How Your Billboard Can Be Timely with the Holidays
Digital out of home (DOOH) advertising has become especially powerful during the holidays because it combines the scale of traditional outdoor ads with the flexibility of digital media.
DOOH provides real-time messaging. During the holiday seasons like Christmas or Black Friday, timing is everything when advertising. Using DOOH, clients can update promotions instantly with flash sales or limited-time offers. This ability to change artwork so quickly is a great tool for sales events, including Memorial Day weekend or the 4th of July. Advertising for specific products or tickets can be updated as they are close to being sold out and removed completely when inventory is no longer available.
With the use of dynamic content and dayparting, the campaign can focus on changing the messaging based on time of day or reacting to live conditions. With the help of our third-party software Lucit, we can run specific designs based on weather conditions. Digital allows for same-day changes, whereas static billboards require weeks of planning and setup. Both are useful in their environment. Digital is built for instant change, where static is great for long-term presence. Some examples of timely day parting would be:
For the morning commuter, “Grab gifts before work – opens at 7am.”
During the lunch hours, “Quick gift ideas under $$ - 2 miles away.”
People out and about during the evening, “Still need gifts? We’re open late tonight.”
Holidays are all about urgency, which clients can build with pressure as holidays approach. DOOH enables countdown messaging such as “3 days until Christmas”, hour-by-hour ad variations, and “last chance” reminders. This builds momentum and drives impulse purchases, which are especially effective in retail-heavy periods. People often procrastinate, but a ticking clock can turn passive awareness into action.
Holidays naturally increase traffic, travel, and sales. During the holiday seasons, more people are on the move who have the intent to purchase. They already have spending on their mind; this is the perfect time to use multiple messages for multiple products to show them that they have options. Options they might not have considered without your advertisement. Break out the designs that show gifts for just him, just her, or the kids. Let your advertisement give them the ideas they are looking for.
Having so much control over your digital campaign helps you be detailed to the point of having pre-holiday, during the holiday, and post-holiday designs. DOOH allows for relevant messaging, as well as contextual and localized targeting. You’re aligning with real behavior instead of blasting one generic message. Branding should be consistent, but digital billboards enable you to focus on both the everyday holiday shoppers and the last-minute shoppers. You can have your cake and eat it too.
For example, 3-1 days before Christmas or the week of Valentine's Day, you can put out messages like:
“Same-day pick up available.”
“Forgot someone? We’ve got you.”
DOOH works best during the holidays when it behaves less like a billboard and more like a live assistant to the consumer. Reminding, guiding, and nudging at exactly the right moment. The bottom line is that digital billboards thrive during the holidays because they are timely, context-aware, highly visible, and flexible.
If you are interested in advertising on one of our billboards call us at 800-221-4114 or email us at meadow@meadowoutdoor.com!