Is Billboard Advertising Right For Your Marketing Plan?

By Author: karen grahams
Total Articles: 42
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Billboard advertising can be a very effective marketing tool, but if you're not careful, it could be a marketing dud. Billboard advertising is expensive, so you need to carefully weigh your options and be sure billboard advertising is the tactic you want to go with (along with your other marketing tactics, of course).

Here are some points to consider when deciding whether to use billboard advertising:

Can you afford it? This should be your first consideration because billboards are expensive. To rent billboard space, you'll need to shell out roughly $1,000 to $5,000 per month. Keep in mind that consumers need to repeatedly see your billboard for it to be effective, so one month will probably be a waste of money. If you keep your billboard up for six months or more, you might be able to negotiate a discount.

Your target market. Is your target market a niche group of people who live all over the country? If so, billboards are probably not for you. Billboards are effective only when you have a broad customer base. You have no way of knowing who will see your billboard, other than the general demographic of ...
... the city that contains the billboard. If your target market is pretty broad though, or is a community, a billboard can solidify your business or product image in the community. People assume billboard advertising is expensive (because it is), so if you can afford to advertise on a billboard, you'll have a greater chance of being considered a bona fide, solid company.

Can you get a good location? Obviously, the best places for a billboard are the most traveled roads, but take a look around the billboard location. Are there any branches or buildings close by that could obscure visibility? Take a drive past the locations you're considering to see if there's anything that you don't like about it. Is it above a seedy business? Your billboard has the chance of being associated with anything it's connected to or close to so check out everything around it.
How will you design it? Will you design it yourself or hire a graphic designer? Billboards need to be able to grab people's attention in seconds - that means you need a great design to catch people's eyes. Hiring a graphic designer will be another cost to add to your billboard marketing budget, but it will be well worth it.

The length of your slogan. If your slogan, or whatever you want the billboard to say, is longer than eight words, your billboard won't be very effective. The eight-word limit doesn't include your business name, your address and a graphic. If you have more that you want to say, you should go with another color printing piece, like a brochure, to connect with prospects.

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