giving them spaces to advertise to get their product out properly. With cheaper rates and better qualities, they’ll definitely provide you with better returns in the long term and are much more beneficial to the economy as a whole.
The Bottom Line
Not giving everyone an equal opportunity is an injustice we're all familiar with or have seen in our lives. Because of this, newer entrepreneurs aren’t given a fair shot at outdoor ads. Support these businesses and help them grow to eventually see their products displayed on outdoor ads all over the country.
Founder & CEO at Pranos Inc. Pranos is a San Francisco-based company building car window display systems.