New study explains consumer opinion for out of home advertising

For advertisers, it can become challenging to keep track of consumer behavior research. Fortunately, the abundance of information is meant to help steer campaigns towards an engaged audience. A recent study performed by Future Foundation titled, Always On: Out of Home Lives 2014, breaks down how the public views out of home (OOH) advertising.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America reported on key findings from the study. Research was conducted interviewing 6,000 respondents across six large, urban cities world-wide. 

Top highlights include:

·        A reported 59% said that OOH digital advertising would be relevant and interesting if it portrayed information that was localized and beneficial at a certain time of day or location. Examples are concerts, events, or discounts to local stores.

·        Approximately 72% of the 18-34s surveyed have viewed a billboard and taken some kind of action as a direct result.

·        About 35% reportedly selected OOH advertisements as the most memorable. Television was the primary memorable vehicle at 46%.

While this was a world-wide survey and not exactly representative of the whole American media landscape, it can give advertisers tips to re-work outdoor initiatives. 

Blogs evolve to keep readers engaged

Blogs have been around for a while now. The competition has become more intense which makes bloggers work to keep audiences engaged. In a recent eMarketer post, research conducted by Orbit Media Studios shows that almost 75% of bloggers now use at least one image in their posts. Images may include stock photos, diagrams, infographics, and/or charts.

Orbit Media Studios reported that although video and audio components are included in blogs, they are not as common as an image. About 15% of bloggers use video and less than 3% use audio.

When it comes to the promotion of blogs, nearly all US bloggers use social media. In fact, it’s estimated that about 94% of bloggers use social media. Other means of promotion include search engine optimization, email marketing, influencer outreach, paid services, etc. However, there is a small portion, less than 5%, who pay to promote posts.

Graphics go closely in line with the social aspect of blogging. Information recently released by TrackMaven reveals that between May 2013 and May 2014, 88% of brand post shares on Facebook worldwide that contained an image had an average post interaction of 2.35. This can be compared to the 12% without photos had an average post interaction of only 1.71. 

Consumers have higher time spent on mobile apps vs. mobile browsers

Over the last year, researchers have chronicled consumers’ mobile use. Smartphone and tablet owners are continuing to use downloaded apps more often than browsers and those numbers are predicted to increase. For advertisers, this means that shifting focus to advertising within the apps is important in order to keep up with the digital world.

eMarketer reports on research conducted by Nielsen in fourth quarter 2013.  Smartphone users in the United States are spending 65% more time on mobile apps than they were two years ago.  However, the amount of apps the smartphone owners had only increased from 23 to 27 in the last two years.  This indicates that users are increasing their time spent on mobile apps that they had already downloaded vs. accruing more.

Other research by comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform proved that smartphone apps had the majority of time used with leading US digital media properties because of efficiency and mobile optimization. Media properties such as, Apple and Facebook, were mainly accessed through apps with 99% and 94%.  However, media properties such as Wikimedia Foundation sites and Glam Media were predominately accessed through their browsers with 88% and 84%.