Billboards can be a very effective means to advertise a
product, service or business. I
personally think billboards can be a great addition to an overall advertising
campaign. But, (yes there is a but)…I’ve
noticed lately there is a tendency for advertisers to “cram” too much
information on billboards.
So my humble advice is STOP IT!! Putting too much info on a billboard is the absolute worse thing you can do…you might as well take those dollars and throw them out the window while you drive down the highway because you will get the same return on your investment…a big fat NOTHING!
I have had this conversation numerous times with business owners, and I understand the urge to put as much info as possible on a billboard. “We want our name/logo of course, but we also want our web site address, and oh yeah we need our street address and that we’re just across from xyz store, and we HAVE to have our phone number and…
Next thing you know the board is a big mess of words with no clear message and you’ve thrown a bunch of money out your car window.
So my short and sweet advise to any business owner is the tried and true method of KISS…keep it simple stupid. Yes this works here too. NEVER put your address or phone number on a billboard…yes I said “Never.” Your target audience is driving down the road. They are behind the wheel of a car, sipping hot coffee. The last thing you want them to try and do is use their phone to add your number. I once saw a board on I-95 with a QR code on the board!...not kidding…I couldn’t believe it…a QR code on the interstate. Thank goodness I didn’t also see folks pulling over to get out of their cars to walk up to the board so they could “scan” the code??!!
So keep it down to the bare minimum…your name/logo, a nice eye-catching visual like a colorful picture, one brief message with 5-10 words, (shoot for 5) and maybe a web url. And let that be it…nothing more. You must resist the urge to add additional info. Save the details for your youtube video or your website.
Remember, billboards are best used as an extension of your brand, as part of a campaign of messages across multiple platforms. Let the other platforms get into the details and your boards just be a visual reminder that, hey we are here and we want to help you.
And speaking of help, please like this post or leave a comment so we can help improve our blog. And if you want more info on the best ways to market your business, please contact us at cre8tive pixel, we’ll be glad to help.