The Future of In-Office Advertising: Trends to Watch in 2024 and Beyond

Advertisers are continuously challenged to keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving digital media capabilities and the subsequent changes in consumer behaviors and expectations. With most strategists casting a much wider net to expand their reach, it’s important to pay close attention to the possible impact of emerging trends. As industry experts make their predictions for 2024 and beyond, there’s been a notable increase in the number of agencies adding in-office advertising to their marketing strategies. Why?

Displaying B2B and B2C ad creatives on screens installed in the elevators and common areas of premium office spaces is one of the most efficient and effective ways to influence the purchasing decisions of notoriously hard-to-reach consumers. Once you’ve explored some of the trends experts expect to dominate the advertising industry in the year ahead, you may want to consider leveraging a strategic partnership of your own.

How In-Office Advertising Benefits Your Agency’s B2B and B2C Clients  

The success of any marketing strategy requires advertising in spaces where your client’s messages are most targeted and will have the most impact. With so many important purchasing decisions made during business hours, it’s unwise to count on Internet marketing alone. Although market analysts expect digital ad spend to jump to more than $333 billion in 2024 and close to $370 billion in 2025, only about four of every one hundred internet ads get more than a single second of viewer attention.

With in-office advertising, your ad campaign will influence the purchasing decisions of corporate executives, influential business professionals, and other high-income earners at multiple points throughout their day. 

Related: Modernizing  B2B Marketing to Connect with Hard-to-Reach Professionals

That’s an important consideration for any agency focused on delivering a healthy ROI. But not all digital out-of-home (DOOH) network providers have the resources to keep pace with the trends expected to dominate the advertising landscape in the year ahead.

Exploring 5 Trends Expected to Drive Marketing Strategies in 2024

In 2023, advertisers continued to adapt to the challenges of cookie-less targeting by incorporating first-party data into their strategies. As the year progressed and the landscape evolved, experts cautioned that strategists clinging to traditional digital ad formats would find it increasingly difficult to reach their target audiences. Agencies responded by reallocating their budgets and diversifying.

Advertisers capturing the attention of their target audiences from screens installed in premium office spaces (and residential communities) reaped the rewards of investing in a media channel unaffected by consumer scrolling habits, ad-blocking software, or media strikes. They developed relationships with top-tier network providers to foster connections with a diverse and dynamic audience that is key as the following trends anticipated for 2024 emerge and evolve.

Trend #1: An Increase in Back-to-Office Requirements

Early in 2023, many employers (and their employees) were focused on the logistics of transitioning back to the office. Management teams were implementing strategies intended to gradually restore equilibrium by adopting hybrid workplace arrangements. Now, the tides are shifting again.

The number of days people are working in-office is expected to rebound through 2024. In a recent survey, 90% of the 1000 companies polled planned to implement return-to-office policies. That prediction alone suggests additional value for advertisers already seeing a favorable return on in-office marketing strategies. Experts expect DOOH advertising to maintain a CAGR of more than 13% through 2030.

Trend #2: An Increased Demand for Coworking Spaces

Coworking locations provide office space designed for flexible, independent and collaborative work. It’s an attractive option for freelancers, telecommuters, and private consultants that gives every member equal access to business essentials, including internet service and office supplies. While the amenities can vary by location, many offer modern proptech, reception services, common break rooms, and the option of reserving private meeting areas.

In 2023, the number of franchise-like coworking networks significantly increased as remote teams, small business owners, and fledgling companies in need of an impressive location to meet with prospective clients embraced the innovative business model. Market analysts anticipate the global coworking location market will maintain a 16.4% CAGR through 2027.

Trend #3: A Decrease in the Length of Video Ads 

Most agencies advertising on North American broadcast stations have to choose between 15, 30, or 60-second spots. With the continued embrace of on-demand programming alternatives, it’s been a lot easier for researchers to compare audience perception of various ad lengths.

Recent reports suggest consumers view short-form video content more favorably than longer ads, an observation supported by the World Advertising Research Center. Although many advertisers favor 60-second ads for storytelling, 30-second videos establish emotional and intellectual connections without lingering long enough for viewers to decide to skip past them.

Trend #4: An Increase in the Creation of Shoppable Videos 

Multiple reports suggest advertising experts consider shoppable video content the next emerging frontier of digital marketing. They rank shoppable ads ahead of personalization, media mix modeling, and omnichannel audience tracking. Retailers reporting a positive impact on consumer engagement tend to credit their interactive nature.

Related: From TV to Elevator Screens: A Compelling Shift for Advertisers

Based on the data collected from respondents to a Samsung Ad survey, more than 55% of viewers recall seeing shoppable television ads and 50% have interacted with at least one. The click-through rates of Roku’s shoppable ads performed three times higher than average compared to other video campaigns run through their digital signal processing (DSP).

Trend #5: Incorporating Attention Metrics into ROI Assessments

As technology advances, advertisers have gained a considerable number of digital resources. But they’re moving away from monitoring cost-per-impression as a standalone metric. In 2024, experts expect an increase in the use of ad tech integrations that measure attention metrics, a factor expected to play an expanded role in future ad placement decisions.

According to the experts at NBC Universal, ad creatives need to hold viewer attention for at least 2.5 seconds to impact their audience. Advertisers aware of the most recent observations and insights are optimizing consumer engagement by focusing on impression quality over quantity and holding viewer attention through contextual ad placement and audience relevance.

2024 Trends: Choosing the Best In-Office Media Network Provider for Your Agency

In today’s digitally connected society, some of the most impactful purchasing decisions are made during the workday. Corporate decision-makers compare products and services in meeting rooms, affluent professionals finalize the details of business trips between appointments, and executives weigh enterprise-level logistics and software decisions. Parents with considerable discretionary income multitask at their desks, shopping for products and services that benefit their families and help them juggle work/life balance.

When you partner with a DOOH media network provider powering screens in premium office spaces, your in-office advertising influences the purchasing decisions of some of today’s most affluent consumers when they’re less likely to be distracted. The following examples illustrate how top-tier network providers help their agency partners keep pace with (and stay ahead of) emerging trends as the landscape evolves.

Broadcasting Ad Creatives Alongside Contextually Relevant Programming

Most companies displaying static images and videos on in-office screens place ad creatives alongside generic RSS feeds that fill space but don’t engage anyone. Any initial audience engagement is fleeting and dissipates over time. 

Experienced network partners, in contrast, present ad creatives alongside a contextually relevant programming mix from popular and well-known sources, curated by a professional editorial team. Their advertisers capture the attention of key demographics alongside a bite-sized mix of highly relevant content like national news, business and stock market reports, sports highlights, real-time transit data, and more.  

Leveraging the Option of Custom Collaborations and Brand-Specific Solutions

Network providers offering expertly tailored solutions make it easy to impress your clients. The best media partners have a dedicated team of professionals available to collaborate on customized content, branded executions, and dynamic integrations, everything from weather triggers to gamification. Even something as simple as a QR code can enhance consumer engagement, attention duration, and shoppability by providing interactive access to retail websites, social media offers, and contact information.

Offering Data-Driven Advertiser Insights and Marketing Optimization

Advertisers need more than a network of screens in their digital toolbox. They need highly targeted ad placement and access to user-friendly tools designed to track and monitor ad performance, refine targeting parameters, and calculate ROI. Some network providers also offer the option of investing in brand trackers, campaign effectiveness studies, creative testing, or control studies—the type of comprehensive services offered by a true collaborative partner.

Providing Ad Placement in a Brand-Safe Digital Environment

Ad creative displayed alongside any type of content that could be considered factually questionable, inflammatory, or inappropriate for the viewing environment can create negative associations that can linger for years. 

The best networks maintain a brand-safe digital environment by broadcasting information and entertainment from world-class sources that viewers recognize and respect, with all content curated by an editorial staff working across multiple time zones to ensure their service remains audience-relevant and controversy-free.

Make 2024 the Year Your Agency Invests in the Future with In-Office Advertising

Agencies that haven’t considered adding in-office advertising to their media mix are now understanding its value, as business professionals continue to head back to the office and attention habits continue to evolve. When you’re ready to explore how one of the fastest-growing sectors of ad technology will benefit your agency and your clients, visit Captivate to see our screens in action. Captivate is an industry-leading media network provider with one of the largest digital screen footprints in North America and Canada. You’ll find Captivate-powered screens across 170 active markets—in the elevators, lobbies, and high-traffic common areas of premium office buildings, luxury residential communities, and bustling coworking spaces. Ready to get started? Submit a contact form to book a demonstration.