A digital billboard is simply a sign that displays digital signs that are changed by a digital computer every few moments. Digital billboards are mainly used for outdoor advertising along highways, and they can also serve as part of public information centers, like the New York City Sidewalk Labels, which has digital signs where people can find travel information about the city. As more businesses realize the benefits that come with implementing a digital signage program in their stores, the question of how to maximize the use of digital billboards is of primary concern. Here are some key steps a business must take to succeed with marketing on digital billboards.

1. Identify Your Advertising Goals

The first question you have to have before launching any type of marketing campaign is, why do you want to advertise? Is your business launching a new product? Is it looking to increase revenue quickly? or are you are a start-up company looking to create awareness? or maybe you are hosting a conference in the city and need and you need to bring awareness and exposure to your amazing speakers? No matter your reason, a well-thought-out advertising plan with objectives is the first step to succeeding in advertising. When your company knows its end goal, it improves the chances of maximizing its marketing budget. Set your advertising goals realistically with timelines in mind, and try to do test runs of your objectives to determine if they will work on a large scale.

2. Know your Audience and Target Market

With clear advertising goals in place, the next question is who are you trying to reach as your target market? Who is most likely your buyer, and who will be attracted to the advertising message of your product or service? You must identify your target audience by age, interests, income levels, and location. The better you understand your target audience, the better you will be at determining the best ad space you will invest your marketing dollars in. This will include choosing the right location for your advertisements, as well as what your message should be and how it is displayed. For example, if you should advertise in a mall, on the highway, or on a public street.

3. Craft Your Message

A digital billboard is a visual medium, and most people just glance at them while walking past. Take time to craft your message using attention-grabbing graphics and video messages. Think of what images and videos will compel a passerby to stop and watch your advert. Some elements to consider are the use of colors and lighting, the size of images, and the use of words. Also, remember to make your message as understandable as possible in the shortest time possible but still creating an element of suspense and entertainment for your viewer.

4. Location of the Digital Billboards

It’s time to take your campaign to the masses! Digital billboards come in different sizes for different locations. There are your indoor and outdoor digital signage billboards. All billboards have the potential to be effective only if placed in the right location. Once your business knows its objectives, who its target market is, and its message to them, the location of where to advertise is a very important decision for the success of the campaign.

Big brands like Coca-Cola and large airlines do well if advertised outdoors because their target market is not niche. For niche products, they will benefit from being placed in indoor locations where there is high foot traffic with their target customers. For example, a speciality cheese brand will be best advertised by the freezer section of a large supermarket or outside a large supermarket. Other places you can place your advertising campaigns are on digital billboards that are placed in front of office buildings, inside of big retail stores, in front of restaurants, in the middle of parks, and more.

5. Constantly Improve Your Message

Monitoring your marketing campaign is a key step to successful digital billboard advertising. Many times, businesses set it and leave it to run for the duration paid for with no analysis of its effectiveness. Being a digital medium, you can easily change the advert from a remote place, and your audience will not know the difference. You can test different messages and adverts during the period you are running the campaign. Show up to 3 variations of the same message, and feel free to tweak them as you observe viewer reactions. By constantly trying to figure out what is working and which ones aren’t, then you are going to know whether or not the advertising campaign is going to actually improve your sales. So, it pays to know what to test and how to implement the testing for the best results.

6. Measure your Advertising Campaigns Results and ROI

Are your advertising dollars going down the drain? Knowing the return on investment in digital billboards is a great way for you to make smart choices and not waste your advertising budget. You want to ensure that the campaign is something that works and so that you don’t waste any money. One success principle is what gets measured, gets acted on. Start tracking your sales before going live on the billboard, during the campaign, and after the advertising campaign. This can really help measure how effective your campaign was and if it met the set objectives. It’s important to keep a record of new accounts, as well as calls and in-store & web traffic that have happened during the period advertising campaign.

Conclusion

The adoption of digital billboards may seem irrelevant with the internet appeal, but there is still a place for it. People are not always online, and you can capture their attention as they drive or walk in the mall. For the business, the obvious benefit is that they can now target specific groups of consumers with specific messages that will bring a better return on investment. There is no doubt that the adoption of digital billboards will continue to provide strong opportunities for brands to also reach their target market away from the internet.