Roadside billboards have been around for over a century. You see them everywhere. They’re on highways, side streets, and the sides of buildings just about everywhere in the country. There are so many factors to consider including how much information you should include, what style you should go for, fonts, images and even how to decide what target audience you’re trying to reach. But if you are going to invest your hard-earned money in a massive, high rise advertisement, you want to make sure it’ll be a success. How do you ensure your billboard is both eye-catching and effective?
Keep it Simple
Too many people try to get cute with their billboard. While you certainly want an interesting design, it’s important that you keep everything on your board simple and easy to digest. The average driver will only have about 5 to 10 seconds to view your billboard design, read any text, and comprehend the message. In those 5 to 10 seconds, the driver could also be glancing from the billboard to the road, and back to the billboard again depending on the severity of traffic. That’s even less viewing time on your ad! So one of the most important rules to follow will be keeping your message short. Very short! Shoot for a maximum of 7 words or less.
For those in the service industry, this means that you shouldn’t be trying to advertise 20 different services.
Instead, focus on one simple message. If you’re adding paragraphs to your billboard, they aren’t going to get read. If your message is too complex to convey in just a few words, you should probably stay away from billboards altogether.
Focus on one simple message. Toa Heftiba on Unplash.
Location
This is the most important element when it comes to billboard promotion. The location of your advert is absolutely key and is always the defining factor to whether a project is successful or not. Research your target audience and brainstorm locations in which you can best target the largest volumes of these people. Buying billboard exposure is all about being seen. Unfortunately, not all locations are equal…and you may have some stinkers along with the gems. Know what, where and when you messages are posted. Are they illuminated? Are they easily visible? Does the demographic profile of the audience/traffic mean you’re reaching ideal consumers?
For example, if you’re a business selling a new sports-related drink, ideal advertisement spaces would be near gyms, football stadiums and other sports-related areas.
The location of your advert is absolutely key and is always the defining factor to whether a project is successful or not. Kevin Rajaram on Unplash.
Get Creative
Creativity is important. It’s how you get noticed (or ignored). Since people have such a limited time to see your billboard, it’s important that you grab their attention immediately.
When designing your advert, always remember the purpose of your advert in every decision you make. It doesn’t matter whether you’re promoting a specific product or service, increasing awareness in your business or trying to promote a call to action such as getting the public to sign up to your social media sites or another business-related channel.
By placing this purpose at the forefront of your team’s minds, you’ll be able to make the best decisions when it comes to making that purpose stick with your target audience.
Creativity is important. It’s how you get noticed (or ignored). Luca Bravo on Unplash.
Be Smart
As with anything in the business world, the art of designing a billboard ad is a tricky one to master and it’s very rare that you’ll get it right first time. This means that you should always look for ways to improve your design to make it as effective as it can possibly be.
Try and shorten or reword your slogans. Make your image larger or more defined so it grabs more attention. Change the fonts of your contact details so they are one of the key elements. As you would when designing a product, streamline and refine your advert so it’s operating to its maximum potential.
A great tool for refining aspects of your billboard ad is Paper Fellows. This online community is full of writers and training writers that can provide vital feedback on your written content, allowing you to refine your wording and make the most of your available space.
Billboards are an extremely proven method of advertising that has worked time and time again and is an effective tool in any marketing campaign. Always remember when designing your board that anybody can look at it and everyone will have their own opinions. Be smart and clever with your designs ensuring you won’t cause offence and minimise the amount of negative feedback you may receive.
