104 – Outdoor Ads for Non-Profits with Charlie Riley

Episode Transcription

David Pisarek: Did you know that outdoor ads can reach your donors in ways digital channels might be missing? Today, we’re diving into how non-profits can tap into this unexpected marketing powerhouse.

Hi, I’m your host, David, and in this episode, we’re going to discuss why non-profits should consider outdoor advertising. I have an an awesome guest here. I’ve got Charlie Riley. Charlie is the head of marketing at One Screen, an outdoor advertising platform helping non-profits add measurable marketing channels to boost revenue.

With experience leading marketing for startups to companies generating nearly 200 million, he was also named a top 50 B2B marketing influencer. Plus, he’s a proud father of three. And as an added little fun fact, he even made a brief cameo on one of my favourite shows, the Office, in the wedding episode. Charlie, thanks so much for joining us here today and taking time out of your busy schedule.

Charlie Riley: Thanks for having me. I love that intro and the Office reference. But yeah, we’re all busy, and we’re all trying to achieve the same goals, but thanks for having me.

David Pisarek: Excited to talk first things first, why should non-profits consider ads, specifically outdoor ads, alongside their digital efforts?

Charlie Riley: Yeah, I mean, non-profits are just like any other business to some degree. There’s obviously some variance there, but they’re still trying to communicate to their customers. Their customers may be donors, or they may be future volunteers.

There’s a wide range there but not everybody spends all their time on their mobile phone. You know, we’re all inundated with digital ads. We’re seeing across every type of industry.

There’s fatigue from social media messaging and email. Auto-home is a great channel that’s been around for a long time, and there’s a lot of options to complement digital ads and digital marketing, but in a way where people are outside, they can’t turn an ad off, they can’t block it, and there’s a lot of executions that can be really specifically targeted towards people they want to talk to. So it’s a great medium for non-profits to consider other businesses to consider. But we’re seeing a great uptick in people understanding the value of being everywhere, not just on a mobile device.

David Pisarek: You know, not that long ago, I was in New York, and I’m standing in near Times Square, and there’s all of these digital ads. They’re all digital TV screens, right? And I’ve noticed a number of billboards switching to digital billboards. It certainly makes it easier you don’t have to have people go and blue posters up on the boards anymore and stuff like that. But even though they’ve got this technology, isn’t it really like old-school marketing?

Charlie Riley: The thought process is, yes, but it’s on par with other marketing channels. Out of home can be measured. Billboards can be measured just like other channels can be.

So you’re a hundred percent right. Digital billboards provide a lot of easier access. You can get an add-up in hours versus having an old-school billboard. But billboards are just one execution, and out of home, we do mobile trucks that enter in a similar vein where you could park that outside of say a big fundraising event, or you could have that drive around an affluent neighborhood where you know that your fundraising audience spend their time.

So digital is a great execution, and like I said before, it is measurable. So we can tell companies, organizations and non-profits who they want to see their ad. We could tell them a percentage of those people who did see that by measuring what’s called a mobile ID so we can geofence a location and understand who had exposure to that ad.

We can do things like put a cookie on their website so we can show if there’s been a lift in maybe visits to a fundraising page or to an event promotional page, so we can show measurement there.

So while it’s been around for a long time and maybe, you know, people think it’s an old, old school channel, there’s a lot of fun ways that out-of-home has advanced in the digital age.

David Pisarek: That’s interesting. I think it’s important to know digital ads, right? You can run Google Ads, Facebook ads, Meta, and LinkedIn and you can get metrics from that.

The board ideally wants to know: was the money spent wisely? What is the ROI? And I think being able to understand, “Okay, we can get a sense of how many eyeballs hit this ad because it was on a billboard or on the top of a taxi cab,” where they’ve got the digital ad space even in the back of a cab, on the back of the seat in busses and subway systems. So, what are some of those key metrics that people might want to consider with regard to out-of-home?

Charlie Riley: Yeah, it’s just like any other marketing execution. It really depends on what your goal is.

Some marketing campaigns that use out-of-home are strictly for brand awareness. You might do something like if a non-profit’s having a big fundraiser, they may have wrapped cars outside as people are walking in, and it’s kind of like one of these cool moments, you get people taking pictures, they’re sharing it on social media.

So branding is an opportunity if that’s the goal there. We might wrap a coffee cart and have that in a location where maybe there’s an event happening, or, you know, in a location where they know that there’s some fundraising happening. So that’s a brand play. That’s one thing. If it’s to drive certain activities, so say, it’s to drive attendance to an event, what we would do is make sure that the call to action on those ads was specific to that.

We want to make sure it was either a specific URL that pushed people to either purchase tickets to donate, but we would be able to measure that on that website to see if there was la ift. So, one way we can do that is if we can highlight maybe an exposed group, so those that were exposed to the ads versus a control group who were not exposed to the ads.

And we can show a variance there, to say, based on those who did see it. “We saw a 50%, 60%, 200% lift of people that actually went to that site. They clicked through, they bought tickets, they donated, they did whatever the action was there.” So, in a similar way that digital advertising is measured, we can do that with out-of-home, especially with the targeting that we do.

We don’t just throw billboards up or put a truck wherever. We feel like we really work with customers, that they tell us what their goals are and who they’re trying to talk to and we use over 30 data sources to be able to really pinpoint locations of where to put our ads. So between that and between the measurement, we’re able to accomplish kind of whatever their intended goal is.

David Pisarek: That’s really interesting, being able to go, “Okay, yeah, you know what, we can really track this and get a really good understanding.” I love the idea of comparing those who were exposed or potentially have seen the ad or were at the event, that type of thing, versus people who weren’t, so that you can really get a good understanding of the impact that it did have.

And I think that that’s a really important thing, is, even with your digital ads, how does that compare? How do you do this control group type thing? So I think anybody listening to this, it would be a really interesting idea to take a look at any ads that you’re doing.

If you’ve got the Google Ad grant, you get $10,000 US a month in free ads, which is amazing. But how does that compare? And what’s the impact that that’s having for your organization with the time and effort that’s going into actually doing that?

Charlie Riley: Just one thing to add to Google search, because it’s something that if an organization is spending money and time to make sure that they’re optimizing for SEO, you have to think about also, there may not be a call-to-action on a billboard. And we’re not talking always, you know, the major billboards on major through fairs.

There are smaller executions that could happen at a local level and an affordable level. So you have to remember that someone from the exposed group they might be driving might not go to a website right away, but the memory of what they’re going to go and find from a search standpoint. That’s why it’s a natural tie in with paid search with other digital channels.

So it is something to think about, of making sure the messaging and the creative on that ad is distinct enough so that they remember that and go back and they might go search for that later in the day or, you know, a week later.

David Pisarek: Yeah, you want to make sure that it’s memorable, that it stands out, and, you know, you could probably think back to your childhood and TV commercials with whatever the jingle happens to be. This is a visual jingle that will stick in your mind and make you want to “what? What is that?” And dig into it a little bit.

And I love you mentioned affordable, so let’s go there. Let’s talk about what is the cost of this. A lot of non-profits struggle with budget, and we know that. The thing I like to say is you have to run your non-profit like it’s a business. Part of that is advertising and brand awareness. Spending, investing money in your organization so that you can further your cause, all that type of stuff. So what does this really kind of look like from your side?

Charlie Riley: Yeah, the hard answer is it depends.

Like probably almost any marketing channel, and I say that because of what we call inventory, which is really the millions of opportunities you could use for out-of-home, there are billboards all over the place.

There are mobile trucks that can be driven in certain spots. There are cars that could be wrapped. There are street teams that could walk around, like there are lots of executions and bus shelters. So it all varies because we act as sort of the intermediary and we work with lots of different vendors, so we have access to a wide range of their inventory and their availability.

And that really depends if it’s a busy season, the holiday season’s a busy season for out-of-home. Inventory gets booked up fairly quickly. Major Markets, there’s just more interest sometimes in certain major cities. So inventory is booked up earlier, so the pricing can vary quite a bit.

Now, a large billboard on the side of a major through A is probably going to be fairly expensive. However, you could use things like we’re talking about mobile trucks. Those can be fairly cost-effective if booked out enough in advance depending on where you want it to be and how long you want to book it for.

Obviously, like anything else, if you were to say to book that for two weeks versus one day, there’s going to be efficiencies of cost there. So that’s where we look at things to say, “What are your main goals? Who are you trying to talk to?” We’ll map out a plan based on what we know are the best practices and with the best exposure.

And there will be times that we’ve told customers, “You know, this isn’t going to be a fit. We don’t think this makes the most sense because the inventory isn’t there. We don’t think we can provide you with enough exposure. And for the cost of that, you know, it’s not going to be an efficient campaign.”

So, you know, I’ve worked with a lot of non-profits. I’ve volunteered with a bunch. I understand budgets are always tough, but it can be complimentary to other digital campaigns that are running on Google, Facebook and such.

So, there are options depending on the size and the scope of each non-profit organization. It really depends on what they’re trying to accomplish, and when they’re trying to accomplish it. But that’s where it’s nice to be able to kind of put a plan together and give them options.

David Pisarek: So you’re taking a very consultative approach with them and going, “What is your goal?” I think it’s important before anybody puts any time or money into spending money. Advertising, web, digital, whatever it happens to be, even buying merch. You want to buy shirts or something.

Really understanding what is the goal, what is the purpose? And is what you’re thinking about doing going to get you the result that you’re hoping to achieve? And, you know, connecting with people like Charlie. If you’re interested in doing ads in any kind of way, shape or form, I think would be a great opportunity to get a real trusted answer as to whether or not what you’re thinking of doing actually makes sense.

Charlie Riley: Yeah, we’re not just a vendor to sell somebody a billboard. You can go and do that. You can work directly with the vendors.

Now, you’re only going to get the Inventory that they own. We ask a lot of questions around what are your overall marketing goals? What are your brand goals? What are you trying to accomplish? Like you said, are you trying to push people towards a march? There might be billboards on the route of that march that would be added value for everyone to see, like, “Hey, congratulations, we raised X number of dollars.” That would be pretty cool.

People are going to take a lot of pictures of that, they’re going to share that. We want to know the whole picture of what they’re trying to accomplish out of home advertising is one piece to that. We’re not expecting anyone to completely change their marketing budget and put it all in out of home, but it is a nice compliment, and we like to be a consultative partner with them because a lot of marketers and a lot of organizations haven’t done out of home before, so we take a lot of that work off their plate.

We do the planning, we do the execution, we do the measurement and we handle them along the way. So, it is consultative. Yes.

David Pisarek: One of the things that I would implore everybody listening to this to do is to take a look at your budget. What you should be doing is looking at your budget, going, “Okay, our budget is a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars, $10 million,” whatever it happens to be, roughly 10% of that should go towards advertising and marketing.

So that includes web, that includes ads, that includes things like bus shelters or this, that whatever you’re going to do. And so really take a good look at that. And if your marketing budget is less than 10%, you really need to ask, “Why?” To have a real sit down and conversation with your senior leadership, with your executive, with your board of directors to understand “Why are we not telling people about the stuff that we’re doing? Why are we not investing in awareness for our cause?”

Charlie Riley: That’s a great point.

Especially when you have, you know, really passionate volunteers, you have very passionate staff, you have to be passionate. From a non-profit standpoint, you should never assume that everybody understands exactly what you do and what you’re talking about.

Like, they’re inundated with a lot of messages, not just from other non-profits, but from just life in general, and you know, a T-shirt company trying to sell them something and then there’s just a lot of noise. So that’s a really great point around, “You have to continue to tell your story.”

And the way we see it is that there are visual and in-person opportunities to tell that story alongside other digital channels. So, that’s a really great point about the consistency of don’t assume that everyone knows what you do and how well you do it.

David Pisarek: Okay, so I want to shift briefly here.

So we’re talking like out-of-home and, you know, out in the physical world. When I was working at the hospital and at the college before that, one of the things that I was working on was internal digital signage and having screens up around the building, the facility, that type of stuff. So let’s talk a little bit about, I guess, internal marketing versus external marketing; what’s your take on that?

Charlie Riley: Yeah, in my career, and I’ve worked for a number of organizations, I think internal marketing can sometimes be as important as external and maybe more important.

At certain times, marketing can be unknown to other departments across organizations, and I think there are a lot of perceptions of what marketing really is, what people think it is, and what marketers actually do. And in today’s world, that’s a B-cliche, but marketers are asked to do more and more and to be experts in finance, technology, messaging, PR crisis comms, like, you have to do a lot, and not that other parts of an organization don’t, but it’s an important function that tells the story.

And other departments maybe don’t think of it that way. And so to be an advocate for other departments and organizations to help them understand how marketing helps their job, how to tell the story of what they do and sometimes make their job easier, it’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s very important for others to know what’s going on, how they can contribute to it. I’ve always said everyone’s part of the marketing team because everyone has a voice.

Everyone has, you know, they’re on social media now, so the more that you can find internal advocates and peers that are going to either bring you ideas or to help you understand how to tell their story better, it’s just going to make the organization overall much better.

There’s going to be cohesion there. People are not going to think that there’s a divide between what marketing is doing in other parts of the organization, so it is critical to kind of be that centralized voice and to do a lot of listening, that’s the other part. Marketing shouldn’t always be the communicator or the talker. There’s a lot to listening that will make you a better marketer when you’re paying attention to how the other departments think and how you’re impacting their function and their role.

David Pisarek: I love the idea we need to bring the inside onside; I’ve said that a number of times on the podcast, as well as with clients that we’re meeting with and being able to have the internal channels to talk about the impact your organization is having.

Let everybody in the organization really understand how their role fits into the puzzle of the organization and how everybody just kind of builds up and is making this thing actually really possible.

Whatever your goal, your mission, your impact is that you want to have. So, a lot of non-profits that are listening to this show they’re either startups or they’ve been established for a while. We’ve got some people that are new to the non-profit world; they’re coming out of, you know, big business or small business or new graduates, and they’re working in marketing. How can these people on the marketing side, marketing leaders, for example, focus on the branding aspect of the marketing piece when they step into their role?

Charlie Riley: Yeah, I think there’s not a divide, but there’s maybe this thought that there’s always sales and marketing, and then in marketing, there’s brand and demand, and it’s probably more lead generation. Like, how do we drive leads in this sense? Leads might be donors, volunteers, or whatever the goal is there; that’s a shorter-term play.

There’s a finite timeline. Usually, with that to say, “We need X donors by this date” or, “We need to sell out this event by this date,” that’s lead generation, but the brand part of it is more of a longer play. And that’s really to help people understand what you do over time and how you do it over time. A lot goes into that, it can be somewhat nebulous.

I know that there’s always the question of, like, “How can a brand be tracked?” There are ways that you can do that. I think, especially now, there are so many non-profits, there are so many organizations, there are so many things that people are getting communicated about, and we should never assume, as marketers, that people understand what it is we do and how we do it. With marketing teams that I’ve been lucky to lead.

One of the easiest things to do with that is to look at the emails that you get. You might reference in your email, “Hi, I’m Charlie from Ax Organization,” and I should never assume that they know what Ax Organization actually is.

I shouldn’t assume that anyone knows what one screen is. There should be one screen, you know, “We deliver performance, outdoor advertising,” or something along those lines right after the fact because building your brand is telling the same story over and over consistently.

And I think that that’s really important for any marketer to find a happy medium of delivering on-demand results, but playing the long game about building a brand and all the little things add up to the brand.

That’s consistency in your email signature. That is the elevator pitch that when someone asks a volunteer, “What is it we do?” It sounds the same as, you know, the CEO saying that. So all those little brand things, they all add up to that full story of like what that true brand is. It’s important to make sure you focus on both of those as a marketer.

David Pisarek: Love that idea. Really being clear about what you do, why you do it, who you are working for, impacting and helping and all that. And also being clear about it not just with yourself in maybe your marketing role, but across the organization so that as brand ambassadors, everybody’s just really clear on what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and the purpose.

Charlie, amazing insights that we’ve had and conversation around outdoor advertising, and various options. It sounds like there are probably 20 or so different opportunities, probably way more than that. You probably have like a list of them that you walk through when you are meeting with your prospective clients, and you know how non-profits could leverage these platforms to complement their digital efforts. So, I hope people listening today have been able to get some great advice and some pointers from our conversation.

I want to put you on the spot for a quick moment here. If you were to issue a challenge to anybody listening to this episode, something that you want them to do in the next, I don’t know, two or three days after listening to this episode, what would that challenge be?

Charlie Riley: You hit on it a little bit of like looking at your marketing budget and where you’re spending; I would look at where you’re spending your dollars and your time.

You know, everyone’s scrambling for efficiency there and see what’s working. Like, do you really know what’s working and challenge that? You’re never going to be a hundred percent at everything. And that’s where I think marketing is always experimentation.

So you should be looking at “Are we efficient with these channels? Are we doing something just because we’ve always done it that way?” which is the worst first phrase in business, or “Are we doing it because our competitors are doing it and we feel like we have to?”

Being different isn’t a bad thing, and sometimes, being first to market by doing something a little bit unique can set you apart.

So I would challenge any marketer listening to this: Don’t feel that you can’t challenge the status quo and, you know, really ask deep questions. Usually, when you ask “Why?” the third, fourth or fifth time is when you start to get the true answer versus just accepting the norms. So that would be my challenge.

Like, don’t accept the norms; always be trying to challenge the status quo. And, you know, you don’t have to be drastic to be a little bit different, but see if there’s ways that you can be different.

David Pisarek: Love it. Before the show, we were talking a little bit about, you have maybe a giveaway or something you can offer people that are listening to this. So I’m going to open the floor for you.

Charlie Riley: Yeah, we work with organizations of all different sizes. We work with some in education and non-profits in education.

I think if anyone’s, you know, truly interested and ever done out of home, “Does this even fit for us? How could we make this work for what our goals are?” We’re happy to talk. We’re happy to put together a media plan just to look at. Like, “Here’s what we would suggest for you that may or may not work,” but I’m happy to give ideas and happy to kind of get your ideas thinking a little bit.

So, if you take a look at OneScreen.AI, we’re happy to give you a media plan and a free media review to kind of take a look at. If you’re already doing out-of-home and you want to say, “Hey, is this efficient? Are we getting the best value with that?” We’d be happy to take a look at that and give you some suggestions. Or we’d be happy to put together, you know, a free media plan for you to say, “Here’s what we think could work for you, and here’s what we would recommend.”

David Pisarek: That’s an amazing offer. I want everybody listening to this to take advantage of Charlie’s offer here because it will help elevate your organization.

Even if you did something small, taking one step forward is better than not taking any step, right? And we need to work on marketing and telling the world what it is that we do in our non-profits and our organizations.

So, Charlie, thank you again so much for joining. It’s been great having you here on the Non-Profit Digital Success podcast. Everybody listening, if you want any of the resources that we talked about, the link to OneScreen.AI, just head over to our podcast page at nonprofitdigitalsuccess.com click on this episode for all the details. We’ll have the full transcription and all that as well.

And until next time, keep on being successful.