Outdoor Advertising Audience Information
The out of home media audience consists of people on the go. The American public is traveling more today than ever, which means the out of home media market is growing. Americans cover 3.4 trillion miles annually. Vehicles are used to travel 76% of those miles. So who is doing all this traveling? 94% of all American households own at least one car. 89% of adults age 16 and older have drivers licenses. This suggests that all Americans view outdoor advertisements.
People who travel in personal vehicles are the primary audience for outdoor advertisers. 90% of all personal travel miles are in privately owned vehicles. Of that 90%, the 18-34 age group travels the most. Although men currently spend more time driving, females' driving time is on the rise.
| Daily Time Spent Driving (average minutes) | ||
| Ages | Male | Female |
| 16-19 | 57.7 | 56.1 |
| 20-34 | 80.7 | 65.4 |
| 35-49 | 85.5 | 67.4 |
| 50-64 | 87.7 | 61.1 |
| 65+ | 73.2 | 54.7 |
| All | 81.2 | 63.6 |
The outdoor audience can be segmented by household income. Generally, the higher the household income, the more miles traveled per day. Households with an income of $80,000 or higher travel the most, with an average of 45 miles traveled in a personally owned vehicle per day. Households with an income of less than $15,000 travel the least, with an average of 21.8 miles. What these figures mean is that as income increases, being exposed to an outdoor ad increases as well.
The out of home audience can be further broken down by ethnicity. Caucasians travel more by personally owned vehicle, with an average of 37.6 miles per day. Hispanics follow closely with 31.6 miles, while Asians and African Americans travel the least with 25.6 and 25.9 miles respectively.
Other important information for advertisers to know regarding travel, is when people travel. Summer is the peak travel time. June, July and August account for 28.78% of miles traveled in a personally owned vehicle. The busiest month to travel is July, while the least busiest is January. Knowing the seasonal characteristics of travel is an effective tool for planning a successful outdoor campaign.
So, how much does it cost to reach your target market when using outdoor? Based on CPM, out of home media is one of the most cost-efficient forms of media. The chart shows how outdoor compares to other types of advertising.
| CPM Comparison | |||
| Men 18+ | Women 18+ | Adults | |
| Outdoor (top 50 mkts) 8 Sheet Poster 350 Weekly GRP's 30 Sheet Poster 350 Weekly GRP's Rotary Bulletin 70 Weekly GRP's Transit Shelter 350 Weekly GRP's Perm. Bulletin 70 Weekly GRP's | $1.77 $2.61 $6.72 $2.07 $7.08 | $2.19 $3.28 $8.51 $2.60 $9.91 | $0.98 $1.45 $3.76 $1.15 $4.39 |
| Radio :30 network :30 spot | $8.75 $10.45 | $7.75 $9.65 | _____ _____ |
| Magazines Newsweeklies (4-color page) | $10.30 | _____ | _____ |
| Newspapers Dailies (1/3 page b/w) | $22.05 | $21.15 | _____ |
| Television :30 prime-time network :30 prime-time spot | $22.55 $30.80 | $18.10 $24.31 | _____ _____ |
[Source: OAAA]