Where and When to Reach Your Customers

We all know that advertising is a way to reach customers and hopefully impact their opinions, actions, and decisions in a positive way. But what is the best way to impact customers before they make a purchase decision? Starcom Mediavest Group dove deep into researching customer activity prior to purchases to discover just that.

Through SMG’s research, they found that customers are highly impacted at all stages of the decision making process through audio and out of home.

From the above graph, you can see the correlation between purchase activity and media usage. Interestingly, each category affects consumers the most at the “consider” and “decide” levels except for television and digital video which highly affect consumers at the purchase point.

Taking a deeper look into the industry’s hot-topic generation, the Millennials (ages 18-34), SMG found that trends tend to be relatively similar. By analyzing the graph below, we can see that Millennials tend to react in a similar way when compared to non-millennial adults.

Surprisingly, television and digital video are the only media outlets where Millennials correlate at a higher level than adults 18+.  Search and social, while being incredibly popular with Millennials, have a correlation that fails to outperform that of the adult group.

For advertisers looking to influence their target audience in a way that will cause them to consider, decide, and purchase a product or service, this information is incredibly relevant and might require some re-strategizing to reach consumers in the most effective manner.

Outdoor Ads Are Being Noticed, Discussed, and Interacted With

Nielsen has recently conducted a new study that has the advertising world talking. Nielsen revealed that out of home advertising is producing high levels of engagement from those who see it. The study is packed of data proving the success of this well-known medium.

More than 90% of US travelers have noticed some form of OOH (out of home) advertising in the past month. Roadside billboards were the number one noticed OOH media. Eighty-three percent of adults noticed the advertising message on said billboard.

Looking at the past year, 26% of respondents have discussed the message seen on an OOH advertisement with family or friends. Twenty-three percent have searched for the advertiser online, and 16% have visited the advertiser’s website after seeing their OOH message.

When it comes to teenagers and young adults (ages 16-34), interaction is more likely in different ways. Nielsen’s study reports the following:

·        One in four OOH viewers with smartphones have interacted with an ad through a NFC sensor or QR code

·        One third have searched for an OOH advertiser on their smartphone

·        Twenty-five percent have accessed a coupon or discount as a result of seeing an OOH ad

·        Twenty-two percent have visited the advertiser’s website

·        Thirteen percent have downloaded an app related to the advertiser’s ad

Stephen Freitas, the chief marketing officer of Outdoor Advertising Association of America puts it simply, “consumers today want the choice to connect with advertising. They want incentives to choose brands, and they want it all in the palms of their hands. OOH is the ideal medium to propel that interaction – driving attention from big screens on the street to the small screens they never leave home without.”