Just like everyone else, you must have seen a billboard (or hundreds of ‘em). From downtowns to highways, to the middle-of-nowhere ghost town that you have inadvertently stopped for gas at, you can see billboards. Some think they are “eyesores” but, to advertisers and businesses, they are beacons for brand awareness. At least, that is what they are designed for. The question now is this: do they actually work?
In today’s world where ad spend is spent primarily on television and digital channels, it is quite astonishing to hear of companies still leaning on the effectiveness of traditional advertising through the use of billboards. Although it is not a perfect process to acquire data on billboard efficiency, it is possible to obtain a general idea on how they are performing. Most billboard numbers are often built off of assumptions of impressions and trends based on department of transportation statistics and census data. Brand awareness surveys as well as URL performance tracking are both viable methods to help track the effectivity of billboards.
URL Performance Tracking
The main point of tracking any offline advertisement is being able to attribute an action to someone seeing or interacting with an offline media spend. Analytics work great when tracking engagement with your website from the area surrounding your new billboard.
Most companies even include a unique URL on the billboard to be able to gauge how many people see it and actually take a specific online action. One way to gauge success is to track a percentage increase in transactions or listings happening in a given area surrounding your new billboard.
Great Locations
Finding the best location to place billboard advertisements is crucial. Available billboards in prime advertising locations may be hard to come by, especially if you are targeting larger markets.
Billboards are owned by different ad companies, and this means that availability and prices can fluctuate. Billboards located along major thoroughfares and streets, highways, and heavily trafficked areas should be your goals.
Great locations can vary – this can depend on the industry you are in or the market you have chosen to advertise in. Location planning can definitely help a business target is audience in specific areas, and it also opens that way for consistent brand exposure across an area.
Consistent Messaging
Effective billboard advertising should revolve around consistent and straightforward messaging, leaving little doubt to the viewers what your company is all about. You do not need any fluff, or any confusions – and that is what Corporate Signs is here for! If you have any advertising needs or concerns, feel free to contact us for more details!