This guide will walk you through the process of setting up a Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) campaign, as well as provide details on the different customization and targeting options available.
Preparation Checklist
Before creating your campaign, ensure you have completed the following steps:
Access to Inventory
All DOOH publishers, except Ocean Outdoor, offer inventory exclusively through deals. Contact your Customer Success Manager to access BidTheatre’s open deals and to map your account seat ID.
Alternatively, refer to the article Publisher Contact Information for publisher-specific contacts if you require a customized deal.
Create your screen list
There are several ways to create screen lists, each suitable for different goals. Refer to the article Creating Screen Lists for detailed information.
Ad Compliance
Ensure your ads comply with publisher specifications. Common mistakes include incorrect spot lengths or ads containing audio.
Refer to the article DOOH Ad Specification for the full list of requirements.
Campaign Type Restrictions
Note that DOOH campaigns cannot include other types of inventory, such as display or standard video ads.
Creating a DOOH Campaign
To start, click on the New Campaign button, provide a campaign name, select the advertiser, and click Create Campaign.
This will take you to the campaign setup, which consists of five steps:
1. Settings
Spend Model:
If a portion of the campaign budget, such as an agency fee, needs to be allocated, configure it here. For a full media spend, select 0% Margin / At Cost.
Click Target URL:
Add a landing page URL. Although DOOH screens are non-clickable, a landing page is required for the technical setup.
Campaign KPI:
Choose a KPI. While KPIs do not directly impact DOOH campaigns, selecting one is mandatory for campaign creation.
Campaign Categories:
Select a category that describes the type of products or services being advertised.
Click Save Changes to proceed.
2. Schedule
Delivery Priority:
Choose a delivery priority. We recommend Even Delivery, which distributes the budget evenly throughout the campaign period.
Flights:
Click Add Flight to define your campaign’s duration. Specify a start date, end date, and maximum budget.
Best Practice: Period Scheduling
By enabling Show Advanced Settings, you can configure specific days and times for your campaign.
For example, to avoid budget waste during low-traffic hours, consider excluding nighttime periods.
If none of the predefined schedules suit your needs, create a Custom Period Schedule by clicking the + icon.
For instance: To run a campaign from Monday to Saturday, 07:00 - 23:00, your Custom period schedule might look like this:
Note: For a campaign ending at 23:00, set the End Hour to 22. This ensures the last full hour (22:00 - 22:59) is included.
3. Ad Creatives
Upload Ads
Upload your creatives via drag-and-drop or by Select file.
If using the Banner Editor, ensure your ads are saved as MP4 files and click New from Banner Set.
Note: Ads may take approximately 20 minutes to process. Once uploaded, preview the creatives to confirm that spot lengths align with the ad specifications.
4. Ad Groups
Add your ads to an ad group by clicking the Edit icon on the ad group and selecting the relevant creatives.
You can create multiple ad groups to organize materials based on your strategy.
5. Bid Strategies
Default settings
Default Geo Target: Select your geo target. If you have created a custom screen list with handpicked screens, choose an entire country as your geo target. If you are using a full deal (including all the publisher's screens) as a media list, select a geo target that limits the campaign to the desired area.
Default Max CPM: Consider the publisher's floor price (the minimum bid required to access their inventory) and BidTheatre's platform fee when setting your maximum bid.
Default Audience: For DOOH campaigns, the primary audience targeting options available are weather-based and postal code targeting. For more details on creating custom audiences, please refer to the article Custom Audiences.
Default Filter: Use one of the following filters:
BidTheatre Default Filter - DOOH - This filter allows the system to bid the specified maximum CPM. It is useful for narrower targeting or when aiming at a small number of screens where a higher bid ensures competitiveness.
BidTheatre Default Filter - DOOH - Bid Minimization - This filter continuously attempts to bid as low as possible. When using this filter, it is advisable to set a slightly higher maximum CPM to give the system flexibility to adjust bids based on the campaign’s pacing.
Default Optimization Strategy: Leave this field empty to ensure that no screens are excluded from the campaign.
Creating Bid Strategies
The final step in your campaign setup is creating one or more strategies with ad groups and screen lists. As mentioned earlier, screen lists can be created in several ways, each suitable for different campaign setups. Please refer to the article Creating Screen Lists for detailed instructions.
Regardless of how you create your screen lists, they are added to the campaign in the same way:
Click New Bid Strategy, select your ad group, and find your screen list under Media List.
If all necessary selections are already configured in the default settings, leave the other fields empty. If different geo targets need to be applied to specific strategies, add them at the strategy level here. Any settings defined at the strategy level will override those in the default settings.
Repeat this process for all the strategies you wish to add. Once done, click "Finish Setup" to launch or schedule your campaign!
Note: All DOOH ads are manually reviewed and approved during office hours. It is highly recommended to schedule your DOOH campaigns well in advance to ensure approval before evenings or weekends.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to BidTheatre’s support team!