Everywhere you drive, even in rural areas, you pass by billboards. They seem like such an old-fashioned advertising method in our current environment of Facebook ads, Instagram ads, radio ads. This makes people wonder if billboards actually work or if they’re just a waste of time and money. Why are billboards still around when it seems like digital marketing campaigns are so much more effective?
The truth is that while digital marketing campaigns are the leading way to get your business out there and generate traffic, you still see billboards everywhere because billboards actually work. Here’s what you need to know about the ways in which billboards can help your business.
You Can’t Block Billboards
We’re inundated with ads everywhere, so much so that people just ignore them and spend their hard-earned money on ad-blockers so that they can enjoy the internet free of being overwhelmed by advertisements. With how easy it is to throw an ad up on the internet and how very, very many people see everyday, it causes people to view ads with a sense of annoyance.
Not only does this make it so that online advertisements need to work harder to be more engaging in order to stand out, but it lessens the effectiveness of advertising, because of how much people skip ads and the animosity they cultivate. This isn’t the case with billboards though, hence why billboards actually work.
Even if you see a billboard you don’t like, chances are, you’re not going to change your route just to avoid it, unless it’s offensive. You see billboards everywhere, and while you can choose not to look at them, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re there.
Billboards Aren’t Disruptive
Online, ads often interrupt what people are doing and feel like they are forcing a product or service on them. It’s why people are willing to pay extra for ad-free streaming services and more. Billboards don’t disrupt what you’re doing; they’re just there, along the way. In fact, many people enjoy a well-designed billboard on their drive, as it gives them something interesting to look at.
While online ads can be forceful and annoying, making people less likely to look at them out of resentment for how they disrupt their online experience, billboards actually work because they do the opposite. Many people grow to like the billboards on their daily commute and find it gives it a sense of familiarity and hominess. So, when a billboard changes, they definitely notice.
As a matter of fact, while online, people hate advertisements, on the road, about 71% of people will consciously look at billboards and over 50% of people report having been highly engaged by billboards they pass. People are stuck in their cars and an eye-catching billboard provides entertainment and a way for your business to catch attention.
Billboards Generate More Trust
Since you pass by billboards every day and they are costly to put up, this is yet another way in which billboards actually work, because they reinforce their message every time you see them and establish trust in a very non-intrusive way. If you see a billboard, that means that someone spent time designing it and that it’s a real business or corporation – how many scam businesses have billboards? Very few, if any.
While online, it can be hard to know whether or not a business is legitimate or whether this advertisement will infect your computer with a virus if you click on it, you don’t need to worry about this with billboards. Hence, it’s another way in which billboards actually work. When people see your billboard, they’ll be more inclined to trust that you and your business are legitimate and can provide them with quality products and services.
Build Brand Awareness
Given that people pass billboards very quickly, it’s another reason why people wonder whether billboards actually work. After all, you only have about 8 seconds before that car has passed. How effective of a marketing strategy can that be?
The purpose of a billboard is to build brand awareness. Hence, the more engaging your billboard, the more likely people will be to remember you. If you have words on it, it’s best to stick to a short catchy sentence, otherwise people won’t be able to read everything before they’ve passed your billboard. Hence, billboard marketing needs to be very creative and engaging.
To ensure your billboards actually work, you need to make them as memorable as possible.
Ultimately, billboards are signage, and signage everywhere works, whether it is a traditional billboard or on a company van. What matters is that it’s designed well and that you’re strategic about it. For instance, while some companies will be cheeky and put a junk or fast food billboard by a gym, these are better suited to highways and freeways, areas where people will be looking for something to eat.
Performance Driven Marketing provides professional marketing services, including graphic design for signage and helping your brand develop a visual identity. To learn more about our signage services or the other ways we can help with your marketing, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
It’s true there are plenty of reasons that make Google Maps good for SEO. However, Google Maps marketing can be tricky, especially as people see “keywords make you rank better” and then start keyword-stuffing and abusing Google Maps in order to improve their ranking. As such, Google Maps has since cracked down on how people use it, in order to prevent these spam listings and ensure it’s promoting legitimate businesses. 
Your brand identity is how you present your business to the world. Brand identity is a necessity in order to distinguish your business from others, and with how competitive the market is, having a unique brand identity is crucial to your business’s success. The more recognizable your brand identity, the more unique, the more likely it is the customers will remember you, which will improve your business. 
Marketing is shifting more and more online. When you want to know about restaurants or businesses nearby, you turn to search engines. When you want to check the reputability of a business or a product, you look up online reviews and ratings. When you want to see what services a business offers, you want to be able to click through their website and have all the information you need at your fingertips. 
