Edge1 Business Intelligence: Data Analytics

Access your outdoor advertising business data from anywhere with the Edge1 business intelligence mobile app, available on Google play store and Apple app store. Dive deep into your business data with powerful features for business decision-making on the go.   

With this app you can: 

1. View all your important data in one place

2. Tap to explore, filter, and focus on what’s most important

3. Easily share reports and data visualizations 

4. Securely access your on-premises data 

5. Start exploring your Edge1 Business Intelligence (BI) data instantly, with no setup needed 

Make informed decisions with Edge1 BI's industry-leading data analytics, business intelligence, and data visualization tools. 

To know more about Edge1 business intelligence platform for out-of-home advertising companies visit www.edge1.in

 

Edge1 OOH Software- Covid19

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy.

 

From OOH to DOOH Media Advertising

 

Have you ever seen digital content on a mini TV screen at a gas station? What about on a digital directory at a mall, or a digital billboard on the side of a bus? These are all examples of digital out-of-home (DOOH) media, and they’re taking over the advertising industry with new innovations seemingly every day.

So what sets DOOH apart, and what considerations do marketing teams need to have when moving into space?

Let’s take a look at what makes messaging, targeting, and purchasing ad inventories is unique in DOOH versus OOH.

DOOH vs. OOH: Messaging

Given the state of mass communications, the world knows about an event moments after it happens, which means public opinion and mood can shift dramatically from one minute to the next.

Take, for example, the recent Planters Super Bowl commercial, in which Mr. Peanut dies and is reborn as “Baby Nut.” Despite Planters’ massive spending on that ad placement, the entire campaign had to be paused due to negative public reactions in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. A dead peanut series of static OOH billboards would net a major loss for a company like Planters, having to pay for all ad space to be physically replaced.

Due to the real-time nature of a DOOH campaign, ads can be adjusted quickly in response to events. From small edits to an overall campaign shift, DOOH allows marketers to turn on a dime in an ad environment that demands it.

While this is an extreme example, this same principle can be applied to other use cases, like allowing brands to react to changes in the weather to ensure ads are relevant and timely. For example, a home improvement store with a gardening DOOH campaign could instantly change it over to shovels with a late-season blizzard hit.

DOOH vs. OOH: Targeting

Digitally-enabled OOH media uses location-based data to understand the audiences that are within view of the ad. Anytime consumers download an app that asks for location data, for example, those who opt-in are agreeing to share their location information with data providers. Then, advertisers can use that data to understand the traffic patterns of those consumers and where they’re spending time.

This is also how viewership for OOH ads is measured, although there’s no guarantee that someone within a certain location actually viewed the ad in question. This location data can then be used to assess the effectiveness of the ad, especially if your end goal is to drive traffic to a certain location like a storefront.

Edge1 Outdoor Media Management Software has the capability to correlate this location data with online audiences using mobile IDs that can be converted into IP addresses. Retargeting consumers is also an option, as geofencing allows advertisers to target people within a specific radius and serve them additional ad content.

DOOH vs. OOH: Purchasing

Along with increased agility and accuracy in messaging and targeting, DOOH purchasing is far more compatible with digital marketing operations than traditional OOH.

Because of its digital nature, any digital team can easily fold DOOH into their overall digital strategy, and this is where the real merging of the physical and digital happens.

Programmatic DOOH is the concept that enables media buyers to develop a set of criteria for the intended audience of a given ad, such as time of day or weather conditions, for example. When those criteria are met, the purchase transaction is executed automatically and the ad is displayed on the screen.

These purchasing decisions are powered and analyzed by new methods of measurement that are far more accurate than before. Traditionally, OOH was not part of the omnichannel conversation because of the inability to measure accurate results against foot traffic or sales lift.

Conclusion

DOOH is shifting the advertising landscape, and many feel that it’s changing for the better. In the coming months and years, we’ll continue to see brands really experiment to understand what they’re capable of in this new space. Consumers will also reap the rewards, interacting with their surroundings in ways that are designed to inform and entertain simultaneously. Time will tell where exactly the industry will take us, but one thing is for sure: DOOH isn’t going anywhere.

Edge1: Download everything at one time

Lights. Camera. Action. Download and store your files from Edge1 in the ACTIONS button. 

 

Edge1: Get notified of every financial transaction

Every single personnel of the finance department is always bothered about evaluating correct payables and receivables transactions, on time.

As outdoor advertising companies, buy outdoor media sites and acquire the sites on a regular basis, and when the time is to manage them, they face dizzying, the complexity, due and pays are making big trouble for them. Accounts payables and receivables workflow is an immense task, and it gets harder when your sites include a mix of digital and static sites.

Edge1 Outdoor Media Management Software, finance module automate and streamline the payables and receivables by giving you timely alerts of all the due payments. As the software is dedicatedly designed for the outdoor advertising industry with the hi-tech technology to have a significant impact on daily OOH business operations, you can add your custom alerts, get due landlord license fee alerts, and many more.

To know more about Edge1 Outdoor Advertising Software visit http://www.edge1.in/  or just shoot us a mail at care@edge1.in

Sales: Say No tOOH Spreadsheets

 Most outdoor advertising media companies would admit they often depend on spreadsheets to know the site availability, track the campaign progress, and report on various metrics, processes, etc. Spreadsheets have a place and are sometimes valuable, but if you’re using them to manage your media site locations, leads, landlord license fees, campaign expenses, budgets, and metrics, you’re likely ready to pull out your hair. 

It’s time to stop the madness and say, “We’re not going to take it anymore!”

The Problems with Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are static. Spreadsheets are complicated. Spreadsheets are manual. With thousands of cells, pages, and macros subject to human error, they offer little in the way of providing trustworthy data that can be used with confidence and you never know if you’re working from the same version as the other guy. 

How much time do you or those on your team spend knowing the current availability of media locations, verifying the data is accurate and the right version, and trying to share it with others? How well do they enable your team to collaborate and share quick media plans? How effective are they in helping you manage your outdoor media locations, measure the impact of a campaign, and predict your revenue?

Sales + Spreadsheets = Hell

Outdoor media advertising sales are inherently complex because there are usually many campaigns running at the same time, each with its own budgets, number of locations, schedules, markets, and production (printing and installation). Using a spreadsheet to manage all of these moving parts not only adds countless hours but puts the organization at risk for using bad or old data and wasting a lot of time.

The truth is, spreadsheets were not designed for collaboration. Since your sales department likely consists of more people than just you, using a spreadsheet just isn’t practical in light of all of the automated sales tools available. Spreadsheets are limited in their functionality when it comes to OOH advertising media sales; they don’t allow multiple users to input or access data on demand and they don’t provide real-time visibility into what’s really happening. To make things worse, oftentimes, there are multiple spreadsheets being used by various people, leading to frustration and data inconsistency.

If your outdoor media plans are based on the actual available locations, you have to trust the data you have. A single error in a single cell of a massive spreadsheet renders that spreadsheet completely useless. Are you willing to risk your sales efforts on the accuracy of those spreadsheets over which you have so little control?

Stepping Out of Spreadsheet Hell

Sales departments must step out of their comfort zone of spreadsheets and embrace sales performance management solutions that automate processes and integrate with other business systems, like CRMs and sales automation platforms. You need modern technology to do things spreadsheets don’t allow, like comparing media plans. You need to have a standardized methodology for evaluating and media locations’ performance. You need a single source of truth from which your team can work.

Spreadsheets will never be able to give you these features, flexibility or visibility.

Knowing this, why do salespeople still sometimes cling to spreadsheets? Likely because they’ve always used them and don’t want to learn or invest in something different. I get it. Change is scary and there is often a learning curve. But spreadsheets will perpetually demand vigilance and consistently fall short of what you really need to run an effective and successful marketing organization. 

Once you learn how well Edge1 outdoor advertising sales performance management software can improve productivity and performance, you’ll wonder how you ever managed with spreadsheets. 

Welcome to nirvana.

Three Steps To Find The Best Outdoor Advertising Software

Convinced that adopting an outdoor advertising media management software is the next step in your growth plans? Then your first task is to figure out which one will work best for you and your team, and then to evaluate the benefits of using automated software.

There are hundreds of tools listed on Google alone, not to mention the market as a whole. The available features range from simple location management to full-blown process automation, and from being free to costing hundreds of dollars a month. 

The three steps outlined below will help point you in the right direction so you can start drawing up a list of software options and their advantages that will lift you and your team up rather than weighing you down.

1. Ask yourself if you really need a software

Before incurring yet another monthly expense, make sure that investing in software is the right step forward. For starters, make sure you aren’t shopping for customer management tools before you have any customers.

A popular starting tool for managing media location availability and campaign management is the humble spreadsheet, and there are plenty of helpful Excel dashboard templates out there to help you when you’re in that early stage of business. However, there will come a time when these won’t work quite as well anymore.

Here are some possible reasons why:

1. Your team has grown and too many people are editing the same spreadsheets

2. The time it takes to maintain information increased substantially

3. Spreadsheets are no longer a secure way to store sensitive client data

Once you hit the benefit ceiling of Excel and it becomes more of a burden and time-sucker than a helping hand, it’s time to turn to something a little more advanced. Managing data in a dedicated OOH advertising software platform has its advantages as it requires less manual work and it is a much safer way to manage valuable client data.

2. Do your homework before you start software shopping

Once you’re sure that you need software, discerning which one best fits your needs and budget may seem like a daunting task, but the key is to start with an internal analysis. 

Before getting overwhelmed by the glitzy features an all-in-one promises made by software market leaders, start by isolating the day-to-day functions you and your team carry out. Once you do, divide them into categories based on function and the tools you are using to carry them out. 

This will help you browse the value propositions and product pages of different software, and navigate you towards those that are more suitable for your needs. Plus you’ll get a solid overview of the tools that manage every facet of your out-of-home advertising business's day-to-day tasks. 

Don’t throw the old stuff away just yet

Many software systems are built to integrate and sync with popular financial software. So before going Marie Kondo on your admin tools, take a moment to note down what it is about them that you find so tricky.

If you have already invested in software that’s not working out for you, you might be troubled by all the fancy features you pay for but never use. Or perhaps you are content with the product, but your needs as a customer aren’t met by their support team when problems pop up.

In the end, it all comes down to identifying your pain points. Below are some of the most common ones faced by teams using software that doesn’t suit their needs:

• Time-consuming to manage

• Not customizable enough

• Too complicated for you or your team to use

• Not scalable as your database of customers and team grow

If you are reading this guide and hunting for new software to manage your outdoor advertising media business, chances are you identify with at least one of these pain points. As tempting as a shiny, brand new solution may seem, the cost of changing out everything may be higher than you’re bargaining for.

Factor the cost of change into your software decision

According to Prosci, the more dependent a project's benefits are on adoption and usage, the more focus should be on effectively managing and easing your team into the change. 

Therefore, you may want to look for an advertising software that is easy to combine with the tools you have in use. This will make it more likely to be adopted by your team, which should be the ultimate goal. As a starting point, it might even be best to go for very basic software that covers the basics, used in addition to the current mix to avoid shaking things up too much and stirring up resistance. 

Many software is compatible with major email providers, financial software, and other basic office programs. Edge1 Outdoor Advertising Media Management Software, for example, is designed to integrate with rather than disrupting the tools in your sales process. You can read our page about integrating with Edge1 to see how it works.

If after all this evaluation you still want to ditch all the old tools, then, by all means, do so. The important thing is to think your decision through, and not to rush in before you and your team are ready.

3. Keep your key software stakeholders in mind

While you may be browsing software and software advantages on your own, it is important to remember who you’re shopping for. Whether you’re a manager or not, chances are that you will not be the only one benefiting from the implementation of out-of-home advertising software, so it’s important to think beyond your own needs.

First and foremost, before asking for feedback from your team, as a general rule of thumb you want your software’s advantages to include excellent customer support and an easy-to-implement framework. Avoiding overly-complex software systems or support teams that take over a week to get back to you is an easy way to ease the transition and make your teams’ lives easier.

The next thing to consider is the key functions your team is carrying out. Are they salespeople who will benefit greatly from forecasting and reporting features? Do they prefer a timeline view or is a Kanban board the best way to keep an eye on progress?

If you can’t answer these questions with certainty, just ask! Have a meeting to pinpoint your team’s biggest needs and priorities before making any definitive software choices.

Don’t forget about the guys upstairs

While it’s important to look at things from a ground perspective, it is equally important to consider the needs of the people up top when considering which software advantages are key to your OOH advertising business. 

What are the business objectives of your organization? Is productivity an area of particular focus at this time? Understanding the budgetary concerns and quarterly goals of the key decision-makers involved in the purchase of software will give you more leverage when pitching its advantages.

A well-matched software means happy customers

While the focus so far has been on advantages within your team and organization, the impact of well-chosen out-of-home advertising software will also ripple into your customers’ experience.

By helping your team keep track of customer data, they will find it easier to adapt their services and offer support at different stages of the campaign. 

Edge1 is an agile, highly customizable OOH advertising media (static, digital, and transit) management platform used globally by outdoor advertising media companies to manage their day-to-day processes. Set up a free demo to see if it's the right fit for you.