Tools and providers
Part of Why out of home advertising tools and providers need a buying framework
Before you choose out of home advertising software, draft the brief
How to run out of home advertising software selection so the platform fits your buying process, compliance and reporting, with illustrative pound costs.
What to take away
- Most teams start with a demo and work backwards. Start with the decision the software must support.
- Write the brief before you see any product: inventory, planning, compliance, reporting and who will use it.
- Price the whole contract, not the licence. Implementation, data feeds and training decide the payback.
- Treat supplier claims as untested until your own sites and campaigns run through a trial account.
- Check category rules before you automate anything, including charity and education campaigns.
Why does the brief come before the demo?
A demo shows what a platform can do. Your brief states what your team must do every week. Without it, every product looks adequate and none looks wrong.
List the jobs the software has to perform: booking inventory, checking availability, building schedules, approving creative, reconciling delivery. Rank them by how often they happen and how badly they hurt when they fail.
Then name the users. A planner, a buyer and a finance analyst want different screens. A brief that names one user gets a tool that suits one user. Our guide to out of home advertising tools and suppliers sets out the supplier map this brief sits inside.
Which buying model has to fit?
Software selection follows the buying model. A direct buyer who negotiates site by site needs availability and rate tools. A programmatic team needs audience and inventory connections.
Ask each supplier how their platform handles your model. Listen for workarounds. A workaround in a demo becomes a manual process in month two.
If you also buy search or social, compare reporting logic across channels first. The Google Ads help guide explains how that platform structures campaigns and reporting, a fair benchmark for what buyers expect from an OOH system.
What should a trial actually test?
Give every shortlisted supplier the same task. Load one real campaign, from brief to delivery report, using your own sites and dates.
Watch where the trial account slows down. Note how many clicks a schedule change takes. Check whether the export matches the format your client already receives.
Run one compliance check too. If your client base includes schools or charities, the ASA guidance on charity, education and third sector advertising sets out the rules your approval workflow must support.
How do you price the whole contract?
Add licence, implementation, data feeds, training and support. Then add the internal cost of running it, because someone maintains site lists and chases missing proof of play.
For example, a team pays £1,200 a month for a licence, plus a £6,000 implementation fee and £300 a month for inventory data. Internal admin adds about 20 hours a month at a loaded £35 an hour, which is £700 a month. Year one comes to £32,400 (illustrative figures, not a quote). A cheaper licence with weak data feeds can cost more overall.
Ask for a written total cost of ownership for year one and year two. Compare those numbers, not the headline rate.
Where does standards input help?
Industry working groups shape the formats and data conventions that software has to support. Joining one gives early sight of changes that will land in your next contract. The IAB UK communities guide explains what those groups cover and how to take part.
That matters at renewal. A platform that tracks emerging standards needs less custom work from your team.
Once the contract is signed, the risk moves to configuration. Our guide to out of home advertising tool implementation covers the setup decisions that decide whether the first quarter runs smoothly.
Common questions
How long should selection take?
For a mid-sized UK team, six to ten weeks is realistic. Brief and shortlist in weeks one and two, trials and pricing in weeks three to eight, then contract review.
Should procurement lead the process?
No. Procurement owns pricing and contract terms. The buying team owns the brief, the trial and the recommendation.
What kills a selection project?
A brief written after the demos. By then the shortlist reflects the best presenter, not the best fit for your weekly work.
Do we need a trial account?
Yes for anything beyond a basic planning tool. A guided demo cannot show how the system behaves when your data is messy.
