Contrary to popular belief, billboards can still be an important and effective part of a marketing strategy. Billboards can give your business consistent exposure to a local audience on the major highways or roads they travel on a daily basis.
Billboard Advertising Strategy
When it comes to billboard advertising, having a solid strategy is crucial to success. The process you roll out will also impact the cost of your billboard advertising campaign.
Before considering costs, defining your goals and primary objectives for the campaign is essential. What exactly do you expect this billboard to do for your business, and how does it integrate with the rest of your marketing strategy?
Pairing billboards with geo-targeted social media, paid and organic search efforts, or traditional media will make your advertising even more effective. With the right geo-targeting and placements, you can reinforce your brand and message across streaming audio and terrestrial radio platforms your audience will likely see and hear on the same trip. With attention divided more than ever, recent data suggests that customers need to see or hear your brand up to twenty times before they recognize you. Leveraging multiple mediums that build on each other’s awareness is a great way to increase brand awareness.
Billboard Advertising Costs in NJ
The costs of billboard advertising in NJ can vary depending on several factors such as location, size, duration, and type of billboard. Digital billboards, static billboards and wallscapes can all widely depend on the specific details of your campaign. Partnering with a digital marketing agency in NJ can not only help with the work of finding and negotiating billboard prices. but can also help you get an eye-catching design up quickly in a high-impact location.
Location
Location, location, location. This is a huge factor in determining how much a billboard ad will cost. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that placing a billboard on Route 17 or Route 4 will cost much more than placing it on a quiet suburban road.
If you can, try to drive by the actual location you’re considering to get an idea of what obstructions might be in the way of your billboard, like an overpass, road signage, or overgrown trees and shrubs.
Traffic Type
Industrial and high-traffic roads like the Garden State Parkway, a 172.4-mile thruway stretching from the New York state line at Montvale, N.J., down to Cape May, have a very high traffic volume. The New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 287, Route 78, and Route 22 are more examples of major highways that receive high traffic volume.
Also, consider the type of people driving on these roads and which advertisements will interest them most. Static billboards placed on these busy highways can cost up to $15,000 for a static board in the middle of it all. However, digital billboards cost much less as your company would share the board with other advertisers, with your ad running every 8 seconds. These boards can cost as low as $4,500/month and still garner attention.
Daily Effective Circulation
Traffic volume determines the number of eyes viewing the billboard advertisements. DECs are the average number of persons in a car or any other vehicle who pass by or are exposed to an advertising display. Essentially, this is the number of impressions your billboard receives daily.
Size of your Billboard Advertising
Just like there are different types of locations, there are also a variety of billboard sizes. The large ones you commonly see on the highway are usually 14 ft x 38ft, but there are other options, such as 10 ft x 24 ft, 12 ft x 24 ft, 16 ft x 60 ft and 32 ft x 38 ft.
Billboards have the potential to be all shapes and sizes. A bigger size is going to cost bigger bucks. Remember that the bigger the billboard area, the more space you have to fill and the lighter your wallet will be. You can also purchase bump-ups on static billboards. Bump-ups are creative additions to a standard rectangle board that makes the board stand out even more.
Digital Boards for Billboard Advertising
Digital boards allow multiple ads to switch on and off every 5-15 seconds. This technology allows more than one company to utilize a single billboard location. While this can be more cost-effective, your business won’t show as often as you would with a static billboard. On the other hand, you can usually swap in new versions of your ad at little or no cost, and you can make changes very quickly. You also have the option to run two sets of creative in a 50/50 creative split. That means you can have two ads running different creatives with your media buy.
Billboard Advertising Design
Now that your strategy is down, it’s time to grab your audience’s attention with your design. Ensure it’s eye-catching and attention-grabbing while conveying your message clearly and concisely. This means your message and design should be easily read and understood from a distance. Simplicity and boldness are vital to making a successful billboard ad. Hiring a full-service marketing agency in NJ like DSM can help get your strategy and creative execution done quickly.
Important Call-to-Actions on Your Billboard Advertising
Your billboard design won’t perform well without a clear call to action. Whether directing viewers to a website, phone number, or physical location, a compelling CTA can make all the difference in converting viewers into customers. If you’re using a web address, make sure it’s short and easy to remember so drivers can find you when they are done driving. If you use a phone number, make sure you can attribute calls from the billboard with call-tracking software for accurate results! And most of all, ensure the copy is large enough to read as people drive by. Not everyone will be stopped in traffic while passing each billboard.
Billboard Advertising Installation costs
When you pay for the space with a traditional billboard, you must also consider the costs of printing and installation fees. These can vary depending on the billboard size, but they can typically cost around $900 or more. These fees don’t apply when you’re running a digital billboard.
Timing of Your Billboard Advertising
Depending on the brand or intent of the billboard, timing can be everything and the most crucial part of your billboard advertising strategy. Seasonality, events, and holidays are just a few factors that can impact the effectiveness of your billboard. Give your audience enough time to see the board if you have a time-sensitive message.
Tracking Your Billboard Advertising Efforts
It can be hard to track the effectiveness of a billboard directly, but keeping an eye on increased foot traffic, website traffic, and sales from when your billboard is live can help determine an estimated ROI. This, along with the tracking URL or phone number we mentioned before, are all part of the importance of having a strategy in place for your campaign to more accurately track and report on your billboard’s success.
Wrapping Up
All in all, billboard advertising can be a powerful tool to help with your existing marketing strategy. If you’re interested in learning further about various other forms of traditional advertising in both NJ and beyond, take a look at our award-winning traditional marketing team, led by Christine Devereaux! Traditional advertising can complement your other marketing efforts by increasing visibility and brand recognition with cost-effective, location-targeted advertising. Ready to dive in? We are your one-stop shop for billboard services in NJ, and our award-winning team can’t wait to help you. Reach out to get started!
