The realm of Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertising, with its illustrious history of billboards and digital displays, stands as a vibrant testament to the advertising world’s capacity for innovation and endurance. Yet, beneath its impressive facade, the industry contends with a host of operational challenges that stifle its full potential. The adoption of emerging technologies has been sluggish, manual processes prevail, and campaign accountability remains inconsistent.
The industry’s Achilles’ heel has traditionally been its reliance on legacy systems. While once sufficient, the manual and spreadsheet-dominated approaches are now outdated, especially in an era of rapid expansion. To sustain growth and remain competitive, the OOH industry is recognizing the imperative for a technological overhaul.
Operational efficiency has now become the critical for industry leaders in OOH advertising especially in challenging market conditions. These frontrunners are not merely adopting new technologies; they are integrating them seamlessly with existing business systems. A prime example is the incorporation of customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce into their technological arsenal, combined with sophisticated advertising platforms. This convergence is creating a formidable force multiplier for operational capabilities.
Optimized Ad Spaces
The transformation sparked by this integration is substantial and multi-faceted. Automating key functions, such as campaign management, liberates OOH companies from the constraints of manual operations, paving the way for optimized use of advertising spaces. It fosters an environment where campaigns can be adjusted dynamically to meet real-time objectives, ensuring that advertising efforts are both effective and efficient.
The benefits of embracing this new technological paradigm extend beyond automation. Industry professionals reminisce on the pre-integration days, often amazed at the stark contrast. Tasks that once consumed hours are now executed with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. What emerges is a streamlined operation that not only increases the speed and agility of sales cycles and campaign deployment but also enhances the strategic deployment of OOH advertising inventory.
Crucially, the adoption of integrated CRM, Booking and Advertising platforms has fortified OOH businesses with the tools to manage their inventory and client relationships more effectively. This synergy allows for real-time inventory updates, quicker booking, and the ability to manage campaigns with a level of precision previously unattainable. The outcome is a surge in operational efficiency, a figure that symbolizes a revolution in how OOH businesses operate.
Connecting CRM & CMS
Let’s consider a real-world example. i-media, an OOH business specializing in motorway service area advertising, faced these very challenges. We worked with them and implemented the solution in the form of integrating Salesforce with Broadsign’s advertising management platform.
Before this, scheduling campaigns post-booking was a manual task leading to loss of time and of opportunities. We leveraged Broadsign’s API capabilities to seamlessly integrate Salesforce with i-media’s campaign management workflow, which enabled i-media’s sales team to create campaigns within their Salesforce CRM, simultaneously booking and scheduling them directly within the Broadsign Platform.
The outcomes speak for themselves:
- Higher revenue and profitability growth
- A 40% increase in operational efficiency
- Immediate inventory access, leading to faster campaign turnaround times for advertisers and agencies
AI Will Accelerate
Yet, the promise of technology in OOH advertising will not stop with current advancements. Looking forward, the industry is set to undergo further transformations as it taps into the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies promise to refine data analytics, elevate real-time targeting, and introduce a new level of programmatic buying to the OOH space.
The OOH industry, therefore, stands on the brink of a digital renaissance. The integration of sophisticated platforms with robust business systems isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the new benchmark for an industry that’s ready to break away from its traditional constraints. As technology advances, it’s likely that OOH advertising will not only keep pace but also has the potential to shape the momentum of the advertising world at large especially with the impending death of 3rd party cookies.
The OOH industry’s evolution is being driven by a need for efficiency and effectiveness, achievable through the strategic integration of technology. This approach is a call to action for OOH businesses: to thrive in tomorrow’s market, the digital transformation is not just beneficial but essential. The future of OOH advertising is an exciting, digitally-driven landscape, promising a world of opportunities for those who choose to be bold and embrace it.
