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A Marketer’s Introduction to DOOH Retargeting

Author: Eleanor Hecks Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Traditional billboards have become outdated in recent times, often serving as one-way broadcasts that hardly improve consumer traffic. Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) retargeting, however, transforms physical advertisements into digital catalysts. This technology closes the gap between seeing a brand on the street and engaging with it on a mobile device. 

What Is DOOH Retargeting?

DOOH retargeting is when a physical display is connected to a private screen. A key benefit of retargeting is that it identifies who actually saw the ad using anonymized mobile location data, rather than sending a message to everyone. This allows for a level of audience-specific reinforcement that regular billboards could never achieve. 

The process begins with a geofence. Marketers draw a digital perimeter around a physical location, and when a consumer enters this zone with a mobile device, the system tags an anonymous ID. This allows the brand to serve a mobile ad later that reinforces the initial physical encounter. 

The Strategic Benefits of Physical-to-Digital Workflows

Combining high-impact assets with strategic follow-ups addresses the forgetfulness that passersby often experience, especially in areas with other physical advertisements and high foot traffic, such as transit hubs. 

A consumer might get intrigued by an impressive wrap while commuting, but forget the brand by lunchtime. DOOH retargeting can keep the message top-of-mind by serving social media content after. Studies show consumers are 28% more likely to notice social media ads when they have first seen the brand in a physical DOOH campaign.

This approach is also cost-effective compared to alternatives. DOOH retargeting enables precision, reducing wasted ad spend. Rather than blanket-advertising in a city with digital content, you can focus your budget on people who have already encountered your brand in the real world, leading OOH advertising companies with digital retargeting to have a higher volume of warm leads. 

How to Implement a DOOH Retargeting Strategy

The first step is finding the right location. You must choose a setting with high visibility for your target audience. This could be a tech corridor for B2B or a retail shopping district. The physical ad’s job is simply to build awareness and establish the visual hook for the entire campaign. 

The next step involves programmatic apps. These platforms help identify the device IDs of people who were within your geofence for processing. Then, this data is passed through a Demand-Side platform to create an audience segment, where a prospect list is built through real-world movement analysis. 

3 OOH Advertising Companies Doing Digital Retargeting Right

These three leading OOH companies have demonstrated excellence in implementing digital retargeting methods, serving as strong examples of the potential of DOOH retargeting campaigns for the marketing landscape. 

GOOD TRAFFIC

GOOD TRAFFIC has built a reputation as a leading OOH advertising company with digital retargeting, thanks to its bold physical advertising campaigns that turn high-end rideshare vehicles into moving digital primers. The company has been an innovative leader in the advertising space, particularly through its proprietary shadowfencing technology, which leverages street-level visibility to drive real digital conversions. Wrapped vehicles pass through city areas and identify close-proximity mobile devices to form a retargeting pool, whose data is interpreted by marketers who subsequently serve follow-up ads. 

For its Klarna campaign in New York City, GOOD TRAFFIC deployed a fleet of wrapped Teslas. This campaign brought together stunning aesthetics and precise data capture, resulting in mass awareness among urban shoppers and precise retargeting to a high-intent digital audience. 

Wrapify

Wrapify is a prominent OOH advertising company that specializes in vehicle wraps and digital retargeting. Its platform uses GPS and proximity data to identify mobile devices that have been exposed to their wrapped vehicles, allowing marketers to build a custom audience segment based on real-world exposure. This allows targeted digital ads to be served later. 

One of Wrapify’s most notable projects was an impressive campaign for ZOOM in 2019. Using Account-Based Marketing and sending wrapped vehicles to business hubs, the company successfully targeted high-value decision-makers who work and commute there. The strategy resulted in a staggering 102% increase in contact sales conversion rates.

Firefly

Firefly is a leading OOH advertising company that utilizes smart digital displays mounted on rideshare and taxi vehicles. Its technology captures anonymized mobile device data from people who pass within the vehicle’s proximity. This data enables advertisers to retarget specific individuals with mobile display ads later.

For a project that it did for Puma, Firefly deployed its digital toppers to target urban shoppers near the sports brand’s stores. The campaign successfully drove consumers into physical retail locations with effective retargeting, leading to a 136% increase in store foot traffic. This further demonstrates the power of linking mobile billboards with digital retargeting, especially when consumers have shown prior interest in physical stores. 

Maximizing DOOH Success

While many marketers believe the industry’s future is fully digital, blending the irreplaceable boldness of physical advertising is a powerful move. For brands looking to establish authority, this strategy creates a marketing funnel that is both highly visible and highly effective.

Transition from call ads to responsive search ads with call assets

Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Google Is Killing Call-Only Ads: Here’s What You Need to Do

If you’ve been running Google Ads for a while, you may have gotten an email recently with the subject line “Action Required: Transition from call ads to call assets.” Google has been talking about this change for a while, but now it’s official. Call-only ads are going away, and if you don’t make some updates, your ads will stop showing.

Here are the key dates:

February 2026 is when you lose the ability to create new call-only ads. February 2027 is when your existing call-only ads stop running entirely.

So you have time, but not unlimited time. Let’s walk through what this means and what you need to do.

First, Check If This Even Affects You

Not everyone needs to worry about this. Call-only ads are a specific ad type where the only thing the ad does is trigger a phone call. There’s no website link. When someone taps the ad, it just dials your number. These were popular with service businesses like plumbers, auto repair, locksmiths, and anyone else who just wanted the phone to ring.

If you’re running regular search ads that happen to have a phone number attached, you’re already set up the way Google wants. That phone number is a “call asset,” and you’re good to go.

To check, log into your Google Ads account and look at your ads. If you see ads that have a website URL and a phone number, those are search ads with call assets. You’re fine. If you see ads where the only action is “Call” with no website destination, those are call-only ads, and those are the ones you need to replace.

Why Google Is Making This Change

Google wants everyone using responsive search ads. These are the ads where you provide multiple headlines and descriptions, and Google’s system mixes and matches them to find the best performing combinations for different searches.

The old call-only ads were simple. You wrote your headlines, attached your phone number, and that was it. Google is moving away from that kind of static ad format across the board. They want the flexibility to test different combinations and optimize automatically.

Whether that’s actually better for your business is a fair question, but it’s the direction things are going and it is always good to stay in compliance.

How to Make the Switch

If you do have call-only ads that need to be replaced, here’s the process:

Start by documenting what you have. Look at your existing call-only ads and write down the headlines, descriptions, and which campaigns they’re in. Note the performance numbers too so you have a baseline to compare against later.

Next, create your call asset. Go to Assets in the left menu, then click the plus button and select Call. Enter your business phone number. You can set it to only show during your business hours, which is useful if you don’t want calls coming in at 10pm.

Then create a new responsive search ad in the same campaign or ad group where your call-only ad was running. You’ll need at least 3 headlines and 2 descriptions, but you can add up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Use the copy from your old call-only ad as a starting point, then add variations.

Once your new responsive search ad is running with the call asset attached, let both ads run side by side for a few weeks. Compare the results. When you’re confident the new setup is performing well, pause the old call-only ad.

So to recap here is what you need to do:

Create responsive search ads with call assets.

This is the actual migration. You’ll need:

  • 3-15 headlines (at least 3 required)
  • 2-4 descriptions (at least 2 required)
  • A call asset attached at the campaign or ad group level with your phone number

Set up the call asset

This is under Assets > Call. You can set it to show only during business hours, which is nice for a service business like auto glass.

Let both run in parallel for a bit

Compare performance before sunsetting the old call-only ads.

Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

You have until February 2027 before your call-only ads stop serving entirely, but I wouldn’t recommend waiting that long. Making the switch now gives you time to test and optimize. If something isn’t working, you want to find out while you still have your old ads as a backup.

If you need help with this transition or want someone to handle it for you, feel free to reach out.

Revitalize Your Marketing By Incorporating These 10 Often-Overlooked Holidays

Author: Eleanor Hecks Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Uniquely marketable occasions that can transform your brand outreach into memorable moments. Kick the boring calendars to the curb and inject unexpected joy into your marketing campaigns with these 10 holiday gems. Often-overlooked holidays are ripe with potential to spark conversation, capture attention and build exciting, genuine connections without wading into crowded promotion seasons.

1. Opposite Day (January 25)

This playful holiday is where everything you say or do is the reverse. It’s a great marketing tactic for kids, families and anyone with a sense of humor — mostly younger parents and Gen Z who thrive on playful trends. You can launch an “opposite sale” where prices jokingly rise and watch engagement soar as people rush to “opt out” before the discounts appear.

2. Spouse’s Day (January 26)

This day lets you honor and appreciate your life partner — married or domestic — through gifts or quality time. While Valentine’s Day campaigns are fiercely competitive, this day lets you target couples who seek low-key celebrations.

Offer “surprise date night” bundles or co-branded gift sets. This appeals to couples of all ages, especially the busy folks who love meaningful gestures minus the February 14 hype.

3. Star Wars Day (May 4)

“May the Fourth Be With You” leads this fan-driven holiday that honors the Star Wars saga. It’s perfect for pop-culture fans, sci-fi enthusiasts and families.

Just about any business — from bookstores to restaurants — can ride this wave and enjoy spirited engagement. You can host a “force” themed contest, offer discounts for those dressed up like their favorite characters or have “Yoda-approved” product deals, targeting geek-culture enthusiasts from Gen X to Gen Z.

4. Random Acts of Kindness Day (February 17)

This celebration promotes pay-it-forward gestures and spontaneous actions. It’s perfect for everyone, but especially nonprofits and community-oriented groups.

Get your brand out there by encouraging customers to nominate someone deserving of a free service or gift, then highlight these moments in your social media or newsletter. This strategy engages socially aware demographics and boosts your enterprise’s empathy quotient.

5. National Siblings Day (April 10)

This is a day to celebrate bonds between siblings, and is great for all types and sizes of families, including found families and blended households. Offer “siblings save together” promotions or two-for-one deals that appeal to all ages. Drive emotional connections by inviting your customers or followers to share their photos and stories online.

6. Ada Lovelace Day (Second Tuesday in October)

This day celebrates women’s achievements in STEM by honoring the 19th-century mathematician credited as the first computer programmer. It connects deeply with educators, STEM enthusiasts, diversity advocates and anybody passionate about lifting women’s contributions across generations.

Marketers can share “Women Who Code” stories, host workshops and partner with nonprofits to position their brand as champions of inclusion. Women-owned businesses are also more likely to be small, and less than 1% of such entities make over $1 million in sales. Partnering with them could make these marketing efforts feel more genuine to the public.

7. World Emoji Day (Jul 17)

As its name suggests, this day celebrates emojis and how they make digital communications more appealing. Marketing promotions on World Emoji Day will attract the mobile-first audience and social media natives, and there are many. Emojis transcend language and age barriers, making them a perfect tool for reaching a wide market.

8. International Coffee Day (October 1)

This day highlights the growing coffee culture and supports fair-trade growers. You can offer “brew and save” deals or promote stories about sustainable sourcing. This campaign resonates with busy professionals and students for whom coffee is a ritual, as well as Gen Z and Millennial consumers who prioritize ethical consumption.

9. Forget Me Not Day (November 10)

Forget Me Not Day is a call to reconnect with friends and family. To benefit from this occasion, you can offer referral discounts for customers who bring an old friend or special prizes to those who tag someone they haven’t seen in a long time on social media. It may also be an excellent opportunity to encourage people to give back, as this day recognizes disabled veterans in the U.S.

10. GivingTuesday (Tuesday After Thanksgiving)

Also often called the National Day of Giving Back, this day encourages community service and charity, making it suited for nonprofits, philanthropists and socially conscious consumers. GivingTuesday taps into the surge of holiday spending and generosity by aligning with cause-based marketing strategies. This is why it appeals to all age groups.

Ready for Your Next Quirky Holiday Campaign?

Your marketing calendar shouldn’t be limited to the usual suspects. By weaving in these lesser-known celebrations, you stand out in crowded newsfeeds and spark genuine conversations that build your brand.

Louisville Facebook Marketing Tips: Meta’s Ad Policies for 2024

Author: Gideon Harrington

Digital advertising is always changing, and staying informed about platform policies is important for creating impactful and compliant ads. For Louisville marketing teams looking to leverage Meta’s platforms effectively as we move into 2024, understanding and adhering to these policies is key to avoiding ad rejections and fostering customer engagement. In some cases it can also help increase your impressions.

Three essential Meta ad policies to keep in mind

  1. Avoid Nonexistent Functionality in Ads Ensure that your ad creative is honest and functional. Ads should not contain deceptive features like “fake” video play buttons or other elements that suggest functionality that doesn’t exist. Familiarize yourself with Meta’s guidelines on nonexistent functionality to craft more trustworthy ads.
  2. Respect Personal Attributes It’s important to create ads that are respectful and inclusive. Ads must not imply or make assumptions about a person’s race, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, or age. By following Meta’s personal attributes policy, you can create ads that resonate positively with diverse audiences.
  3. Be Mindful of Personal Health and Appearance When promoting health-related products, it’s essential to do so in a way that doesn’t foster negative self-perception. Ads should be supportive and empowering, aligning with Meta’s policy on personal health and appearance. This approach not only ensures compliance but also builds trust with your audience.

Troubleshooting Rejected Ads: A Two-Step Approach

If your ad faces rejection, here’s how you can address it:

  • Edit and Resubmit Your Ad: Review the ad content for compliance with Meta’s policies. Update the imagery or text as needed to meet the guidelines. Once revised, resubmit your ad through the Ads Manager for approval.
  • Request Another Ad Review: If the reason for rejection is unclear or you believe it’s incorrect, don’t hesitate to request a further review. This step can provide clarification or potentially overturn an incorrect rejection.

For Louisville marketing teams, adapting to these policies is not just about compliance; it’s about crafting ad experiences that are effective, respectful, and engaging. By keeping these guidelines at the forefront of your digital advertising strategy, you can create campaigns that resonate with your audience while maintaining the integrity of your brand.

Avoiding Common Violations: A Guide for Louisville Marketers

To ensure your advertisements are both compliant and effective, it’s essential to recognize and avoid common pitfalls. Here’s a deeper dive into some frequent areas of confusion and how to navigate them:

  1. Personal Attributes Ads should not assert or imply anything about personal attributes. This includes avoiding direct or indirect references to a person’s race, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, or age. Example of Violation: Using phrases like “Are you disabled? We can help!” directly addresses the user and implies a personal attribute, which is not allowed.
  2. Personal Health and Appearance Avoid creating a negative self-perception in your ads, especially when promoting diet, weight loss, or other health-related products. Example of Violation: Using before-and-after images to display idealized outcomes can be misleading and is discouraged.
  3. Low Quality or Disruptive Content Ensure that your ads do not lead to external landing pages that offer an unexpected or disruptive experience. This includes avoiding misleading headlines or prompts for unnatural interaction with the ad, and avoiding landing pages with minimal original content or an abundance of unrelated or low-quality ads. Example of Violation: Ads that use excessively cropped images or force users to click to view the full image can be considered misleading.
  4. Nonexistent Functionality Ads should not contain images with fake functionalities like play buttons, notifications, checkboxes, or other interactive elements that don’t actually work. Example of Violation: Replicating a play button in an ad image is a typical example of nonexistent functionality.
  5. Unrealistic Outcomes Ads must not make promises or suggest outcomes that are unrealistic, particularly in areas like health, weight loss, or economic opportunities. Example of Violation: Claims about cures for incurable diseases or guaranteed financial success are considered unrealistic outcomes.

For Louisville marketers, understanding these common areas of violation is essential. By creating ads that are respectful, truthful, and aligned with Meta’s policies, you can build a more trustworthy and effective advertising experience. This not only helps in avoiding ad rejections but also enhances your brand’s reputation and engagement with your audience.