8 Reasons why businesses shouldn't shy away from digital billboards

Billboards date back to several decades for advertising purposes. They are still an important modern advertising tool. However, thanks to innovation and technology, there are more advanced than ever before. Today’s best option for outdoor advertising is digital billboards.

Digital billboards — dynamic, electronically illuminated, light emitting diode (LED) advertisements — are a rapidly growing section of the marketing industry. One look around some of the busiest around the country and you’ll understand why: The billboards are shiny, interesting, and attention-grabbing. We often can’t help but look at them, but why are business shying away from them?

As advertising has moved on from traditional advertising mediums (television, radio, and newspaper) to the web and social media, the digital wave has had its share of good and critics. As it is believed these digital billboards are inventive and visually attractive, so much that they may cause drivers to take their eyes off the road, according to Accident Analysisand Prevention.

However, for out-of-home advertising solutions, these digital trends have ushered in a new set of tools that help companies offer more personalised products to customers.

Regardless of the differences between markets, clientele, or age-groups, most OOH solutions earlier featured a one-size-fits-all solution. Cut to the present, outdoor advertising calls for a more targeted, data-driven, responsive, and personalised approach.  According to the survey done by the Digital Place Based AdvertisingAssociation’s (DPBAA), over 61 percent of respondents were keen on including digital place-based solutions in their outdoor advertising spends.

The way these billboards are constructed is another benefit offered by digital signage. When a driver passes these bright billboards, there is no need to worry about safety concerns related to excessive amounts of light. This is because there are light sensors attached to the billboard that determines how bright they should be. During the day, digital billboards are brighter, since they are going to be competing with the light from the sun. However, at night, the light is dimmer to ensure they don’t affect a driver’s ability to operate their vehicle safely.

So now the question is should businesses shy away from digital billboards? The answer to that, supported by the above-mentioned statement, is no! Apart from the fact they are a good return on investment for businesses, by when done right, they also grab targeted audience's attention for the right reasons.

Sounds interesting? Below are a few benefits of digital billboards, when and if done right:

Prime locations

Digital billboards are usually built in the busiest locations. More people passing the billboard means more potential customers looking at your ad.

Production cost savings

There are no posters required, so you save on the cost of printing.

Shorter lead times

Your ad is sent electronically to the screen, which can happen in a matter of hours. No need to send a paper poster two weeks before your ad goes up.

Multiple messages

If you have different stores, brands or products to promote, you can send different versions of your ad with the address of each one. When used by public safety officials, the billboards can be used to make important public service announcements. As a result, emergency messages are able to be broadcast and easily reach mass audiences quickly. Aspects such as traffic and weather concerns can also be posted on the electronic billboards.

Flexible start dates

Billboard advertising (outdoor advertising as a whole) traditionally works in two-week blocks and there are good reasons for this. However, with digital, you can start and end on the day you want. If your event is on a Wednesday, you can stop your advertising on a Wednesday, or the Tuesday before, or Monday.

Shorter campaigns

Another benefit offered by digital billboards is that the displays change the advertisement shown every six to eight seconds. This gives several advertisers the opportunity to reduce the cost of advertising on a billboard. For example, restaurants can adjust the advertisement they have posted to show breakfast specials early in the morning and dinner specials in the evening.

Two weeks is generally the recommended period for an outdoor advertisement to be on display, in order to optimise your exposure.  There are however situations when it may be more beneficial to run your ad for a shorter number of hours over a longer time period. This gives several advertisers the opportunity to reduce the cost of advertising on a billboard. For example, if you have a special offer every Tuesday, you can choose to show your ad every Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday only, stopping when your offer stops on Tuesday. This reduces potential ‘wastage’ (when your advertisement is less effective), making more efficient use of your budget.

Specific times of day

Think about your product. If you are an off-license or bar, do you want to advertise to people on their morning commute? The afternoon may be a more appropriate time to advertise your bargain bottle of wine. You can choose to capture people’s attention as they head home from a stressful day at work.

Creativity

Digital technology offers some great creative opportunities, using all of the features described above. Here are a few examples of how you could use them - think of more for your business.

For example, if you are running a campaign or special, use three different ads at appropriate times of the day, showing between 6am-11am, between 11 am and 3 pm and from 3pm-8pm.

Does your campaign have no time limit? You could advertise between 10 pm and 3 am, which will be an inexpensive yet effective time to advertise.

Another example would be if your company has summer deals, so advertise sunny products when the temperature hits 10 degrees or lower. Yup, that’s possible.

Do you have products for both men and women? Do you have a ladies-only section of your gym and a large free weights section? Send in two ads, you can split your time slot to promote both. If you’ve bought a 10-second ad every 2 minutes, you can show one for 5 seconds, then the other. Or rotate them; show one ad for 10 seconds then in your next 10-second spot, show the other.

New store opening, big event, new product launch? Do a countdown to the big day. ‘Only 5 days to go, buy your ticket today’.

In conclusion, if a person is thinking about outdoor advertising methods, they should carefully consider whether or not digital billboards could be beneficial. In most cases, to be successful with this advertising method, it will be necessary to partner with a quality marketing company.

Taking the time to get to know the benefits offered by digital billboards will pay off in the long run. Be sure to create eye-catching designs and advertisements that will get noticed. This is the best way to achieve the desired results from the digital advertisements that a company pays for. Doing this will pay off and ensure that an advertiser gets the attention they want and need.