DOOH KPIs explained: occupancy, fill rate, and yield

Most screen networks are run on feel: the operator knows roughly which screens sell and which advertisers matter. Feel works until the network grows past what one head can hold. A handful of numbers - six, reviewed on a rhythm - replaces it. This guide defines each one, gives the formula, and explains what a move in the number is actually telling you.

The unit everything is measured in

Every KPI below builds on the slot-day: one advertising slot, on one screen, for one day. A screen running 6 slots per loop has 6 x 30 = 180 slot-days of capacity in a month. If that unit is new to you, start with our guide on pricing DOOH inventory - the same unit that prices your screens also measures them.

1. Occupancy (fill rate)

How full the network is. A screen with 117 of its 180 monthly slot-days booked is 65% full. Two rules make this number useful rather than decorative:

• Compute it per screen, not just as a network average. A comfortable 70% average can hide three screens at 95% (underpriced) and three at 20% (a sales or location problem). The distribution is the insight; the average is the summary.
• Look forward, not just back. Occupancy for the next 30 days is a sales to-do list; occupancy for last month is a grade you can no longer change.

There is no universal "good" occupancy, because the number only means something next to rate - which is the point of the next KPI.

2. Realized rate vs rate card

What your deals actually close at, compared with what your rate card says they should. If deals consistently land 30% under card, one of two things is true: your card is fiction, or your discounting has no discipline. Either way this is the number that catches it. Watch it together with occupancy - filling screens by discounting shows up here immediately, and a network getting fuller while realized rate falls is often earning the same money for more work.

3. Yield per screen

The one number for comparing screens fairly. Occupancy says how full a screen is; rate says what it charges; yield combines both into revenue per unit of capacity, so a small busy screen and a large half-empty one can be ranked on the same scale. Rank your screens by yield quarterly: the top of the list tells you what a great location looks like for your network (buy more of those), and the bottom tells you where to discount, re-site, or renegotiate the venue deal.

4. Win rate

Measure it by value as well as count - losing three small deals and winning one large one is a good week, whatever the count says. A falling win rate usually means one of three things: pricing has drifted above what the market bears, proposals are going out too slowly, or the wrong advertisers are being pitched. Our proposal template guide covers the habits that move this number more than wording does.

5. Repeat-advertiser share

The quiet compounding engine of an operator business. Winning a new advertiser costs a pitch, a proposal, and negotiation; a renewal costs an email. If most of your advertisers buy once and vanish, the fix is rarely more outbound - it is closing the loop on campaigns (proof of play, photos, a summary) and contacting advertisers before their campaign ends rather than after. Watch cohorts too: of the advertisers who first booked in a given month, how many were still booking three months later?

6. Collections

Revenue is an opinion until it is collected. Track the total sitting in unpaid invoices and its age (1-30, 31-60, 60+ days past due). The pattern to catch early is one advertiser quietly becoming a large share of your overdue book - concentration risk and collection risk arriving together.

The review rhythm

Traps to avoid

• Averages that hide tiers. Any network-wide number should be one click away from its per-screen breakdown.
• Measuring plays instead of money. Play counts and impressions matter to your advertisers' reporting; occupancy, rate, and yield are what run your business.
• Occupancy as a vanity metric. Fullness bought with discounts is not growth - pair it with realized rate, always.
• Ignoring concentration. If one advertiser is a third of revenue, every other KPI is hostage to a single renewal. Know the share of your top advertiser and your top five.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good occupancy rate for a DOOH network?

There is no universal number, because occupancy only means something next to rate. A network can run 90% full at heavily discounted rates and earn less than one running 60% full at card rates. Track occupancy together with realized rate: rising occupancy at stable rates is genuine growth, while rising occupancy driven by discounting is just moving the same revenue around.

How do I calculate fill rate for a digital screen?

Fill rate (occupancy) = booked slot-days divided by available slot-days. A screen with 6 slots per loop has 6 x 30 = 180 slot-days in a month; if 117 are booked, the screen is 65% full. Compute it per screen and per period, not just as one network-wide average, because the average hides which screens are actually struggling.

What is the difference between occupancy and yield?

Occupancy measures how full a screen is; yield measures how much money it makes. Yield per slot-day (revenue divided by available slot-days) combines both into one comparable number - a screen can improve its yield by getting fuller or by earning better rates, and yield is the fairest way to compare screens of different sizes.

How many KPIs should a small DOOH operator track?

Five or six, reviewed on a rhythm, beat twenty reviewed never. A workable core: occupancy for the next 30 days, realized rate versus rate card, yield per screen, proposal win rate, repeat-advertiser share, and unpaid invoices past due. Everything else can wait until one of those numbers raises a question.