How Marketers Embrace OOH in a Post-GDPR World
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) revolutionised data protection policies in the EU on the 25th of May 2018. Since then, marketers have had to be very careful about how they plan broad communication strategies, while database numbers plummeted. Luckily, Out of Home (OOH) is one medium that is still a sound marketing investment with no privacy risks.
Post-GDPR world exposes the power of outdoor advertising
Now that the onus is on businesses to up their game when it comes to online privacy, customers have the right to be protected and empowered. Which is great if you’re a customer, not so great if you’re a business still trying to fill your lead funnel in order to deliver numbers to the honchos upstairs.
Although, while there were data privacy principles already in place in the EU, before GDPR, they really didn’t consider the way technology and communication had evolved, with social media, smartphones and the way advanced technologies were weaving their way into everyday life.
For most marketers, the start of the sales process was the simple exchange of an email address. Now it’s not that simple. Without explicit consent, that email is no good to you in terms of the start of a beautiful relationship with you nudging them from acquisition, through retention and onto referrals. So how do we continue a relationship with a broad audience without putting ourselves into hot water?
OOH is a fantastic way to reach a broad audience, when the power is in the hands of the customer to interact with a business on their terms. To retain that customer, making pop up email opt-in forms visible and user-friendly, offering white papers, e-books and guides in exchange for information, or running ‘refer a friend’ offers for deals, discounts and offers are great ways to keep customers in the funnel.
Why outdoor advertising is replacing online advertising
Most customers have had to look closely at what’s happening online, as more and more of us become wary of what’s going on behind the screen. That’s true even more so now under the new GDPR regulation, as marketers have had to abandon their list-buying ways in order to reach a broad audience.
Some have turned to online advertising in order to gain or retain a database of customers. However, that’s starting to have its own associations.
There are nearly 1.3 billion websites out there, so in order to capture attention some advertisers will spread their message wide and far, but how does that affect brand perception, and more importantly, brand safety?
Brand safety is the buzzword of the moment, as more and more brands start to blacklist or whitelist websites based on the types of keywords and content that are prevalent. But that approach doesn’t really take into account the interests or behaviours of the target audience. Some URLs are immediately rejected by brands based on the risk to brand safety, regardless of the popularity of the site and the alignment with the ideal audience. It’s this trend that is further limiting brands mass appeal and narrowing the customer base.
Facebook is trying to combat this trend by introducing a new inventory filter so that businesses can see the type of content they’re buying against. The filter will be broken down into limited, standard and full. This is great news for those businesses who still have a bad taste in their mouth after potentially appearing alongside controversial content.
How outdoor advertising provides brand safety, and results
While we knew GDPR was coming, it doesn’t mean we were ready for it. To avoid a slap on the hand or a hefty fine, marketers have had to adapt quickly and employ new and clever marketing tactics. The best of those is a tried and true old classic, outdoor advertising or it’s fresh and fun younger sibling – digital out of home.
DOOH is great for digital marketers who are feeling slightly adrift in a post-GDPR world as a lot of the same techniques can be adopted. You can use GDPR compliant data to geographically target your ideal audience with digital screens, and marketing messaging that converts. Digital screens can do more than you might expect, they are:
- Flexible: You can choose a shorter or longer advertising block according to your advertising strategy and you can pick and choose the days or times of day to display.
- Dynamic: Bring what was once a static medium to life with live data, social media feeds, and user-reactive technology.
- Affordable: With rapid innovation in digital screen technology, digital OOH is now within the grasp of small and medium-sized enterprises.
A 2017 study in the USA by Nielsen showed that OOH is the most effective medium for driving online activity, which is exactly where you want your customers. Even better, outdoor advertising can help protect your brand safety, knowing that you can control the businesses and content surrounding your advertising.
Bubble does this incredibly well but putting the power in your hands. With Bubble’s online marketplace, you can find the exact location to suit your ideal audience and look where your space is, what’s around it and how long you want it for. If you were particularly keen on controlling the messaging going on around you, you could use the map to find surrounding ad locations and book all the available spaces.
To make the most of advertising in a post-GDPR world, DOOH is a fantastic solution, and Bubble makes it so easy! If you’re ready to get searching and booking, click here to get started.
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