Billboards: A Good Marketing Medium for Your Business?
I love billboards. It's one of my favorite marketing services.
Whenever I drive downtown in a new city, while my wife might be
admiring the stores, architecture and people, I'm looking at
every billboard.
So already I know that I'm not the typical target for
billboards. Most people don't go out of their way to read every
word on billboards - in fact many find them to be eyesores and
only see them when they are actively looking for a product.
Knowing my love of billboards, one might think that I advocate
using billboards in most any small business marketing plan. Even
though I do appreciate good billboard creative, I can still look
apart from my own bias and realize that billboards have their
place in small business marketing.
>From my own experience and from the billboards that I see
everyday, I think that billboards are utilized as a marketing
tool for many businesses that should never have considered the
marketing medium in the first place. Billboards are a unique
medium because they are one of a few marketing mediums that
target traffic. So it stands to reason that the businesses that
advertise on the billboards should target people on the
highways. Therefore, the most effective billboard campaigns are
those that advertise hotels, restaurants and gas stations, since
travelers are actively seeking those services.
But what about billboards for branding purposes? I think that it
is rarely effective. To some extent, a sensational billboard in
the middle of downtown Manhattan that promotes a brand is
certainly effective - as it is costly. However a billboard that
promotes a brand of shoes in the middle of the country misses
the mark. It's like advertising diapers in Sports Illustrated.
Sure, many men that read it are fathers with babies, but that's
not what is top of mind when they are reading about football.
I also don't think that billboards are designed to generate
calls to action. I've advertised an 800 number on billboards in
several different locations. The results that we received from
the billboards were generally lackluster. We did sell a few
products from billboard marketing, but not enough to justify the
expense. The reasons are plentiful why billboards don't lead to
direct sales (except for hotels, restaurants and gas stations).
First, drivers and passengers will rarely pull out a pen and
write down a number or website address they saw on a billboard.
Secondly, the average billboard gets perhaps two to three
seconds to make an impression. Most drivers aren't going to be
engaged to read the billboard and immediately persuaded to take
action while handling a car at 65mph.
If your small business wants to pursue billboard advertising,
you'll need to research the expense of the medium. Billboard
advertising can be very costly for premium downtown or
interstate real estate, but it can also be affordable if you
play your cards right. One way to save money is to sign a
contract for remnant space. Remnant space is billboard space
that is left vacant until another advertiser's contract begins.
You can get this space much less expensive and many times you
can get prime locations.
In summary, billboards are a great medium if you are giving
directions or if you have a hotel, restaurant or gas station
that is off of the highway. Otherwise, they may not be best
small business marketing choice. If you do want to try billboard
marketing, I would start small with one or two and make sure
that you have a dedicated 800 number or website so you can
monitor the activity that the billboard generates.