Billboard Advertising, The Pros and Cons Of Going Outdoor

Billboard advertising is commonly known for its big size and is placed along main roads. It comes in different forms of mainly static and digital amongst others. 

Among the popular locations for billboards that have been advertisers favourites are congested areas like bus terminals, stations, highways, or even markets. Even more so, the big sized billboards are meant to attract the attention of the commuting audience which mainly consists of drivers, bikers, motorists, and pedestrians.

However, as much as it sounds appealing with many advantages, there are also some limitations to the billboard outdoor advertising.

Continue reading to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of billboard before you can decide and plan your outdoor campaign in a meticulous manner!

7 Advantages of Billboard Advertising

1. Large Audience
It is safe to say that no other form of advertising can reach a wider range of audience like billboard ads does. With a large number of audience you’ll be receiving, it is important for you to make you ads highly visible with;

• Contrasting yet appealing colors
• Big and readable fonts

2. Affordable
While many thought that billboard advertising is costly, it actually costs 80% less than television advertising. With its ability to achieve higher results compared to other forms of advertising, billboard advertising actually gives business owners a great opportunity to upsell their products. 

3. High Brand Exposure
Attracting a large number of audience to see your ads also means a high exposure to your brand. The main aim with brand exposure or branding is to show off who you are as a people. 

4. Memorable
Often filled with attractive images and simple messages, billboard ads stand out for its high memorability rate. This is because messages on the big billboard are often simple but impactful.

5. Gain Trust
Compared to digital or online advertisement, a study by Nielsen has reported that people tend to trust brands that use traditional channels for promotion. This is because many are now aware of how easily false information can be spread online.

Thus, by going outdoors on a printed billboard, it convinces people to trust your brand as you boldly expose your brand to the ‘real world’.

6. Higher Sales Conversion
At least 32% visited the retailer they saw on a billboard later that week.

This proves that outdoor ads work! This is also because 68% of billboard’s viewers frequently or sometimes make their shopping decisions while in the car. Thus, as they see your ads on billboards, it might influence them to decide and buy immediately.

7. Reduce Workload
As long as you do your billboard right, your ads will definitely attract a huge number of audience without you having to work hard to reach out to each and every group of your intended target audience through different channels of marketing. 

4 Disadvantages of Billboard Advertising

1. Limited Words
Even though it's big, you should only include short, simple but impactful words to ensure the effectiveness of your billboard. 
This is because billboard’s audience are often on the move, thus there is only limited time for them to digest the message on your billboard.

2. Harsh Weather Limit Visibility
The conditions of the weather may also affect the visibility of your billboard. For example, a heavy rain may limit the visibility of your billboard ad as people tend to focus more on the road instead of looking at things in their surroundings.

3. Vandalization
If your billboard location is near to pedestrians, there is a vandalization risk to your billboard. This will further affect the visibility of your ad as important details might be covered by scribbles or anything inappropriate.

4. Static Location
The big billboard can’t move! The location of your billboard won’t change thus there is a high chance that people commuting on the same route every day will repetitively see the same ad.

However, if your ad is placed in a strategic location such as highways, a higher number of audiences from different groups of demographic may see your ad as users of highways are usually more broad.