Proof and measurement

How do you measure whether a billboard campaign worked?

Two separate things: proof it ran, and proof it did something. We supply the first as a played-spot log for digital and dated site photographs for static. For the second, watch branded search, direct traffic and walk-ins across the run rather than looking for clicks.

Let us separate two questions that get tangled together constantly, because conflating them is how people end up disappointed by a campaign that worked perfectly well.

Question one: did it actually run?

This one has a hard answer, and you should never accept a soft one.

  • Digital. A played-spot log — a record of every slot served, when it played and on which screen. Every site in our network reports this way.
  • Static. Dated, geotagged photographs at installation and through the run, so you can see the skin is up, intact and unobstructed.

Both land in a close report at the end. If a supplier cannot produce this, that is worth knowing before you book, not after.

Question two: did it do anything?

Harder, and this is where honesty matters more than a dashboard. Out-of-home has no click. Anyone promising you a clean cost-per-acquisition from a billboard is selling you a number they made up.

What you can do is watch the signals that move when familiarity moves — and, critically, measure them before the run so you have something to compare against.

What to track around a run
SignalHow to read itWhen it moves
Branded search volumeSearches for your name, not your categoryDuring, and for weeks after
Direct trafficPeople typing you in rather than clickingDuring the run
Walk-ins or callsCounted at the outletLagged by days
Click-through on your other adsSame creative, same targetingOften lifts during the run
"Where did you hear about us"Ask at the point of saleUnder-reports OOH badly — expect that

What to track around a run

Digital billboardsStatic billboardsLED caravansTransit brandingAirport brandingBrand activationSignage & fabricationPrinting & packaging

See the actual sites

Every screen has its own page with a photograph, the size, the direction it faces and the hours it runs.

Keep reading

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