What Are Indoor and Outdoor Advertising and How Do They Differ?

Indoor and outdoor advertising outlets both hold their own as successful advertising methods in their own right, but what are the differences? And are they effective when used together? This post will inform you of everything you need to know about the two and how they differ.

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We’ll cover:

Definitions and What’s Different
Indoor Advertising in More Depth
Outdoor Advertising in More Depth
How Indoor and Outdoor Advertising Make a Good Partnership
Tips on Choose Your Printing Company Carefully
How to Manage Your Indoor and Outdoor Advertising Campaign

Definitions and What’s Different

Indoor advertising can be defined as – a type of advertising where messages and announcements about merchandise, events or services are published within a closed area that you control.

So, in everyday terms, advertising that you see in supermarkets, coffee shops, toilets, bus stations and sports clubs will all be examples of indoor advertising.

Forms of indoor advertising include:

Promotional posters
Flyers
Floor graphics
Shop-windows
Promotional stands
Information table
Light boxes
Pull up banners
Leaderboards
Gross advertising

Outdoor advertising is anything that advertises your business, event or product outdoors can be classed as outdoor advertising.

Forms of outdoor advertising include:

Billboards
Bus stop advertising
Banners, building wraps, flags
Interior and exterior of buses, taxis and business vehicles
Outdoor signage

Indoor Advertising in More Depth

Indoor advertising has the power to compel viewers and make a difference to business. It’s a way of communicating with visitors, whilst on your premises, to further upsell and increase their spend.

Your audience should already be at least semi-engaged, not like outdoor advertising which has different companies vying for attention at the same time..

What are the Benefits of Indoor Advertising?

Indoor advertising has some great benefits. They include:

Reach out to your target audience with ease – By choosing the correct location and venue to display your advertisements you’ll be able to bring your indoor campaigns close to those who really matter. For example, when a supermarket advertised their lager offers next to the BBQ-ready meat.

Strong retention levels – Indoor advertising campaigns generate stronger retention levels than traditional marketing campaigns, with the average viewing time being between one and three minutes. Not only are they seen for longer, as opposed to a roadside board, they’re also seen in isolation.

Unlimited creativity options – Marketing agencies are thinking more outside the box than ever before creating brilliant, strategic advertising campaigns that are innovative, creative and clever. Strategies like projection mapping or floor graphics are a great way to catch the audience’s attention and are memorable when done well.

Incredibly cost-effective – When compared with traditional methods such as standard printing materials (leaflets etc) or targeted mail services, indoor advertising is high value for money that completely undercuts all other print media solutions when situated in the right location.

Outdoor Advertising in More Depth

On a normal day, you’ll walk past some examples of outdoor advertising without even realising or taking the message in. As time evolves, competition is growing in the majority of industries and it’s becoming harder and harder to grab the attention of the average customer.

Outdoor advertising is a mass-market medium and for this reason it’s more effective when utilised for broad messages, branding and support campaigns.

It doesn’t work well when too much information is attempted to be crammed in. Clutter and confusing messages only make it harder for the audience to understand what message you’re trying to get across and with little time to take in the advertisement you’ll be wasting your money.

Tips for Successful Outdoor Advertising:

Outdoor advertising is a great way to get your business or event noticed, but it can be so easy to get it wrong. Here are some valuable tips to ensure that you nail your all important outdoor advertising campaign:

Careful planning and precision – In a world where we are ruled by the smartphone and advanced technology, the attention of the average person is drawn into the little screen in front of and not the advertising around them. You need to plan carefully and produce an idea that’s going to make them want to look away from their phones and break into that valuable attention span.

Make your outdoor tactics shareable – Your outdoor advertising needs the wow factor. Make people who see your adverts in the street want to stop, take a photo and share it on their social media pages.

Don’t waste money on low-traffic locations – You need as many eyes on your advertising campaign as possible for it to be as successful as it can be. Cheaper sites are often a waste of money as they don’t receive a lot of traffic. One site that gets a million views is better than five cheaper alternatives that each get 200,000. But the true winning location is where highly relevant traffic will see your advertising.

Less is more – When it comes to messaging, you need to bear in mind that a little goes a long way. The interest of the viewer is one or two seconds maximum so you need to instantly grip them. Don’t ask too much of them and include a lot of text, keep it simple and let your stunning visuals do the work. Think of it as a conversation starter – intrigue not inform.

Indoor and Outdoor Advertising Make a Good Partnership

People are often under the impression when designing and planning their advertising campaign that they can only utilise one or the other. Not true. In fact, when used in tandem they are quite the force to be reckoned with.

By using both advertising outlets, you’re creating a more wholesome marketing experience for your target audience.

Your outdoor advertising should be used for intriguing purposes only. Stunning visuals and simple but catchy messaging should be enough to hook the reader and leave them wanting to find out more.

Then utilise your indoor advertising methods as an information point where the consumer can find out more about your business, event or product.

Choose Your Printing Company Carefully

It’s absolutely vital that you work with the right printing business that suits your campaign and business’ needs. Otherwise the whole thing could prove to be a total flop. Here are some quick tips on how you can be sure you’re working with the right people:

Check their portfolio – they may have worked on similar campaigns in the past that can help you gauge whether they’re suitable or not for yours.

Read reviews and testimonials – it will help you to see their past success rate on campaigns similar to yours.

Don’t judge solely on price – Obviously, everyone loves to keep costs down and incomings as high as possible. But, a cheaper price point can often mean inexperience or an inferior quality or product and service. Don’t be sucked in by the attractive cheap price point.

Get together and brainstorm ideas – This will give you a greater idea of whether the company are going to be able to meet your expectations and also it will allow you to see whether you click or not on a personal level, which is important.

How to Manage Your Indoor and Outdoor Advertising Campaign

It’s ok having the perfect ideas and the ideal business to create your advertising campaign but if it’s poorly managed, the likelihood of it being a success is minimal. Here are some quick pointers on how you can easily manage your project:

Assign deliverables within your team so you can clearly see who’s responsible for which task and the progress of it too. This will give your team and your favoured advertising agency a sense of accountability.
Don’t overestimate your resource forecast. Be honest. There’s no point forecasting set deadlines if you know that you don’t have the correct capacity to hit them.
Avoid complex email chains. Only include people who are desperately necessary to be in them and ensure that your inbox is properly organised too. This will minimise the potential for confusion on all parties.
Conduct regular check ins with your advertising agency. Keep everybody in the loop and up to speed. This way, efficiency and productivity can be tracked and morale levels are up with the strong communication.

Perfect Your Outdoor Signage and Planning

So, now you know the difference between indoor and outdoor advertising it’s time to go and perfect your campaign. Your design needs to be on point, your message needs to be snappy and catchy and your visuals need to be grabbing.

Don’t worry, we’ve put together a free outdoor signage guide that will ensure you nail your outdoor signage and the planning leading up to release. Download it below today: