Everything You Need to Know About Billboard Advertising:
Media, Strategic Approach, and Design Services.
Billboard advertising has been a prominent marketing medium for decades, and it continues to be an effective way to reach a large and diverse audience.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into everything you need to know about billboard advertising, from understanding the various media types to developing a strategic approach to finding the best locations, media buying, and design services.
We’ll also explore the key differences between digital and static billboards and consider retail signage versus roadside billboards.
Billboard Advertising Media Types
When it comes to billboard advertising, there are primarily two media types to choose from: digital and static billboards.
Strategic Approach to Finding the Best Locations
Selecting the right billboard location is a crucial part of any successful outdoor advertising campaign.
Here are some key factors to consider in your strategic approach:
Understand your target audience and choose locations that align with their demographics. For instance, if you’re promoting a high-end fashion brand, you may want to place billboards in upscale neighbourhoods or even within luxury retail shopping precincts.
It’s important to qnalyse traffic data to identify high-traffic areas and peak times. Billboard locations near busy motorways or in densely populated urban areas can be highly effective for greater reach and frequency!
It helps to leverage research of your competitors and their billboard placements or lack thereof. It can help you identify prime advertising spots and develop a strategy to stand out.
Be aware of local zoning laws and regulations regarding billboard advertising. Ensure your campaign complies with all legal requirements.
Maximising the time people spend in your planned placement area is very important if you want to deliver a lengthier message! For highway signage, we recommend short and sharp messaging (7 words plus your logo are ideal) catered to high speed traffic whilst airport, transit or retail shopping placements are better suited for a campaign that relies on delivering an engaging story, animation or rotation of messaging.
It’s important to understand that with digital advertising you might not be guaranteed exclusive presence on your chosen site. It’s common to be sharing the site with around 6 other advertisers so it’s important to factor in how this affects your visibility. This shared approach does help to keep costing down but makes the potential reach and dwell times even more important when you are reviewing the reach and frequency of a site.
Media Buying Services
Media buying is the process of researching your best bang-for-buck, negotiating and purchasing billboard advertising space as well as reporting on proof of placement (PoP).
This task can be complex, especially when dealing with a specific target audience, multiple placements and various creatives.
Many businesses choose to work with media buying agencies or specialist Digital Marketing Agencies just like us who can help secure the best deals, rationalise your spend, review or design your creative and deliver your placements.
Design Services
The design of your billboard is critical to its effectiveness. A well-crafted billboard should be eye-catching, convey a clear message, and be easy to read from a distance.
Consider these design elements:
Simplicity
Keep your message concise and to the point. Billboard viewers have only a few seconds to absorb the information.
Visual Impact
Use high-quality images and bold fonts to grab attentionfrom consumers in a short amount of time.
Branding
Ensure your branding elements are prominent and consistent with your other marketing materials.
Retail Signage vs. Roadside Billboards
Retail signage and roadside billboards serve different purposes:
These billboards are typically located near shopping centres and are designed to attract relevant consumers to your business. They are ideal for promoting sales, awareness, discounts, and specific products, services or experiences that appeals to local audiences.
Roadside billboards are strategically placed along motorways and major roads to capture the attention of passing drivers. They are excellent for building brand awareness and reaching a broad audience. They position your brand as high profile so are a great choice for luxury and well-established brands.
Billboard advertising is a powerful medium that offers various options in terms of media, locations, media buying, and design services.
By understanding the nuances of digital versus static billboards, developing a strategic approach, and creating compelling designs, you can harness the full potential of this timeless advertising method.
Whether you opt for retail signage or roadside billboards, a well-executed billboard campaign can help your business make a lasting impression on your target audience.
If this is an avenue of marketing that would benefit your business, get in touch with the team at Anna Gilbert Creative Marketing Agency today and let us take care of the rest for you.