What 2025 Out-of-Home Advertising Growth Means for Billboard Buyers in 2026

Why the 2025 spending report matters for businesses in 2026

Source credit: This article responds to reporting from OOH Today, which covered the Out of Home Advertising Association of America’s 2025 reports on out-of-home ad spend, top advertisers, category growth, and format performance.

The main takeaway is clear: out-of-home advertising is still growing, and billboards remain the center of the channel. According to the OAAA 2025 Facts & Figures Ad Spend Performance report, out-of-home ad revenue reached $9.46 billion in 2025, up 3.6% year over year.

That growth matters for business owners, marketing managers, and media buyers because it shows that out-of-home is not fading in a digital world. It is becoming part of stronger media plans that combine real-world visibility with digital follow-through.

The brands leading out-of-home investment are not using billboards because they lack other options. They are using them because physical visibility helps brands get noticed, remembered, searched, and considered.

Key takeaways for advertisers

• Out-of-home advertising grew in 2025. OAAA reported $9.46 billion in total revenue, a 3.6% year-over-year increase.
• Billboards still carry the largest share. The OAAA 2025 MegaBrands report shows that billboards accounted for 71.1% of total out-of-home revenue.
• Digital out-of-home is growing faster. OAAA reported digital out-of-home grew 10.5% year over year and accounted for 36.3% of total out-of-home revenue.
• National brands are investing across categories. Apple, Morgan & Morgan, Vivint, Verizon, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Disney, T-Mobile, Amazon, and Universal Pictures were the top 10 out-of-home advertisers in 2025.
• Local advertisers should copy the strategy, not the budget. The lesson is to connect message, location, timing, and measurement before buying more media.

What the top advertiser list really shows

OOH Today’s article points to an important shift in how major brands are using out-of-home advertising. The 2025 top advertiser list includes technology, legal services, telecom, beverage, quick serve restaurant, entertainment, e-commerce, and home technology brands.

That mix matters because it shows out-of-home is not limited to one kind of advertiser. It works for brands that need broad awareness, repeated local presence, launch visibility, and stronger recall in crowded markets.

OAAA’s MegaBrands report ranked the top 10 out-of-home advertisers in 2025 as Apple, Morgan & Morgan, Vivint, Verizon, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Disney, T-Mobile, Amazon, and Universal Pictures.

Rank	Advertiser	Estimated 2025 out-of-home spend	What billboard buyers can learn
1	Apple	$59.3 million	Premium brands still use real-world visibility to support product attention.
2	Morgan & Morgan	$58.2 million	Legal services use repeated exposure to build local recall before people need help.
3	Vivint	$52.6 million	Home service and home technology brands benefit from steady market presence.
4	Verizon	$51.4 million	Telecom brands use out-of-home to stay visible in competitive markets.
5	Coca-Cola	$50.2 million	Familiar brands still need reminders close to daily purchase moments.
6	McDonald’s	$49.1 million	Quick serve restaurants use location, frequency, and timing to drive consideration.
7	Disney	$45.7 million	Entertainment brands use out-of-home to build broad awareness quickly.
8	T-Mobile	$45.2 million	Category challengers use billboards to stay mentally available.
9	Amazon	$41.7 million	Digital-first brands still buy offline reach when the audience is broad.
10	Universal Pictures	$32.4 million	Launch-based campaigns benefit from high-reach, time-sensitive visibility.

The list also pushes back on a common mistake. Some advertisers still think billboards are only for local restaurants, attorneys, events, or real estate. Those categories use billboards well, but the 2025 list tells a broader story.

Out-of-home is also part of the media mix for technology companies, streaming and entertainment brands, telecom providers, national service companies, and digital-first brands that still need real-world awareness.

Why billboards are still doing the heavy lifting

Billboards remain the largest out-of-home format because they solve a simple marketing problem: people cannot act on a business they do not remember.

A billboard gives a brand repeated visibility in a real market. It can reach commuters, shoppers, travelers, local residents, and decision-makers during normal daily routines. That kind of exposure helps a business become familiar before the customer is ready to act.

OAAA reported that billboards accounted for $6.72 billion in 2025 revenue, or 71.1% of total out-of-home revenue. That does not mean every billboard is a good buy. It means advertisers still value the format when the message, location, and timing fit the goal.

In local billboard planning, the strongest campaigns usually start with one clear job. That job might be:

• Making a new location easier to find
• Building name recognition before people search online
• Promoting a seasonal offer or event
• Supporting recruiting in a tight labor market
• Defending market share against competitors
• Keeping a brand visible while digital ads compete for attention

The weak campaigns try to do too much. A billboard is not a brochure. It needs one main message, a readable brand name, and a next step people can remember after they pass the sign.

Why digital out-of-home is growing faster

Digital out-of-home is growing because it gives advertisers more flexibility. A static billboard can be a strong choice for a steady presence, but digital out-of-home can be a better fit when timing, rotation, or short campaign windows matter.

OAAA reported that digital out-of-home increased 10.5% year over year and accounted for 36.3% of total out-of-home revenue. That growth shows advertisers want more control over when and how messages appear.

Digital out-of-home can work well for:

• Grand openings
• Limited-time offers
• Event countdowns
• Weather-sensitive messages
• Multiple creative versions
• Short promotional windows
• Campaigns that need fast creative changes

The practical takeaway is not that digital is always better than static. The better question is what the campaign needs to do.

If the goal is long-term name recognition, a strong static billboard can work well. If the goal is flexibility, timing, or creative rotation, digital out-of-home may be the better fit.

What local advertisers should copy from national brands

Local advertisers should not copy national budgets. They should copy the planning discipline behind the buy.

Large brands usually know what job each channel is supposed to do. They do not expect a single billboard, search campaign, or social ad to carry the whole plan. Each part supports the next.

Copy the job, not the budget

Apple, Amazon, Verizon, and other national brands have plenty of digital options. They still buy out-of-home because digital ads, search, video, and social media all compete in crowded spaces.

Out-of-home gives a campaign a physical presence. That presence can make the brand easier to recognize later when someone searches, visits a website, sees a paid ad, or walks into a store.

A local business can use the same idea at a smaller scale. A service company may use a billboard to make its name familiar before someone needs a repair. A restaurant may use a board near a commuter route to stay top of mind before dinner. A medical practice may use out-of-home to build local trust before a patient needs care.

Build a message people can remember later

The best billboard creative is usually simple enough to remember without having to look at it again. That means a short headline, a clear brand, and one action.

If the viewer has to read four lines, compare multiple offers, or scan a small code while driving, the creative is asking too much.

A useful test is to read the board aloud in 5 seconds. If the main idea is still clear, the message has a better chance of succeeding. If it sounds like a website homepage, cut it down.

Connect the billboard to search and web traffic

Out-of-home often creates delayed action. A person may see the board in the morning and search the brand later in the day. That is why the website, Google Business Profile, paid search, and landing page need to match the campaign.

Before launch, check that the branded search result is clean, the landing page loads quickly, the phone number is correct, and the offer or service on the billboard is easy to find online.

Media can create attention. The web experience has to catch the demand.

A practical planning checklist for 2026

The 2025 spending data points toward a more disciplined planning process for 2026. Use this checklist before choosing among a static billboard, a digital billboard, or a combined out-of-home campaign.

1. Define the business outcome. Pick one primary goal. It may be awareness, store visits, recruiting, event attendance, lead volume, or brand defense. A clear goal makes location, creative, and measurement easier to judge.
2. Choose the audience route. Match the billboard location to where your best prospects live, work, shop, commute, or make decisions. When location is the main question, start by reviewing available billboard locations.
3. Decide whether static or digital fits the job. Use static for sustained presence and repeated visibility. Use digital when timing, rotation, or short-term flexibility matters.
4. Write for recall, not decoration. A billboard should be understood quickly. The brand should be readable. The call to action should be easy to remember.
5. Prepare the digital follow-through. Align search, website content, maps listings, phone tracking, and landing pages before the campaign goes live.
6. Measure the right signals. Watch branded search, direct traffic, location visits when available, call volume, lead quality, and campaign timing. Do not judge a billboard only by last-click attribution.

The biggest planning mistake is treating the billboard as the whole campaign. It is usually one part of the path.

The billboard creates visibility. The website, search results, sales team, offer, and follow-up process turn that visibility into action.

What to watch moving forward

OAAA projected annual out-of-home ad sales growth of 3.7% through 2029. That forecast does not guarantee every market or format will grow evenly, but it does suggest that out-of-home should stay in the planning conversation.

Three shifts are worth watching.

Digital-first brands will keep testing physical media

OOH Today noted growing investment from technology and digital-first brands. OAAA reported that technology and direct-to-consumer brands made up 28% of the top 100 out-of-home advertisers, and 16% of the top 100 more than doubled spending year over year.

That matters because online brands often need offline visibility to build trust, scale awareness, and support broader demand.

Billboards will stay central as digital grows

Digital out-of-home is growing, but billboards still represent most out-of-home revenue. Buyers should avoid framing the choice as old versus new.

The better question is which format fits the campaign. Some advertisers need steady market coverage. Others need flexible timing. Many need both.

Measurement expectations will keep rising

More advertisers will ask how out-of-home supports search, web traffic, store visits, leads, and sales conversations. That is good for the industry, but it also means businesses need a cleaner campaign setup before launch.

A billboard campaign is easier to evaluate when the website, call tracking, search visibility, and sales process are ready before the billboard goes live.

Final takeaway

The 2025 out-of-home spending reports show a channel that is still growing, still led by billboards, and increasingly connected to digital planning.

For local advertisers, the opportunity is not to spend like Apple, Amazon, or McDonald’s. The opportunity is to plan with the same clarity.

Know who you need to reach. Pick locations that match that audience. Keep the creative simple. Make sure your web presence supports the campaign. Measure the signals that match the job the billboard was hired to do.

That is the real lesson behind the 2025 numbers. Out-of-home works best when it is planned as part of a larger path from attention to action.

FAQ

What was the biggest takeaway from the 2025 out-of-home spending reports?

The biggest takeaway is that out-of-home advertising continued to grow in 2025. OAAA reported $9.46 billion in revenue, up 3.6% year over year, with billboards still representing the largest share of the channel.

Does digital out-of-home growth mean static billboards are less useful?

No. Digital out-of-home growth shows that advertisers want more flexibility, but static billboards still play a major role in long-term visibility and repeated local reach.

How should local advertisers use the top advertiser list?

Local advertisers should use the list as a planning signal, not a spending target. The useful lesson is that leading brands use out-of-home to build visibility, support other media, and make their message easier to remember.

What should a business measure after launching a billboard campaign?

A business should track branded search, direct website traffic, phone calls, form fills, store visits (when available), lead quality, and sales conversations during the campaign period.