Digital advertising may be popular right now, but there is still an incredible need for out-of-home advertising methods. Even though more people are working from home than commuting or are ordering food delivery rather than making the trip to the store, there are still plenty of people on the road that are ready to consume whatever campaign you have planned via billboards.
As you prepare the budget for your next campaign, earmark some of those funds for billboard advertising. Read on to learn the average billboard advertising cost and why this method of promotion is still effective.
Billboard Advertising Cost on Average
There are two main types of billboards you can choose for your advertisements: classic and digital. A classic billboard features a single image while a digital billboard can have moveable qualities to it such as video. Typically, classic billboards are less expensive than digital billboards, but the type is not the only factor that comes into play with the price. Location is a huge cost factor. For example, in rural areas, you will pay significantly less than in large cities due to the areas enjoying higher traffic.
So, how much do they cost? For a four-week campaign with a classic billboard, the average cost is $850. For a digital billboard four-week campaign, the average cost is $2,100. In rural areas, a classic billboard advertising cost could be as low as $250 a month. In a midsize or large city, you could pay up to $14,000 a month for a classic billboard campaign. Digital billboards will be more expensive and could cost between $1,200 to $15,000.
The Effectiveness of Billboard Advertising
Unlike digital advertising, you won’t be able to evaluate analytics in the same way as billboard advertising. You won’t be able to see who saw your ad and then made a purchase. The overall goal of a billboard campaign is to drive brand awareness and broadcast your brand. The important metric to consider is impressions. Impressions are the number of people estimated to have seen your billboard and this metric is significantly higher compared to other marketing campaigns.
Billboards perform best in high-traffic areas. You’ll often see billboards on major roadways, intersections, or street furniture such as kiosks. Choosing the right area for your campaign is essential to ensure the effectiveness of your billboard campaign.
How to Determine if Billboard Advertising is Right for Your Brand
To figure out if billboard advertising is the best method to promote your brand, you need to consider your target demographic. Are they a commuter? Do they travel? How much of their time do they spend out of the house? To be effective, it has to make sense that your target audience would even have the opportunity to see your billboard.
Now, you’ve determined that, yes, your target demographic spends enough time in heavy traffic areas to capture their attention. Your next consideration is location. If you’re a local business, you don’t have much to consider here. But for nationwide or global businesses, you need to determine where your target audience is. Which locations is your brand more popular in? Or, which areas do you want to expand to?
Once you lock down the city, you need to get down to the nitty-gritty of finding a billboard that’s in a location your target audience will see. If they’re a traveler, a billboard close to the airport makes sense. For commuters, billboards on major roadways are your best bet. For the city dweller that travels by food, kiosk advertising may be the best type of billboard for you.
At the end of the day, you have to take your target demographic into consideration. You need to be keenly aware of how they navigate their lives to determine not only whether billboard advertising cost makes sense for campaigns targeting them but where they ought to be located for maximum exposure.
Conclusion
As you consider out-of-home advertising methods, keep billboards top of mind. To increase your brand awareness to a large audience, billboard advertising cost is an effective spend of your budget. The impressions you will earn from this type of campaign will help broadcast your brand in a whole new way. The best billboards that stand out are those that are extremely creative. So get your graphic design team together and start brainstorming eye-capturing designs to pique your audience’s interest and drive brand awareness.