One cannot deny the fact that the rapid advent of digital advertising has slowed down the advertising spend on traditional mediums like Out Of Home (OOH). One of the key reasons most brands rely on digital advertising now is instantaneous information about how a live ad is performing. All one has to do is log in to the dashboard to see how many views, clicks, leads, and conversions an ad is getting as well as get deep insights into how the target audience is reacting to the ad. Instant statistics are amongst the core reasons why most advertisers are now hesitant about traditional advertising.

However, despite the fact that people surf more on their phones now and consume media online, one simply cannot lessen the power traditional mediums like OOH still retain. People may be on their phones, but they still commute, drive, and use public transit. Thereby, they are bound to look at OOH ads on their way. But how does one quantify how effective an OOH ad is? How does one know if it is reaching the right audiences? This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based analytics make a difference.

What do AI-based analytics bring to the OOH table?

The basic objective of OOH billboards and signages is to get maximum eyeballs in the shortest possible time. But how will a brand or an advertiser know how good or bad an ad is working? How to judge whether an ad is apt for the media space it is occupying? This is where AI comes in. AI-based Smart Cameras integrated with robust, deep-learning AI Engines at the backend are now being integrated with OOH billboards, similar to the way AI-based Smart Cameras are being integrated at retail stores.

Benefits

AI-based Smart Cameras in billboards and signages offer a host of tangible benefits for every brand that invests in OOH advertising. Here’s how:

1. Space Optimization:

AI-based Smart Cameras accurately count the number of vehicles that pass through the designated OOH billboards thereby informing the advertiser if the location of the OOH billboard is right for his brand. For example, billboards at a crowded bus stop on the highway are likely to get more attention than billboards at a desolate traffic signal. Further, advanced AI-based Smart Cameras like the ones offered by Thinkpoint not only count the number of vehicles accurately, but also provide deeper insights like the number of vehicles that passed the billboard site during the day and at night, the various types of vehicle and the speed at which they passed the billboard. Such deep insights help advertisers choose the perfect billboard site and thus maximize the amount of media space they occupy.

2. Better Targeting:

With instant access to real-time data of the type of vehicles that pass a particular billboard site, advertisers can optimize their OOH spend by choosing the relevant artwork for individual billboard sites.

3. Real-time Statistics:

Earlier, there was no way to perceive how well an OOH ad was performing. However, AI-based Smart Cameras like the ones offered by Thinkpoint are connected to backend AI Engines that process and present real-time analysis of the vehicular traffic that passes through the advertiser’s billboards thereby gauging the number of eyeballs hits a particular billboard (and hence the ad) received over the campaign period. This proves helpful given OOH spaces are expensive and if an ad is not working, the reason behind it can be understood better as well as replacements can be put up instead.

4. Maximize ROIs

One of the trickiest aspects of OOH has always been its ROI. There was no method to speculate the performance of an OOH ad before. But AI-based Smart Cameras reshape this dynamic and offer insights into performance and targeting as well as optimize ad space. That’s why AI-based Smart Cameras deliver better ROIs.

5. Drive Communication

AI-based Smart Cameras provide an instantaneous reaction of an audience to an ad. Thus, it helps to understand if an advertising creative is hitting the nail right or missing the mark. Based on initial reactions, an ad can be tweaked and enhanced with better communication.

To Sum It up

There’s been a decline in the relevancy of OOH over time due to the ambivalence of the medium’s results. However, new-age technologies like AI are now transforming OOH to become a smarter medium.

To learn how Thinkpoint’s AI-based OOH Analytics solutions can reshape the performance of your ad, please get in touch with us at sales@thinkpointbrands.in.