Is OOH the new LinkedIn?

Ruchelle Mouton, group head of marketing and services at Tractor Media Holdings

Popular business networking platform LinkedIn is well known for its ability to connect employers with new recruits, organisations with potential clients, and business decision makers with other companies. In fact, 40% of B2B marketers indicated it was the most effective channel for driving high-quality leads, making it a trusted bottom-of-the-funnel tool.

But perhaps, at least in the B2B arena, we’ve been overlooking the top of the sales funnel for far too long.

Historically, digital advertising has been at the forefront of many B2B marketing strategies, thanks to its reputation as a proven lead generator.

However, in recent times, generating digital leads in a B2B context has become more difficult due to market saturation, rising competition for online visibility, and the growing sophistication of buyers who demand highly personalised, value driven content before engaging with sales.

Additionally, stricter data privacy regulations and ad fatigue are making it harder to reach and convert potential leads, while also making it more challenging to nurture potential customers through a complex and longer sales cycle.

At the same time, focusing on only lead generation does not account for full funnel activation across the B2B sales cycle.

Consider that the average B2B sales cycle is complex with multiple decision makers, longer sales processes, and high-value transactions. Typically, decision makers won’t buy B2B products or services immediately as there are many factors involved, and numerous stakeholders to be consulted. Put differently, lead generation only captures the impact derived from the 5% of buyers who are in-market at a given point in time and primed to buy.

According to the 95-5 Rule (source: The B2B Institute), 95% of buyers who account for a future source of cash flow are not buying today. Rather, these buyers need to be continuously primed and 'reminded' by brand advertising, in order to 'buy tomorrow' – or, to drive outcomes that extend over a longer average sales cycle.

In short, to drive real B2B growth and business impact, B2B marketers need to continuously work to capture customers at the top of the funnel, rather than just focusing all their efforts on the bottom rungs.

The most important search engine is still the one in your mind

So then, if the bulk of buyers aren’t ready to buy immediately, B2B marketers should be focused on coming to mind when a buyer is ready to buy. Enter the importance of mental availability. To be mentally available, building brand relevant memories at the starting point of the buying process is key to driving competitive advantage. In a nutshell, brand building is vital for mental availability and awareness is more likely to drive business growth.

Buyers must first notice an ad before they can respond, highlighting the need to invest in high attention advertising. Marketing efforts should be centred on reaching potential B2B buyers and building more useful mental structures; ones that speak to why people could or should buy your brand, so that when they are ready to buy, your brand comes to mind.

The OOH opportunity

Within the B2B marketing arena, brand building and media types like out of home (OOH) and digital out of home (DOOH) are often overlooked and underestimated. But OOH advertising can provide an impactful way for B2B brands to reach target audiences and create that top-of-funnel awareness and consideration among business decision makers.

OOH is the perfect seeding platform for brand building, especially for startups and digital native and technology businesses that have a limited physical presence. Through its tangible and larger-than-life presence in the real world, OOH lends credibility to your B2B brand, which is especially important in B2B contexts where trust and reputation play a significant role in building brand equity.

OOH can be used to target specific business districts, industry events, or areas with a high concentration of your target market, ensuring your message reaches the right audience. By strategically placing ads near industry-specific events, trade shows, or business districts, B2B brands can ensure their message reaches key decision makers and stakeholders.

And because it's a relatively new marketing channel for B2B brands, OOH offers a unique way for businesses to reach decision makers and differentiate themselves from the competition.

A medium for any size business, in any location, and with any budget

One common misconception is that OOH and DOOH are expensive.

In fact, one of the biggest benefits of using OOH is that it is the most affordable medium for large-scale reach that facilitates brand awareness. Furthermore, DOOH has lowered the barrier to entry for B2B brands wanting to advertise on outdoor media, as it allows for flexible scheduling and campaign periods, which can be adjusted to fit any budget.

DOOH can be location specific and hyper-targeted, which reduces media wastage and renders it a medium that is efficient, effective and cost effective for any size business, in any location, and with any budget.

The OOH effect

OOH and DOOH don’t need to be considered standalone media channels, but rather those that power more effective omni channel campaigns. According to research by Nielsen, around 33% of B2B respondents searched for an advertiser online after seeing OOH ads, showing how OOH can enhance the impact of other mediums.

DOOH advertising can also be used to complement and amplify digital activations through retargeting strategies. Through mobile retargeting, B2B brands can extend the impact of out-of-home advertising campaigns by retargeting business audiences that have been exposed to OOH ads. Retargeting provides more opportunities to move target users down the funnel, resulting in more meaningful conversions and shorter B2B sales cycles.

Measuring intent and outcomes

One of the most important aspects of running an effective OOH campaign is to analyse what worked and what didn’t, and use this information to improve on future campaigns.

And with OOH becoming increasingly more measurable – a high priority in B2B marketing – real business outcomes can now be attributed to OOH ad exposure. Brand metrics can be measured in the offline world specifically related to specific B2B content and brand key performance indicators (KPIs), such as brand likeability, impact and purchase intent.

Additionally, footfall traffic offers another powerful incremental attribution measurement. By monitoring anonymized mobile device identifiers observed near a screen and later visiting a specified location, advertisers can determine the volume of customers driven to that location as a result of a brand DOOH campaign.

Recent examples of out-the-box B2B OOH campaigns include a collaboration between online lending platform Lula, Tractor Outdoor and Ivie Media, which saw the online lending platform access free advertising for its small medium enterprise (SME) clients on Tractor Outdoor’s extensive network of digital screens, as part of the media owner’s SME Launchpad initiative. Another example is Tractor’s partnership with global technology company Zoho to launch its inaugural brand lift study, allowing it to measure brand attribution across a number of campaign formats – from static, to loop-based, and programmatic.

A LinkedIn at scale

From startups to multi-billion-dollar corporations, the potential of out-of-home advertising should not be overlooked as a tool to connect businesses with other businesses.

Through strategic OOH advertising, B2B marketers can capture the attention of business decision makers and build brand awareness and affinity. By tactically leveraging OOH in the media mix, marketers can amplify their reach and create impactful brand memories. And thanks to its high visibility with strategic targeting and online integration, OOH can effectively drive B2B inquiries and online searches for businesses.

The top of the sales funnel – the awareness and mental availability arena – remains an extremely important component of the marketing mix, and one that we should not ignore or neglect – especially when it comes to B2B marketing.

Think of OOH as the new LinkedIn – but at scale – for your business.