Billboards are a simple advertising medium, but the benefits they bring can be remarkable. In order to get the most out of a billboard campaign, it’s important to know about billboard advertising cost, billboard advertising design, and some statistics on billboard performance.
What is Billboard Advertising?
Billboard advertising is a traditional advertising medium that exists in the real world. It involves using large vinyl displays to show advertisements that promote a company, brand, product, service, or campaign. They’re most effective in high-traffic areas, like the side of a highway, to make sure they’re seen by a large number of drivers and passengers.
Billboard advertising is a great way to build brand awareness to a large swath of people. By being displayed in high-traffic areas, billboards get a lot of eyes. A driver might not make a purchasing decision at the moment they see the billboard, but when they’re ready to make that decision, your brand will be top of mind and they’re much more likely to pick your products over your competitor’s. Building your brand awareness works in conjunction with other marketing strategies, so billboards are often used to enhance other marketing efforts.
Why Do Companies Use Billboard Advertising?
There are many reasons why advertisers use billboards in their marketing campaigns, but two of the most important ones are the cost and the messaging and design capabilities of billboards.
Billboard Advertising Cost
Billboard advertising costs depend on several factors. For instance, location is often a big indicator of cost. A billboard location that gets more traffic than another location will almost certainly be more valuable since it’s spreading the ad to more people. Another way to measure billboard cost is through total traffic. This is calculated by using census data and roadway information. It all comes down to the demographics and the amount of eyes your billboard will get.
Billboards are often paid for on a monthly basis. Some billboard companies will also sell billboards for weeks at a time to help build flexible packages for their clients. Prices for monthly billboards range heavily by geographic location. To give you an idea of the range: a billboard on the side of a rural highway can cost as low as $250 for the month, while a similar sized billboard in Times Square might go for $22,000.
Billboards are considered out-of-home (OOH) advertising. Basically, any type of advertising that reaches people out of their homes, like subway ads or billboards, are OOH. Depending on the type of display, you’ll end up paying a different figure. A small subway ad isn’t the same as a billboard. In some cases, subway ads might be shown to more people than billboards in small towns. For this reason, many outdoor advertising companies use metrics from non-profits like Geopath to derive their costs. Geopath helps advertisers use technology and media research to estimate the weekly impressions each billboard receives.
Based on research performed by Geopath, each billboard gets a rating that determines its effectiveness and therefore its cost. One of the main factors in determining a billboard’s rating is circulation. Billboard circulation is the total number of people who pass by a billboard each week. Local transportation authorities gather this information and it is used by billboard companies to better understand the traffic around a billboard.
Another important billboard cost factor is demographics. Demographics are the statistics of the audiences who are seeing the billboard, like age, gender, income level, and more. Travel surveys and local transportation authorities gather this information, but some billboards with technological capabilities can also use smartphone location data to gather information about audience demographics.
Impressions are also an important billboard cost factor. Impressions are the number of people who see the billboard, not just who walk around it. It’s a bit harder to calculate impressions, but several metrics are used to find this number like the billboard’s circulation, the size of the billboard, its distance from the road, its visibility, and the speed of nearby traffic. Impressions will never be a completely true number, but it’s a great way to get a pretty good idea about a billboard’s performance.
When considering billboard costs, make sure you ask your billboard advertiser what’s included in the monthly charge. While some billboard companies provide packages that include design and installation fees, other billboard companies charge those services separately. Printing and installation fees can cost more than $500, but this will depend on the size and location of the billboard. Design fees range depending on the complexity of the creative, so if you don’t have an in-house team who will design the creative, expect to pay up to $1000 for a unique and effective design.
Billboard Advertising Design
When you invest in a billboard, it is likely going to be seen by thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of people. Because of this, the design of the billboard, or creative as it is called in the business, is incredibly important. Billboard design is subjective, but there are a few tips or suggestions we can give you here to make sure you’re on the right track.
First things first: what’s your story? Billboards don’t have to provide a homerian narrative, but they can bring your audience on a journey. Remember, people are driving by these billboards. There’s not enough time for paragraphs of text or complicated imagery. In the 5-10 seconds you have available, however, you can tell a compelling story of your brand or product. What problem do you solve? Why should a person invest in your brand? These are the questions you should seek to answer.
Because of the quick nature of billboards, you’ll always want to keep it simple. Relying on one image is usually a great way to ensure success. To complement your simple imagery, use big, bold fonts against contrasting backgrounds. Script fonts that are hard to read or fonts that are too narrow can work against your goals. When it comes to colors, pick ones that stand out. In rural areas, you’ll want to avoid the colors of nature (green, brown, and blue). Again, your goal is to make an impression, so go with something that will guarantee to get eyes.
When planning a billboard design, you’ll also want to keep in mind location. Mentioning areas that are close by or even inside jokes that people from this community have will work wonders to help you sell your messaging. Take advantage of any knowledge you may have of the area, including sports teams or city nicknames. Show your audience you know who they are and they’ll be much more likely to trust your brand.
We always recommend our clients to make billboards memorable. This can be subtle or extreme, but anything that makes your audience retain your branding for weeks after they’ve seen your billboard is effective. One way to make billboards memorable is to design the creative so it interacts with the surrounding environment. It will stick out among the other noise of the highway and grab people’s attention. Be creative and use the space of the billboard in unique ways, and your audience will appreciate your efforts. Everyone loves good design.
Finally, always think about the call to action. What do you want your audience to do? For this reason, you always want to put your branding, website information and even a phone number where your company can be reached. Once again, your audience might not be ready to make that purchasing decision in that moment, but when they need your services or products, they will think of you.
Billboard Advertising Statistics
At the end of the day, the real focus should be in the numbers. The data shows that billboards are incredibly effective at marketing to large numbers of people. It also shows that billboards are one of the best ways to lead your audience to your online platform where they may make a purchasing decision. When paired with other advertising media or strategies (like search engine optimization), billboards are 40% more effective.
The proof is in the pudding. Americans spend a lot of time in their cars—almost 300 hours a year where they are exposed to billboard advertising. More than 70% of drivers look at billboards on purpose; this is because billboards don’t get in the way of your enjoyment (like TV or social media ads) and they’re fun to look at! Over half of Americans say they’ve been highly engaged by a billboard in the last month. The numbers are in favor of billboard advertising.
While most billboards are still made out of vinyl, digital billboards are becoming more common. At the moment, there are around 350,000 billboards in the US, and only about 2% of these are digital. However, digital billboards have been shown to be more effective at capturing audiences’ attention.
We may be exposed to as many as four thousand ads every day. That’s an astonishing number. Billboard advertising is one way to depart from the monotonous ads of everyday life.
How Can Companies Leverage Billboard Advertising?
Billboards can be used in many ways to produce positive results for brands. One of the best effects of billboard advertising is increased brand awareness. Billboards can’t be clicked on, so they can’t literally lead audiences to your online store. However, they’re really effective at leading people to your store in other ways. Directional billboards, for instance, can tell people which exit to take to get to your location. Billboards can also display your website in large letters—later, when those viewers are ready to check out your brand, they’ll remember your website and be able to find you.
Billboards work by frequency and repetition. One billboard on a highway with a lot of commuters is going to be seen by the same people every day. The people who see the same billboard are going to have a difficult time forgetting that brand, and having a customer pick you over your competitor has a lot to do with being top of mind.
While static billboards might not seem targeted, they’re actually a great way to reach specific demographics. A billboard advertising company often has geographic profiles to help you pick a location where the traffic includes a large percentage of your target market. Every day, 24/7, your billboard will be showcasing your branding and product to large numbers of people who could become customers. For those that are already customers, you’re reinforcing the strength of your brand with each passing view.
Reach Out to the Experts
Navigating a billboard campaign without expert advice doesn’t lead to the best results. Here at View Outdoor we can help design a billboard campaign tailor-made for your brand and the results you seek. Reach out to one of our account executives today and start seeing the power of billboard advertising!