Does a billboard actually make people walk into a store and spend money? The latest footfall data says yes – and the right DOOH in the right place can move feet faster than you think
For years, out-of-home has been judged largely on visibility. Big screens, big reach, big presence – big payoff, right? But that’s not the full picture. What marketers have really wanted to know is simpler but paradoxically, more difficult to prove: what happened after the consumer saw the ad?
The good news is we now have the data to answer that question.
Speed of response
A new case study conducted with Tractor Outdoor and a leading telco shows that audiences exposed to a DOOH campaign were 45% more likely to visit a pre-determined retail location than similar audiences who weren’t exposed. More telling still, 70% of those visits happened within just 10 days of exposure.
What stood out immediately was the speed of response. Almost half of all visits took place within the first five days. That short conversion window tells us something important about how DOOH works when it’s used well.
It doesn’t just build awareness; it catches people close to a decision moment. When the message is clear and the placement is right, DOOH can move people from seeing to doing in days, not weeks.
What’s also interesting to note is that context did much of the heavy lifting, and not necessarily size. The strongest results came from specific malls and retail corridors where people were already in a buying mindset, showing that DOOH can influence people who are ready to shop.
Timing also mattered, with visits spiking on Fridays and weekends. This shows that precision – rather than throwing out the biggest placements and seeing what sticks – is what drives footfall into stores.
The findings revealed that while broad coverage builds overall impact, a disproportionate share of the actual store visits came from specific malls, corridors and certain days of the week.
Broadcast value of DOOH
This suggests that many brands are already capturing the broadcast value of DOOH, but could unlock significantly more value by also weighting plans around the places and moments that drive the strongest response, with certain locations and periods acting as performance multipliers.
The study clearly demonstrated that DOOH works best when it intercepts people on their decision routes, close to where action can happen.
Many campaigns are still planned as a constant presence, running the same creative across the same screens, week after week. The data suggests a different way of thinking is needed. Shorter bursts. Offers that are easy to act on. Contextual triggers. Creative that reflects real trading moments.
And investment weighted toward the places and days that drive response, rather than trying to be everywhere at once.
Adding a missing layer
It’s also important to place this study in a broader measurement context. Footfall attribution doesn’t replace existing DOOH metrics; it adds a missing layer.
Planning still matters, as does knowing that a campaign ran as booked. What this study also highlights is how DOOH is often under-used in the media mix. Brands tend to lean on it for broadcast impact, which it does well, but the real gains often come from being more selective about where and when activity is focused and leaning harder into promotions and launches.
This is where creative adaptability can be a real flex, so messaging is always fresh and immediate.
This latest exciting data shows how DOOH can answer broader questions, too. Which locations are pulling people into stores? Which corridors deserve more budget next time? Over time, and especially when paired with sales or CRM data, these insights can shape decisions about store-level performance, budget allocation and return on investment, not just media delivery.
That’s the real shift. DOOH is something brands can learn from – then act on.
Ruchelle Mouton is chief marketing officer at Glynt, parent company to Tractor Outdoor. Established over two decades ago, Tractor Outdoor is a national out of home (OOH) media owner, which specialises in connecting brands to consumers through its network of traditional and digital inventory, as well as its transit networks and ambient platforms. Tractor Outdoor owns one of the largest Digital Out of Home (DOOH) networks in South Africa and is a member of Outdoor Measurement Council (OMC), the Out of Home Media South Africa (OHMSA) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa (IAB SA).
