Outdoor advertising campaigns are highly successful because they drive massive results for businesses of all sizes. But, only if it is done right.
Most small and medium-sized businesses have a strict marketing budget. Without an effective tracking and performance measurement system, they will lose their marketing budget on outdoor advertising campaigns without any result. But with an effective tracking and performance measurement system, they will know which outdoor advertising campaign is performing better than others and keep them ahead of the game.
The massive increase in the growth and reach of digital and mobile advertising has overshadowed all other kinds of advertising means. But still, outdoor advertising campaigns can deliver amazing results. These are highly effective for both local as well as national brands. But the key is the ability to measure the performance and know which advertising site is performing better and which is not.
Best practice for optimizing and measuring outdoor advertising
Display Phone Number on Ads
Your outdoor ad should be crisp, persuasive and eye-grabbing. An individual will have only a few seconds to scan the ad and understand its content.
So, what kind of call to action is important in an ad?
Phone number is something that can be easily remembered and saved by people. Moreover, it will help prospective customers call and connect with the company.
You can place a number so that a customer can call you and take the info or you can place a short code number so that a customer can send a message and get the info.
How to track and optimize your outdoor advertisements?
1. 2-Way SMS:
Place different long code or shortcode numbers on every advertisement to know which advertisements are performing better.
Let’s say, you have placed five hoardings in five different places and have displayed one number to every hoarding to get the SMS. You may get hundreds of SMS each day, but you can’t detect which hoarding is performing better.
Solution: Display five different numbers (long code or shortcode) to every hoarding. It helps you to better understand from which hoarding you are getting more leads or enquiries.
Note: Shortcode can be a 5, 7 or 9 digit number whereas a long code is a 10 digit mobile number.
2. IVR Number:
Strategic use of toll-free numbers on billboards can bring huge success to all kinds of businesses. Customers can call on this number to reach companies. IVR number helps to enhance brand image, capture customers’ responses, get feedback, generate leads, and lead to a positive customer experience.
Note: IVR number can be a toll-free, mobile, or virtual number.
3. Missed Call Number:
When a customer calls you on your missed call number, it automatically gets disconnected after first the call. An SMS with a custom message is triggered automatically to the customer letting them know that their call is recorded and someone will soon get in touch with them. It is a good tactic to collect feedbacks, generate leads, and track advertising mediums. You can easily integrate it with your CRM or IT systems.
Note: Missed call number can be a landline, mobile, or virtual number.
Tracking, measuring and optimizing the performance of your outdoor advertisements.
4. Call Tracking Solution:
With the use of trackable numbers like a short code, long code, toll-free number or missed call number, you can easily find out, which ads are performing and which aren’t. Based on this information you can increase your marketing expense on advertisements that are performing and cut down your expenses that are not performing, leading to better optimization of ads and increased ROI on your marketing expenses.
5. Call Routing:
Route your call effectively to the appropriate agents with the help of IVR (Interactive Voice Response). Outdoor advertisements are constantly in public view therefore you need to be available 24*7 to answer customer calls. Through IVR you can collect caller’s data, reply to their questions, provide them with exact information, and build brand credibility. Call routing can be adjusted based on day and time. Different numbers are allocated to different ads to know which ad or the location the call is coming from.
