Social media eats into traditional billboard advertising in Oman
Is it the end of the road for traditional billboard advertising in Oman?
Not completely. But digital and social media is rapidly eating into the market share of traditional advertising mediums such as roadside or rooftop hoardings.
Online advertising presents a huge opportunity to reach more consumers at a lesser cost.
According to officials from advertising agencies in Oman whom Muscat Daily spoke to, social media has indeed influenced the way businesses are advertising in Oman.
Officials said that social media allows you to engage with consumers unlike any other advertising platform.
Mohammad Ayoub, general manager of Oman Advertising Agency, said that economic slowdown has hit the advertising market but ‘social media and digital advertising has affected billboard advertising in a big way’.
“Businesses have realised that digital marketing is beneficial as you can generate interest among consumers in no time. This is something you can’t do with billboards. As soon as I see an advertisement on social media, I can click on it to learn more. The time to reach a larger audience is lesser compared to billboards,” he said.
There is a huge difference in terms of advertising cost too.
“For example, if you spend RO2,500 to advertise on a billboard at a prominent location in Ruwi, only people coming to or passing via that area will see it but on social media, it will reach as far as Salalah in no time at a fraction of a cost,” Ayoub said.
The increasing use of smartphones too has changed the digital landscape completely.
“Digital medium has taken a good chunk of business as many advertisers opt for online advertisements. We have ten billboards but three to four are blank,” Afnida Rauf, manager, Al Zawrak, said.
“The business has gone through a lot of churning in the past few years. We can’t afford to reduce advertising rates as there are costs that come along and that is why some billboards are blank,” she added.
Many companies too are focusing on social media advertisements to save money.
An official at Sabco Media, which has 114 billboards across Oman said, “Clients, especially the automotive sector, have cut down on their advertising budget. There are too many billboards cluttered in one area. There is a need to spread out these billboards.
“Social media too has affected the outdoor advertising business. We are confident that the business will pick up again in 2020.”