With 2027 planning underway, OOH has a compelling story to share with agencies and brands. OOH entered the planning season with significant momentum, delivering 9.2% year-to-date revenue growth in 2026, fueled by strong advertiser demand and continued expansion of digital OOH, which has grown 19% the first half of the year and now accounts for nearly 40% of total OOH spend.

MediaPost and BIA recently published total US and local advertising spend projection charts that point to continued advertising growth in 2027. Key sectors such as real estate, travel, and entertainment are expected to increase, while major categories including political, legal services, and grocery remain key segments of ad investment.

For OOH, this is an opportunity to carry this year’s industry success into 2027 by partnering with clients to build smarter media strategies, and capitalize on a marketplace where attention, visibility, and measurable business results are more important than ever. OAAA offers members valuable sales and marketing tools to help build marketplace wins and the resources and links are also included below.

MediaPost’s summary of 2026-2030 ad spend projections

BIA’s Local Media Top Spending Vertical 2026 + Top Growth Verticals 2026-2027

On the spending side, Political remains the largest mover in the forecast, up to $9.7 billion from $8.4 billion in April.

Legal Services holds its place as the top spender in General Services, up to $9.3 billion from $8.8 billion in April.

Supermarkets and Other Grocery Stores tops Restaurants/Food, at $5.8 billion and rising to $6.1 billion in 2027.

Realtors are the fastest-growing vertical in the forecast, up 10.3 percent from 2026 to 2027, to $7.3 billion.

Airport, Cruises, and Other Travel is close behind, up 7.7 percent to $5.2 billion, one of four leisure verticals in the top six growers for 2027.

Performing Arts Companies is the fifth fastest grower overall, up 7.4 percent to $1.2 billion.

OAAA’s Ten Key Resources to Help Build Client Success in 2027

• OOH Value Guide – includes a list of the top ten research proof points along with positioning OOH’s value in today’s highly competitive media landscape.
• 2027 Retail Marketing & Promotion Planning Calendar – highlights key events throughout the year.
• 2026-2027-2028 Posting Calendar – all weeks of each of the three years segmented in posting month format.
• Product Category Ad Spend by Month – review 2025 monthly spend by key product categories to understand key opportunities by month for 2027 (2026 data will be published next Spring).
• OOH Marketing Research Studies – studies review OOH capabilities, consumer engagement and activation, ROI, formats, and more. Be sure to review the latest recap of OOH generating consumer success within key product categories. All research reports include client-friendly Infographic recaps of the findings.
• OOH Case Studies Library – hundreds of success stories, including dozens added from this year’s local case study contest and the grand prize winners, Visit Philadelphia and Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa. In addition to sections dedicated entirely to local case studies, OOH attribution, and product categories, members can also search by KPI, such as “increase online sales”, “employment recruitment” and many more.
• Sales Tips – over 150 archived marketing tips on subjects ranging from specific product categories to seasonal retail topics and much more.
• OOH Creative Best Practices – a highly informative guide to creating effective OOH campaigns that generate results for your clients and help drive renewals.
• OOH Creative Testing Tool – envision how ads convey in four different environmental scenes and a host of OOH formats. Great educational tool to assist clients in simplifying their message.
• OOH Sales Training – nine modules covering the value of OOH, its measurement, basic selling skills, crafting client proposals and more. Select “Sellers’ Training” in the filter box on the left side of the page.

Source: BIA, MediaPost, Miller Kaplan, OAAA