Outdoor advertising has increased its usefulness to healthcare marketers. Traditional media is struggling to maintain revenues and effectiveness. Print, radio and television are all under extreme pressure in a down economy and because of changing consumer media habits. But in the face of all this concern, outdoor advertising is seeing resurgence – a renaissance of the medium. Outdoor advertising is expected to see strong growth in the coming years. Behind only online advertising, outdoor has been the most dynamic media over the past five years. It is capturing market share from the other traditional mediums. So why is this happening?

Two primary reasons are causing outdoor to buck the trend.

1.  The first is the introduction of new technology. The digital billboard provides more visual impact and more flexibility than outdoor has ever had. To have several messages rotate on the board expands outdoor’s usefulness. And the ability to remove and/or insert new copy and designs in a matter of minutes has brought outdoor from a slow, long lead-time medium to an instant one. This has great advantages for hospital advertising. Instead of being locked into one message for the long haul or having to pay for costly changes, now a hospital can advertise several services at the same time and can change any message within minutes. For hospitals, outdoor provides flexibility that only radio and the internet can provide.  

2.  The second reason outdoor is growing market share is it’s cost efficiency. The average cost per thousand for outdoor has always been lower than practically ever other of medium. And in an economy that forces hospitals to stretch every penny and get the most of every dollar spent, outdoor delivers.

True, outdoor has its limitations.

• The message  is very limited.
• Outdoor competes with highway clutter.
• And some view billboards as an eyesore that contributes to highway clutter and a community’s unattractiveness.

But despite these liabilities, in a media landscape where traditional advertising is taking hits, outdoor is a shining star. It’s big. It’s flexible.  It’s outdoors.