Billboards have a long-standing reputation. They’ve been around for what seems like the dawn of marketing and advertising in America, and you can find them along just about every highway in the nation.
Especially when you’re getting closer to metropolitan areas and big cities. Places like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas are all prime locations for businesses to utilize billboard advertising. With such massive populations, these cities give advertising and marketing professionals the opportunity to put their brand’s messaging high in the air for quite literally millions of people to see, read, and potentially connect to.
Being able to reach so many potential consumers all at once is what makes billboard advertising such a powerful marketing tactic for many brands even in today’s hyper digital world. Even so, though, you might be wondering if a billboard is actually right for your marketing campaign or not.
The following information should help any advertising and marketing professional plan and execute a successful billboard campaign if they decide that’s the avenue they want to take.
The Bigger the City the Better
One of the first lessons to learn about billboard advertising is: the bigger the city, the better. This goes back to the importance of population when it comes to the efficacy of a billboard campaign. The reason billboards in Los Angeles and cities like New York or Chicago are so effective is largely due to their massive resident populations. On top of that, these cities are also notorious for having a significant tourism arm. Lastly, large cities like those mentioned above typically come with a significant amount of commuter traffic to and from the suburbs and other surrounding regions nearby.
All of this works together and results in a huge number of people viewing billboards located in these major metropolitan regions and cities.
If your business is already located in a major city like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, a billboard campaign can increase your audience reach and boost your brand recognition. Not only that, but billboard campaigns can attract both local consumers and inform tourists about special offers, deals, or attractions.
Billboard advertising can also be effective for businesses and brands that are located just on the outskirts of major cities and towns. This is a good way for businesses to attract consumers from the city to their establishments on the outskirts of the town, either by car, taxi, uber, or other rideshare.
When it comes to big city businesses, billboards are a great way for marketing and advertising professionals to expand their audience reach, grow the consumer base, and establish stronger brand recognition.
Location, Location, Location
The success of a billboard campaign greatly depends on the billboard’s actual specific location. This means zooming in further than just the general region or city in which the billboard campaign is launched or seen. There are certain areas in major metropolitan cities that frequently attract a huge number of consumers.
For instance, there are generally specific highways that daily commuters will use to get in and out of the city, learning the popular commuter routes is a good way to strategically design the placement of billboards throughout the city’s highway systems.
Another popular target for billboard campaigns are sports stadiums and event halls. Professional sporting events attract thousands and thousands of people both from the local area and from all over the nation. Just think about how many people made it to Qatar for the World Cup this year.
Strategically selecting a precise location within a city will give you and your billboard campaign a much higher chance of success in connecting with consumers and converting them to customers.
Traditional Billboards vs. Digital
Many cities also offer digital billboards as well as traditional billboards. Digital billboards are a more modernized version of the classic advertising staple, and generally feature a massive monitor. The monitor is capable of displaying any number of advertisements, and offers the billboard designers a lot more brevity in their creativity.
In other words, because they’re digital, advertisers can utilize animation and create a more dynamic billboard all around. Not only that, but these digital billboards can also be shared between multiple brands, essentially creating additional value for the billboard owner.
The Role of Digital and Social
Billboard campaigns can be extremely potent, powerful, and effective. Especially if they’re well designed and strategically placed. However, there’s no escaping the modern virtual, digital, and remote world.
Brands that want to remain relevant and competitive in a highly digital market must prioritize the establishment of a comprehensive digital brand presence that includes both a centralized web page and a breadth of social media presence.
A few Last Words
Billboards fill our cities from entrance to exit, advertising any number of different brands, services, and goods. If you’re marketing or advertising in a big city and want to focus on brand recognition, a billboard campaign could be the exact solution for which you’re looking.
