Nearly every DTC brand has had to adapt to the new normal and find innovative ways to acquire new customers effectively and sustainably. Gone are the days of solely relying on digital ads to sustain long-term growth and here are the days of innovative and outside-the-box (or home) thinking. We are seeing more and more DTC brands turn to out-of-home (OOH) marketing and digital out-of-home (DOOH) marketing in an effort to remain relevant and top of mind to consumers. In this blog post, we dive into why and how OOH marketing can be an important addition to a DTC brand's marketing strategy.

Why OOH Marketing Hasn't Worked For DTC Brands

The answer is pretty simple, DTC brands are focused on driving conversions, and with the rise of digital ad platforms it was nearly impossible to not be profitable (or seriously profitable) so DTC brands did what they do best and advertised on the channels that consumers could buy directly and easily. Among many factors including the loss of comprehensive ad tracking capabilities (thank you iOS 14), a noisy ad landscape, and rising ad costs, DTC brands were challenged to maintain their growth and performance trajectories while branching out into new marketing channels such as OOH. OOH advertising was typically not an expense a DTC brand was willing to invest in as it is more so for broad brand awareness and not to drive conversions. On top of this, as many DTC brands evolved they turned to not only new marketing channels but also new sales channels like retail. This transition has impacted the way brands reach customers but it has also changed the typical sales funnel DTC brands are accustomed to. 

How Has OOH Marketing Become an Important Element for DTC Brands

How do you cut through all of the digital noise? You can either create a buzzworthy moment or you can diversify your media and increase the number of touchpoints that your customers can interact with your brand. Brands like Hailey Bieber’s Rhode Beauty is a recent example of a DTC brand that has survived digitally but has over the past year made a significant amount of OOH buys to support product launches and other initiatives. This has allowed the brand to continue to build on its brand awareness while still maintaining a level of efficiency that can positively contribute to the growth of the brand.  

In terms of technology, OOH and DOOH marketing has evolved from the days of the simple billboard to include many advanced features that digital markers are already familiar with like programmatic ad buying. This gives way to the opportunity for brands to “continue using programmatic technology to target and personalize their OOH advertising, by using data-driven insights to show the right ads to the right people at the right time” (PJXMedia) DTC brands typically live and breathe by their realtime data analytics which the innovations of DOOH now provides. 

If executed correctly, OOH can serve as a supplement to digital advertisements to drive broad brand awareness and higher ad recall for users who viewed the ad online as well as in real life. 

What is the takeaway? 

Overall, everything is evolving as it always has always and brands need to evolve to keep up with the times (and their growth metrics). This still isn’t to say that OOH advertising is for everyone as the upfront cost to make the investment worthwhile is out of the marketing budget of many brands or those ad dollars can still be spent more efficiently elsewhere. The point is, OOH is no longer a channel to overlook and can absolutely play a vital role in the success of your brand’s border marketing strategy. 

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