Billboard Advertising
Advertising on Standard Billboards
Written by Rayzelle Forrest Young for Gaebler Ventures
Highlights the pros and cons of using billboard advertising. Gives tips on how to compose an effective advertising campaign using billboards.
Billboard advertising sometimes referred to as outdoor advertising can be an inexpensive way to promote your business.
These large, bigger than life ads have some great advantages as well as disadvantages as opposed to other forms of advertising mediums. On one hand they are seen by hundreds of thousands of people 24 hours a day, on the other hand they are designed to target the upper to middle class population. These two things need to be taken into consideration when making your choice to use billboard advertising for your business.
Contact A Sales Rep
Once you have made the decision to advertise using a billboard, you need to contact a local sales rep. Often times a sales rep contact number will appear on empty billboards or you can ask down at the city offices to find out who is in charge of billboard advertising. Some billboards are city owned and others are owned by private companies. The local city offices will be able to point you in the right direction to get your billboard advertising campaign started.
Ask About Exposure
When meeting with the sales rep, make sure to ask how much traffic passes by the billboard a day and how many people will see it. You want your ad to be seen by enough people in order to be cost effective. Don't waste your money in areas that have a low traffic rate. This is like throwing money out of the window.
Sign Contract
In order for your ad to be most effective, sign a long term contract for at least 3-6 months. Doing this will allow your target audience to see your business ad constantly for an extended amount of time. If your budget allows you to, you may want to opt for 9 months but it's not recommended that you contract for longer than this in the beginning. Before you decide to make a bigger commitment, monitor your ad results over the months to see if it is worth extending the time frame.
Design Ad
Your ad design should be short and to the point. Research shows that it takes less than 10 seconds to read a billboard. You need to compose an ad that is eye catching and attention grabbing in this short amount of time. Think about using other forms of advertising for longer ads.
Use As A Complement
It is not recommended that billboard advertising be used as your sole method of marketing your business. This medium should be used in addition to other promotional campaigns such as direct marketing, television, print ads, advertising online, etc. It will probably not generate enough business by itself in order to sustain your company.
Rayzelle is an entrepreneur and writer. Based on her experiences as an owner of her own dance studio, she will share her personal tips on being a successful entrepreneur.
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