Brand visibility in Saudi Arabia has two pioneers in the forefront – OOH (Out of Home Branding) and Online branding. In OOH, everything from static billboards, dynamic digital screens, to advertisements in buses, airports, with even the tube is included. Contrary to this, online branding is about the hype in social media, PPC, influencer content, and other ads.
As a competition brews between the two in terms of advertising, both have their own sides of pros and cons. For marketers looking to survive in Saudi Arabia, being fluent in both has become an important skill to master. Something that makes online advertising highly effective is high mobile usage, internet access, and a digitally advanced population. But major developments under other initiatives are turning the kingdom into a large hub of OOH displays. But when it comes to ROI, which approach out of these delivers more value is a question of curiosity.
OOH Advertising in Saudi Arabia
Market Reach & Visibility
OOH advertising is the most prominent in the Urban centres in Saudi Arabia. Within the business zones, airports, and busy entertainment districts, Major Saudi Arabian cities have prime real estate ads all over. With the Red Sea project and expanding metro networks, Saudi Arabia’s OOH opportunities are rapidly evolving. Digital out-of-home, that is DOOH, and digital billboards are also on the rise. This increases the relevance and visibility of brands, which are in need of time-based advertising options.
Brand Recall & Trust
If you want trust and brand prestige, OOH is the way to go. Consumers often believe that physical ads that they can see and touch are more credible than others. OOH ads continue to stay, even after other advertising formats come and go. It outperforms everything, making brands go for it again and again. Cultural preferences also play a huge role in this, as it is a factor for the big-shot brands. To show that they still hold the authority, Luxury brands, automotive sectors, and such choose billboard advertising.
Cost Structure
The cost that a normal OOH incurs comes from creative production, printing, permits, installation, and monthly rentals. The CPMS (Cost per Mille) for the OOH ranges from SAR 25 to SAR 50. This basically depends on the location and format it is supposed to be in. The OOH type of ads has the potential and a long exposure period. This gives out a strong brand presence, even though the costs are a bit high-end.
Online Branding in Saudi Arabia
Market Reach & Visibility
One of the areas that has the highest number of smartphone and internet users is Saudi Arabia. Almost 98 percent of people are online and use social media on a daily basis. Among these, applications like Instagram and TikTok are very popular. These influence the audience highly, especially the millennials and the Gen Z. The targeting that happens among them is based on factors like age, interests, geography, and purchase behaviour.
Online branding offers personalized options that OOH can’t, through social media platforms, ad networks, and such.
Measurability & Flexibility
Behind flexible and having a data depth are the perks of digital branding. Changing creatives according to audience response, shifting budgets, and changing up content isn’t possible in OOH advertising. Detailed analytics like clicks and engagement are visible on platforms like Meta, Google Ads, and such. Running campaigns can be done according to the time, location, or device.
Unlike OOH, which relies on estimations, digital channels give real-time proof of ROI.
Cost Structure
Digital advertising is something that brands of all sizes can approach. The CPC is much Lower than OOH, hence even the smallest brands can achieve the needed target. Focusing on the high-intent users, Budgets can be stretched further by retargeting and programmatic buying. For the brands that looking to get up the ladder quickly, it’s best to go for online branding. This is because of the high accessibility and faster feedback.
Case Examples
OOH Success Story
The Middle Eastern fast-food line, Al Baik, did a campaign when they expanded to new regions in Saudi Arabia. The ad run was highly visible, with great audience response. The ads were kept through billboards, banners, and even in public transport. A creative content like “Your wait is over!” was given to build anticipation.
As a result, on the opening day, there were huge crowds. Even weeks after the launch, the outlet was sold out, and the hype was still going on.
Digital Wins
Noon.com, a renowned e-commerce giant in Saudi Arabia, made a big move digitally with “Yellow Friday” instead of “Black Friday”. The ads were run with high discounts offered. The Instagram and Snapchat buys that came after this were huge. For these Saudi influencers, Arabic hashtags and cultural content were used.
The result was that Noon got the market shares that were supposed to go to online shopping giants like Amazon.
ROI Comparison Framework
Metrics for OOH
Traffic counts, the location, and the duration are what are usually taken to estimate how effective an OOH ad is. Using studies that are taken before and after the campaign, brands estimate changes in awareness and audience response. It’s hard to estimate how well an OOH advertisement has done, but tools like QR codes and promo codes can help.
Linking geographic or time-based estimates based on OOH advertisements to store visits or web searches is another way. This can increase the understandability of how the ad has done.
Metrics for Online
Online ROI is very much easier to track. Through click through rate and return on ad spend, the advertisers can calculate accurately. There are plenty of tools that are used to assess performance, like ad impressions, clicks and such. This can show how efficient digital advertising has really been. The audience that should be focused on the most can be assessed from lifetime value analysis.
The influence on each user’s interactions on final conversions can be tracked with multi-touch attributions.
Hybrid Attribution
Combining the data coming from both OOH and online branding is a smart technique used by marketers. The advertisers have the technology to track how many users visit a store after seeing a billboard, like geofencing. There are even tools that exist to connect real-life exposure to online behaviour, like Blis and PlaceIQ. Traditional campaigns can now be optimized with absolute precision.
Recommendations & Best Practices
Integrated Strategy
Using both techniques together would create the best approach. OOH advertising can help you create an awareness that’s large scale. Along with this, digital branding can be used to retarget users. OOH delivers the much-needed talk between the audience, while digital closes the deal.
For example, a billboard advertisement for a new mall can create hype among people. An Instagram ad following this, with the right content, can lead to the final click.
Budget Allocation Tips
Keep a 60/40 split in mind, the 40 being for OOH ads and the 60 for digital. The best option for creating awareness and reach in public is OOH. If conversions are the target, digital advertising is your best bet.
Measurement Tools
For better digital ad tracking, make use of tools like Google Analytics and Meta Ads Manager. Traffic count reports, brand surveys and mobile analytics platforms can be relied on for OOH. To connect from offline to online, QR codes and short links can also be used.
Final Words
Online branding and OOH advertising both work well in a unique media ecosystem like Saudi Arabia. Digital branding can get you conversions and reach among people. OOH gets you the emotional connect and boosts your brand’s prestige. The best ROI comes from marketers who combine both of these strategies. In today’s world, it’s important to understand and invest smartly, as a small mistake can cost a lot.
DSS-AI, your digital marketing partner in Saudi Arabia, understands how a well-balanced advertising strategy should work. For the best impact on the audience, we know just the right technologies needed. We’ll give you the best innovative strategies that are both performance-oriented and target-driven.
With the much-needed marketing expertise, the creative excellence, and the best tools, DSS AI transforms brand strategies into success stories. Partner with DSS-AI to turn every click and impression into growth that lasts forever.
Get in touch with DSS AI today, and up your game with the newest digital marketing strategies. Contact now at +966 502362384 or info@dss-ai.com.