New Road Advertising | Automotive Digital Marketing and Advertising Agency > OTT > Are Billboards Still Effective in 2025? Why Businesses Are Turning to OTT Advertising
Billboards have been a staple in the advertising world for decades due to their simplicity. There’s no need for a screen or Wi-Fi. People notice them passively as they move through their day. That passive exposure can be useful, but only to a certain point.
In 2025, the question is no longer if your ad is seen. The question is who sees them, when, how often, and what do they do next? OTT advertising can answer these questions. Billboards cannot.
It’s time to reevaluate traditional tactics like billboards and compare them to the fast-growing data-driven strategy of OTT (Over-The-Top) advertising.
Billboards have long been part of the out-of-home (OOH) advertising playbook. They are static or digital displays placed in high-traffic locations to help gain visibility. Billboard advertising can raise awareness and can be useful in promoting specific local events, community causes, or political causes within a geographic region.
People notice them as they go about their day. Just a quick message delivered passively.
That’s about where the advantages end.
Billboards have several major drawbacks that are hard to ignore. You’re paying for exposure, yet you have no way of confirming if anyone saw your ad, remembered it, or if it worked at all.
Without targeting and measurable data, billboards leave marketers and businesses with little to no data to measure the performance and effectiveness of their advertising.
Consider the following challenges:
❌ You can’t choose who sees your message – No audience targeting
❌ You can’t track interactions like impressions, clicks, or conversions
❌ You can’t quickly revise the message or ad once it’s out.
❌ It is costly to design, print, and install.
❌ You receive no feedback on how the ad worked. There is no engagement data or measurable ROI.
💡 With Billboards, you pay for eyeballs…but you can’t be sure who saw your ad or what they did next.
Many business owners admit they feel in the dark with billboards: “I don’t know if it’s working. I just hope people are seeing it.”
Here is where OTT advertising makes a difference.
The biggest difference? Precision. OTT (Over-the-Top) delivers video ads to viewers via the internet through platforms like Hulu, Roku, Peacock, Sling, YouTube TV, Amazon, and smart TVs.
These are the short 15- or 30-second video commercials you see while streaming your favorite shows.
💡OTT advertising allows brands to communicate directly with their target audience. It puts your message in front of your ideal audience, wherever they are, on the devices they are using.
The success of billboards relies primarily on assumptions and not data. In reality, billboards use a “spray-and-pray” approach that lacks the tools necessary to demonstrate their effectiveness.
With a billboard, your message is static and in front of everyone, whether they’re in your target audience or not. There is no way to filter by age, income, interests, or intent.
You’re simply paying for impressions from people who may never be your customers.
Digital options such as OTT advertising are extremely effective in targeting your audience. With OTT campaigns, you can filter your audience by:
Age, gender, and household income
Geographic location via ZIP codes or IP addresses
Viewing behavior, device types, and more
This precision ensures your budget is well spent on people most likely interested in your product or service.
While billboard companies often promote “estimated impressions,” these numbers are based on traffic volume, car counts, and assumptions, not real engagement or action. There is no way to know if someone saw your advertisement, understood it, or acted on it.
With Billboards, there’s no data on:
Who saw your ad
How long they viewed it for
If they took action afterward
Meanwhile, OTT platforms provide transparent reporting and detailed metrics such as:
Reach, Impressions, and Unique Impressions
These reports tell you how many people saw your ad and how many times your ad was displayed.
Geographic Performance Insights
Visualize and know which regions perform best.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Track how many users interacted with your ad.
Conversion Rate & Tracking
Track behaviors like app installs or website visits following exposure to ads.
Device Type / Platform Data
See where your ads are running (like on Smart TVs, mobile, tablet, or desktop)
Video Completion Rate (VCR)
Often exceeds 90%
With this kind of transparency, you can optimize your campaigns and adjust your strategy to improve performance and ROI.
Billboards rely on entirely passive visibility. Traditional OOH ads are only seen by people passing by a specific location and only if they happen to be looking at the right time. If it is an electronic billboard that changes between several ads, your ad will probably be up for a few seconds at a time, limiting exposure once again. Time of day, weather conditions, and local distractions can also minimize the exposure your ad will receive.
Overall, the interaction is brief and often goes unnoticed.
In contrast, OTT ads connect with audiences during lean-in moments, when they are engaged with content.
The combination of OTT ads displayed on full-screen visuals, screen time, sound, and relevance results in higher ad recall and stronger brand awareness.
OTT advertisements also reach millions of people on streaming platforms. With 96% of U.S. households now streaming OTT content, and millions of viewers spending over 21 hours a week on streaming platforms, it is clear why OTT is one of the most powerful and scalable advertising strategies available today.
While billboard ads may be seen for a few seconds, OTT commands attention for full ad durations, often 15 to 30 seconds. Unlike traditional formats, OTT campaigns provide metrics so you know how many times your ad was shown and how many people saw it.
Why settle for reaching thousands by chance when you can reach millions with precision and purpose?
While some claim that billboards generate an ROI of around $5.97 for every $1 invested, these numbers often leave out conversion attribution and true cost-per-acquisition.
OTT advertising, on the other hand, provides a clearer ROI with measurable data. You’ll know how many viewers saw your ad, how many clicked through to your site, or how many downloaded your app. You can A/B test creatives, adjust budgets mid-campaign, and optimize your campaigns for better results.
OTT advertising is appealing to businesses because it offers:
Precise & Accurate Targeting: Your advertisement shows only to your target customers, based on real data.
Transparent Reporting and Metrics: See how many individuals watched your ad, clicked, or visited your site afterwards.
Cross-Device Reach – Reach your audience wherever they’re watching.
Speed & Flexibility – Launch campaigns in days, not weeks, and change messaging mid-campaign if needed.
Budget Optimization – Every dollar is optimized with real-time bidding.
At New Road Advertising, we don’t just believe in OTT—we’ve proven it works. Our campaigns consistently drive real, measurable results for our clients.
There’s still a place for OOH in the right strategy. Billboards can still play a role for high-traffic visibility and promoting local events or political campaigns.
But if you want to drive conversions, optimize your spending, achieve measurable outcomes, and see REAL impact, OTT advertising could be the gamechanger you need.
At New Road Advertising, we help businesses shift from traditional practices to the best digital strategies. Our experts build targeted OTT campaigns that generate leads, build brand recall, and deliver transparent and measurable results so you can optimize your advertising strategy. Ready to Grow? Take your strategy Over The Top!
I’m an avid sports fan with ties to the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, both for undergrad, and Boston University (M.S. International Marketing Management) as well as Tampa Bay teams (Go Bucs, Lightning, and Rays). When not working or attending sporting events, you can find me at the beach with my family on the Gulf Coast beaches of Florida. I’m a wine and food enthusiast who’s always on the lookout for the next great one to try out.
A little bit about my background:
After a brief stint in sales for various professional sports teams, I found my passion in the ever-changing world of digital marketing. Today, with nearly 20 years of digital marketing experience, including email marketing, social media management, SEO/SEM, lead generation, and digital strategy. I specialize in working with small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs). My passion has taken me all over the world as I conduct digital marketing training sessions, both live and virtual, for professionals worldwide. As an adjunct instructor at Kansas State University and the University of Miami, I taught about Digital Marketing Analytics and Social Media Management.
I feel very fortunate to be able to work closely with so many SMBs as they build their brand and fulfill their business goals and dreams.
Suppose you’re a business leader trying to turn inconsistent marketing into repeatable outcomes. In that case, your next step is simple: document the single metric you most depend on today and the one you should depend on next — I build strategies around that decision.
My wife and I have been together for 20 years, married for almost 10, and have 4 beautiful children. When I am not working I enjoy spending quality time with my family and watching my teams constantly disappoint me (Mets, Jets, and Islanders…yes I know).
My career in sales started at the age of 12 when I was selling candy and gum out of my bookbag at school (don’t tell anyone) and I was instantly hooked. I went on to sell cable, sales leads, and own a mortgage company before finding my niche in advertising. With over a decade of marketing experience, I love working with clients, overcoming obstacles, and providing significant value for their advertising spends. Our core company philosophy is to maximize reach and frequency while drastically reducing your overall advertising spend. Being on cutting edge mediums and offering new technology allow us to achieve these results via intender based platforms.
Our company began in the height of the pandemic, started with the thought of being different than the other agencies in the market today. We have a hands on approach, offer complete and total transparency, and have a vested interest in our clients success. At New Road Advertising we know that if our clients succeed we will succeed. We currently work with a variety of different types of businesses in different markets all over the country. Our custom approach, and researched based individual market plans are unique to your location and business. We will never give you that cookie cutter philosophy. If you are looking for a new plan of attack or just want a fresh set of eyes on your current marketing plan, give us a call. We will be happy to give you a free, customized proposal.
Leave a Reply