Billboards have long been a staple of advertising for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Usually positioned along popular highway routes or on strategically placed rooftops in cities, billboard advertisements are the definition of subliminal advertising – a visual stimulus that catches the viewer’s eye and makes a positive impression, without the viewer even registering that they are taking in an advertisement.

Today, billboard advertisement is not a one-trick-pony. There are a variety of billboard platforms to consider in your marketing strategy, ranging from street furniture (like kiosks) to mobile billboards (signage on the side of vehicles) and transit wraps on buses or subways.

With all these options at your disposal, it should be clear that billboards can be an effective marketing tool for any small and medium-sized business. The challenge is to find the right location and design approach for your billboard advertising efforts, which leads us to the topic of today’s article: strategic tips for incorporating billboard ads into your marketing budget.

Pick Location Based on Demographics

Once a billboard has been designed, the question of where to install it comes up. In choosing where to install a billboard ad, you want to make a decision informed by your marketing objectives. Let’s say your objective is to get in front of as many people in your target audience as possible. The question then becomes: which areas are most frequented by your target audience? At what hours of the day? By foot or by car? Getting answers to these questions will make it clear where to install a billboard sign for maximum exposure.

Go Small, Not Big

For most small and medium-sized businesses, the value of billboard advertising comes in small doses, scattered across a target market. Installing smaller signs means focusing on location, as discussed above, and even finding novel ways to advertise for foot or vehicle traffic in your area. An unusual location is bound to catch the eye of passersby – and that’s usually the goal of a marketing campaign, right?

Focus on Design

The quality of your design will have the biggest impact on the success or failure of the campaign. Make sure the visuals are striking, the copy is on-point for your brand, and the tone is appealing to your target audience. If the design is professionally executed and the location is well-chosen, then even a small billboard ad can produce better brand recognition than a costly digital marketing endeavor.

No advertising platform is cost-free, and billboards do come with their set of disadvantages. But considering the exposure you can get from a single billboard advertisement, it is clear that the critics of billboard advertising for small and medium-size businesses are actually criticizing the contents of the ads, rather than the platform itself. These three strategies for incorporating billboards into your marketing budget should help you make the right design decisions for your company and produce strategic investments that yield positive returns. Contact us to learn more!