According to the Arbitron National In-Car study, 71% of people consciously look at billboards while driving. Of that 71%, 26% of viewers noticed and remembered a business’s phone number, while 28% remembered a website or physical address. What’s even more impressive is that 58% of viewers went to an event or restaurant after seeing a billboard advertisement, and more than one-third (37%) of drivers report looking at an outdoor ad each or the majority of the time they pass one.
With statistics like this, it’s clear that billboards are here to stay. But how can you make your outdoor billboards stand out in 2023?
Effective Billboards in 2023
Making an effective billboard campaign may seem as easy as putting your information out there for passersby to see, but there’s a lot more that goes into it. Here are some of the most important things to keep in mind when developing your billboard campaign.
Location
The location of a billboard can make or break your success. The reach that your messaging has depends entirely on its placement. Ideally, a billboard should be placed somewhere that receives high amounts of both vehicle and foot traffic, such as on a busy stretch of highway that has a strip mall or a highly popular destination nearby.
However, you should also consider your audience. While it isn’t possible to completely target an audience with billboard advertising, it’s important to consider the type of audience likely to see your billboard. For example, a travel agency may want to use OOH advertising in a corporate cityscape, as those billboards may appeal to busy office workers who need a relaxing vacation. Consider the demographic for your messaging, and then determine where you can place your advertisement to get the highest volume of views from that audience.
Traditional and Digital Integration
Although many may think that vinyl and digital billboards are stand-alone forms of advertisement, having billboards that work in tandem with a larger social or marketing campaign has proven more effective than traditional billboards or digital marketing alone. A study on the effectiveness of OOH advertising by Peter Field found that including OOH advertising as part of a comprehensive media plan increased the performance of other media channels, including social media and PPC, and increased searches of the advertised product or service by 54%.
These are some of the best tips for increasing the performance of your billboards beyond the billboard’s content by itself, but it is still essential to understand how to create a digital or vinyl billboard that pops.
Billboard Advertising Tips
Keep it Catchy
Advertisers should generally stick to the five to ten-second rule when it comes to billboard content, with the consensus being that most viewers will spend no more than eight seconds viewing your advertisement. Not only should your content be concise, but you should ensure every word counts. This is the time to bust out your most eye-catching and compelling copy, leading us to our next point.
Call Your Audience to Action
It’s not enough to just inform viewers that your product or service exists. You need to compel your audience to act on this information, whether that means calling your business to have questions answered or receiving a free quote, or visiting your website to learn more. A good call-to-action will include active verbs and direct instructions. Remember to keep this catchy, engaging, and within your branding.
Include Addresses
Studies have shown that viewers are more likely to remember words than numbers, which means it may be more effective to include your website URL or a physical address than your phone number. Consider what form of engagement is most important to your business model, then include the easiest (or most straightforward to remember) way for viewers to contact you or your company.
Limit Audience Targeting
We mentioned earlier that, with billboards, you could target general, broad audiences—like residential families or more urban environments. However, it is next to impossible to target specific audiences with billboards, as the advertisements are limited by their size and locations. In other words, this isn’t the time to advertise your line of yoga pants for single moms; it’s probably safer to focus on activewear as a whole.
How to Measure Billboard Success
It may seem hard to measure billboard success because you can’t analyze how many people were influenced by the advertisement to purchase from or check out your brand. Unfortunately, you can’t use a tracker to see how many people clicked on an ad when it’s out in the wild. That’s why most agencies have tools to measure billboard success based on its Daily Effective Circulations (DEC), meaning the number of vehicles and pedestrians passing the billboard daily.
Effective Billboard Marketing Services in 2023
Now that you know if billboards are effective in 2023, you can get to work with your most engaging copy and graphics to put together a traditional or digital billboard that will rock viewers’ socks off. The good news is that marketing professionals are aware of the power of good billboard marketing.
If you want a team of trained professionals who can add punchy copy and electric graphics to your billboards and have the know-how and connections to get you the best location, reach out to Versa Creative. The team at Versa is well-versed in creating award-winning comprehensive marketing campaigns that integrate traditional billboard marketing with digital and social media advertising. With years of experience and a dynamic group of advertising experts, Versa is ready to take your brand to the next level.
