How to win the outdoor advertising game. Tips that big brands use
Why do big brands in Kenya like Safaricom, EABL,KFC, Coca-cola, TV47, Castrol, Mega Churches, and Insurance Companies invest heavily in outdoor advertising? We are talking about companies that can out muscle anyone in the digital advertising space.
Big companies can be effective in digital marketing through create an ad campaign, yet most of them always have an outdoor ads. They consistently create brand awareness and promote brand visibility at the slightest opportunity to achieve maximum results.
Outdoor advertisement is a powerful medium to help unlock the growth potential of your company. A creatively driven, strategic campaign of shareable content is certainly the aim of an effective outdoor advertising campaign. So, while choosing the perfect location for your outdoor campaign, please make sure that your message stands out.
Creative Ideas for Outdoor Advertising
Since an outdoor campaign involves heavy investment you want it to be as effective in catching the attention of your target audience as possible.
In modern times, consumers are constantly bombarded with information which makes traditional advertising methods inefficient.
Outdoor marketing (out-of-home advertising) stands out in this era because it’s not intrusive.
In this blog post, we’ll look at innovative billboard design tips and ideas that can revitalize your outdoor marketing strategy.
Make your target audience notice you without being a huge distraction
Using billboards and outdoor signs should not cause a dilemma for your target audience. Importantly, bear in mind the safety of your target audience. They should not be distractive to cause major or minor accidents.
Make your outdoor ad stand out from their surroundings
There are several ways you can make you outdoor ads stand out to your target audience. It is advisable to use bright colors on your ad, adding spotlights or making the billboard glow-in-the-dark.
Make your outdoor ads shareable
You should be bold to ensure you stand out from your competition. If your out of home advertising is unique, it will organically generate it’s own advertising. Incorporate bold marketing, creative digital, or experiential advertisements to make an effective impact on consumers.
Do the arm’s length test
Here’s a quick test to ensure you are not wasting everyone’s time and money. Print out your billboard to the size of a business card. Now, hold it out at arm’s length. Are you still getting everything you were when it was displayed on your 27-inch monitor? If not, go in and refine it. This needs to pop. And remember, you have roughly 10 seconds to get your message across.
Keep it simple
Effective outdoor advertising ensures a message that can be absorbed in just a second or two. Keep the text as limited as possible around six words is best. Keep your billboard design simple. After all, some people may be blown by your billboard at 70 mph. Use big, bold fonts against contrasting background colors and avoid narrow, script fonts.
Don’t say it, show it
Having creative billboard ideas in your marketing strategy is a great way to stand out in outdoor marketing. A flat billboard is standard, but it doesn’t have to be the norm. You can go 3D, have moving parts, have people interacting with it, and even have your billboard animate. There is no reason that it just has to be a large, simple print ad.
Make billboard interactive
Getting viewers to interact with the ad in some way is an easy way to make them memorable. In one of McDonald’s many brilliant advertising strategies, they made their billboard into a game. People had to use their phones to capture various images displayed on the billboard. If they won, they were rewarded with free food. The potential for this type of billboard to go viral on social media makes it even more valuable.
Not the place for direct response
There are some truly awful billboards covered in phone numbers and website addresses. And without a doubt, 99.9% of the people who actually read the billboard will not call or visit the website. A billboard is a secondary advertising medium, which means that it’s a deal for brands building and supporting a campaign, but it just cannot do the heavy lifting.
Use bold, non-serif fonts
Always use a large, legible typeface. At 500 feet, thin lines optically fade or break up. Avoid decorative, italic, or serif fonts. as a general rule, upper and lowercase sans serif fonts provide the best readability. When designing for digital outdoor, we highly recommend adding a thin dark stroke around the text to separate it from the background.
Stick to one message or idea on the billboard
Simplify everything. Don’t present a complex message or numerous images. Have one thing that you want your audience to do or to recognize. The best outdoor media reduces a complex message to its essential elements.
Play on powerful emotions
Incorporating powerful emotions into your advertisement will create a more personalized experience. Studies have found that advertisements with a strong emotional message are remembered twice as often as those with humor or promotions.
Use images
See to it that you use compelling imagery or graphics so that your ads look more creative and effective, make use of unique images to grab the attention of the passerby. If your ad’s graphic is text-based, play with the font size, style, and color to leave a positive and long-lasting impact on your viewers.
Erect your outdoor media in high traffic sites
A high traffic area is more expensive that a quieter area. To get your ideal customers, you should not prioritize the less expensive option. High traffic areas are better suited to attract attention, because they have a large audience. Nairobi has a larger audience compared to other towns in Kenya. As such it’s more expensive to advertise here than other towns.
Analyze your competition
By doing this you can strategically design your campaign for success for specific demographics.
Mobile Billboard Advertising
In a world where consumers are constantly on the move, you need to meet them where they are. Mobile billboard advertising, allows your message to travel alongside your potential customers, creating an engaging and impactful brand presence.
Mobile billboards (transit advertising) are essentially large, eye-catching advertisements affixed to the sides of trucks or other vehicles. These billboards move throughout high-traffic areas, ensuring your message reaches a wide and diverse audience. They are versatile, cost-effective, and easily customizable to suit your branding needs.
Interactive Billboards
The days of static billboards are long gone. With a blend of technology, creativity, and engagement, you can come up with interactive digital billboards that leave a lasting impact on your audience.
3D Ads
In the realm of outdoor advertising, standing out from the crowd is paramount. 3D Ads, a captivating and immersive form of outdoor advertising, leverage the power of three-dimensional elements to create visual depth, leaving a lasting impression on your target audience.
Environmental Integration
This is an innovative outdoor advertising strategy creates an eco-friendly image that resonates with environmentally-conscious consumers.
Light Projection
Light Projection is a mesmerizing technique in outdoor advertising that uses projectors to cast moving visuals, animations, or messages onto buildings and outdoor surfaces, creating a captivating spectacle that demands attention.
Vehicle Branding
Vehicle branding is a dynamic form of outdoor advertising that involves adorning a vehicle’s exterior with eye-catching graphics.
How Can You Attract Customers With Outdoor Advertising?
The main purpose of outdoor marketing is for people to recognize your brand with interactive outdoor ads and convert into paying customers.
To ensure that your outdoor marketing works, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Go for simple messages
The current generation are people who are so much immersed in digital screens. Social media is where they spend most of their time.
They do not have enough time to decipher the message you intend to put on your billboards. Using visually striking graphics can help you solve that attention problem.
Do not use very lengthy advertisements in your quest to raise awareness and brand recall. Lastly. remember you can’t sell to everyone. Target specific demographics to make your brand identity and message memorable.
Make it enticing to look at
When your advertisement is outdoors (billboards or posters at bus shelters), you compete against the various sceneries.
For people to notice the outdoor ad of any business, they have to create images that make them take a second look.
Use eye-catching graphics and high contrasting colors on your billboards for people to be attracted to see what the ad is all about.
It’s all about the location
Since your ad is outdoors, take advantage of high-traffic areas such as a busy highway, public transportation points, and other spaces where people converge.
Visible logo and contact details
Another thing you need to ensure is a visible logo indicating that the ad comes from your business or brand. Outdoor ads work well for brand awareness to a large number of people. Having your logo on an easily noticeable outdoor ad is a surefire way for brand visibility.
Additionally, contact information, such as a website or phone number, right on the outdoor advertising is a marketing strategy that works well as the equivalent of call-to-action.
Display them for 30 days
Various outdoor ad companies have varying minimum contracts to show your advertisements. However, if you opt for a shorter than a year duration, a 30 days period maximizes the amount of exposure for your brand.
Track the ads
While you cannot immediately count how many eyeballs went to your outdoor ads, there are still various ways to monitor them and check if it works. Among the methods you can implement can be:
- UTM tracking in a short or custom URL
- A separate phone number to answer queries from the outdoor ad
- Roughly estimating the foot traffic in the area
- Through digital means, such as interactive outdoor ads with built-in measuring tools
With these tracking methods, you can attribute the conversions or website traffic visits. Consequently, you will know if your outdoor advertising marketing strategy brings leads and conversion or if you need to scout for a new outdoor ad location.
How Do You Create Outdoor Advertising Materials?
Whether a flat graphics, video animation, or an interactive experience, you have various options to craft outdoor ads that will win over customers.
Having an in-house marketing team working full-time might be too costly when you only need to produce seasonal outdoor advertising materials. On the other hand, freelancers can be time-consuming to find and post projects every time you need an outdoor ad.
Outdoor marketing is a long-term game. Or as the proverbial adage put it, it’s a marathon. Not a sprint. Don’t put your ad out there today, and expect a call in the next 2 days. Even social media marketing doesn’t work that way.
Just like social media marketing, you must strive to be infront of your target audience as many times as possible. Consistent impressions in your marketing strategy will win in the end. Grabbing your audience’s attention is about how many times they see your brand and messaging in the surrounding environment.
It is for this reason, that big brands like Unilever make customized free-standing units (sale displays and promotional kiosks), branded with their product logos. They know that out-of-home advertising requires you to show up consistently.
The ripple effect of these ads in the supermarket isles is, you are always going to recognize their product. You will know them well enough that if they even change the packaging, you feel some type of a way about it.
Their outdoor marketing strategy is consistently aligned with their social media advertising. What you see on a billboard ad is what they will promote on social media. Since their marketing message is consistent, it will capture the viewers attention.
