7 Predictions for the Future of Physical, On-Site Advertising for 2016

If I told you I had a crystal ball and could predict what the future holds, what would your first reaction be? ‘Yeah right, keep dreaming’ or maybe ‘I’m all ears’. Back about 15 years ago, there was this influx of ‘predicting’ type articles on the web.

They’d predict the state of marketing, the Future of Science, What the Future Holds for Facebook, etc. Fast forward 15 years and we aren’t any different – we still want to know what’s going to happen. We want to be on the cutting edge of change and stay on the cutting edge of our industry. It’s the temptation of a glimpse into the future that draws us in. ‘Maybe we’ll find out something we didn’t know before and my team can get a head start and prepare for it.’

So as not to disappoint you, we have prepared our top 7 predictions for the future of physical, on-site advertising for 2016. And why should you take our word for it? What makes Air Ad Promotions such a good judge of predicting the future? Well besides our crystal ball :), we have been in the outdoor advertising industry for over 25 years. To say we’ve seen it all sounds like an overused phrase, but it’s really true. We made mental predictions last year but didn’t write them down. This year they are being documented, and we’ll come back next year to see if they proved true.

What we reveal today may change your outlook, maybe it will change the way you’ve been functioning in your job all these years. Either way, you’ll find out what we think the future holds for physical, on-site advertising.

7 Predictions for On-Site Advertising

1. There will be more remote workers. The number of people working remotely, tele-commuting, or officing from home will continue to rise. This study, looks at numbers from 2014, shows an increase of 6.5% from the previous year in telecommuters. What this means for on-site, outdoor advertising is more people working at home who want to get out and about after work. And, more people who get out in their own neighborhoods to take a lunch break.
2. According to Larry Hintergardt, National Account Sales at Air Ad Promotions, “We will continue to grow as a mobile society. The overall picture of how consumers are doing business shows that physical mobility will continue to rise.” In fact the numbers from the Federal Highway Administration prove this point. They show that the average person travels 13,476 miles every year.
3. Visuals will continue to spark interest. One scroll down your Facebook feed and you’ll see a number of videos and meme’s catching your attention. Why? Because imagery catches our eye more than text. So using on-site imagery and attention grabbing visuals at a physical storefront plays right into what consumers notice.
4. Signs aren’t going to be enough. Every business has a sign. That’s just the very basic. Signs alone don’t drive business. Ultimately, no one notices what they aren’t looking for. Hintergardt goes on to say, “Outdoor inflatable advertising compliments the campaigns businesses are already running, it’s one more reminder about your promotions. They hear about it on a radio advertisement, then they drive by and see it. The outdoor visuals is what is going to bring the consumer actually in the door.”
5. ROI is going to be much simpler to track. Marketers may laugh at this, but the reality is, ROI boils down to what activities are bringing in the most sales for your business. And how much those activities are costing to carry out. Outdoor inflatable advertising is simple to track. The promotion goes up, the location tracks profitability from that point.
6. Brick and mortar stores will still be a place where more retail and consumer value is created. A study by Omnichannel Shopping Preferences, emphasized that it is important to recognize that shoppers find physical stores appealing. Customer satisfaction is at the core of retailing and the future is very strong for physical locations.

90% of all US retail sales are in stores.

7. Having a last point of contact is going to be vitally important to building consumers brand awareness. Even before a consumer gets into the door of your location, outdoor advertising gives the marketing department one more opportunity to remind the consumer of specials and promotions.

Future predictions are tough in any industry. But looking at the trend of how consumers are shopping, working and living, the inflatable advertising industry is at a point to bring brick and mortar locations more business than ever before.

Because ultimately, thousands of consumers are driving past your locations every day, are the ordinary signs and direct mail coupons going to be remembered in 2016? Or are the unusual, eye catching, head turning inflatable advertising products right in front of the physical location going to be remembered?

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