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If you’ve driven down one of America’s highways recently, you’ve probably noticed that billboard advertising is still going strong. In this digital age, it might seem strange that such an analog marketing technique has retained its popularity. But when you consider how much time Americans spend in their cars—and, in some areas of the country, in traffic—it makes sense that roadside advertisements would still offer companies a good return on investment.
However, today’s billboards aren’t like billboards 20 years ago. As a result, many business owners are opting to save costs and expand their options by replacing their old-fashioned billboards with modern digital billboards.
Switching to digital can help you market more effectively to travelers and commuters. Discover five crucial benefits outdoor digital billboards have over their analog forebearers.
While we usually think of digital solutions as being more expensive than their analog counterparts, the average digital billboard cost is lower than the cost of putting up an advertisement on a traditional billboard. When you purchase space on a regular billboard to advertise your business or event, you also have to pay for materials, printing, and installation costs. Once LED digital billboards have been installed, all you have to do is upload a digital file containing your properly formatted advertisement to the correct server. This makes it less expensive for advertisers to buy space on digital billboards.
You hope your business stays stable, but you never know when circumstances outside your control could change things. For example, a city ordinance might require you to change your operating hours, or unexpected damage might force you to change locations. No matter what life throws at you, your marketing materials should always be accurate, including your billboards. If you are using a traditional billboard to advertise your business, you’ll need to pay to reprint your signage and install it over the outdated version. This takes time—meaning that your marketing materials could be inaccurate for days or weeks—and requires you to spend even more money. Using a digital billboard lets you update your business information within 24 hours at little to no cost.
Why do businesses run sales and promotions? To drive a large wave of new traffic in a relatively short period. While some customers might not generally be interested in your brand, people love a good deal, and many will come to check out a sale just to see what kind of discount they can get. You want to market your sales to as many people as possible before they end, so it is in your best interest to promote it across every available channel. When advertising on an analog billboard, updating your ad for a few days is cost prohibitive and logistically challenging. If you’re hosting a limited-time event, putting up an ad on a traditional billboard for a short period might cost more than the money you would expect to make back. However, running short-term ads on a digital billboard is easy without breaking the bank. Digital billboards also give you additional options to engage potential customers, such as including a live countdown until the event ends.
Billboard advertising relies on being visually attractive to drivers. There are ways to do this with traditional print, such as bright colors, intriguing images, or funny slogans. However, nothing catches the eye like motion. You can only feature static images on analog billboards. Digital billboards can easily incorporate motion graphics or other animations that are more likely to grab potential customers’ attention as they drive by. The more people see your advertisement, the more customers you are likely to bring in, leading to more sales and profit.
When setting up a billboard advertisement, the most important question is, “will people be able to see this?” First, you have to find a spot that is close enough to your business that drivers could reasonably take a detour to visit your business but that gets enough traffic that people will see it. You also want to make sure that your message is legible in a wide variety of lighting conditions. Traditional analog billboards require special lighting at night so drivers can still read the message. Unfortunately, these lighting solutions are uneven, and you may notice dark spots or hard-to-read areas in your advertisement. However, outdoor digital billboards work using LEDs, so they come pre-lit.
How does this work during the day? If you’ve ever tried to read your phone or laptop outside, you may have noticed that backlit screens can be more difficult to read in direct sunlight. This was an issue in the early days of LED signage, but the most recent generations come with responsive lighting capabilities. These screens can sense current light levels and adjust the brightness to ensure optimal image clarity.
If you want to market your business to passing drivers more effectively, now is the time to invest in an LED digital billboard advertisement. Digital billboards allow you to make the most out of this advertising channel while saving time and money.
Of course, many businesses advertising via billboards don’t own the board itself. Rather, they rent ad space from a secondary company that owns and leases billboards. If your company owns the billboards that businesses rent and still uses traditional printed billboards, you are at a disadvantage. Marketers and business owners are beginning to recognize the benefits that LED billboards offer. If you can’t meet their demands for digital ad space, they will turn to your competitors who do.
At Formetco Digital, we design and manufacture high-performing, reliable digital billboards at a cost you can afford. Within a month, you could have your new digital billboard up and ready to start renting ad space. Digital billboards can also help you maximize revenue by allowing you to rent the same space to multiple companies and constantly cycle through their displays throughout the day.
Set up a call with our team to learn more about our available options and get started today!
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