Designing a billboard can be hard work, especially if you don’t know what your goal is. You need to be able to strike a balance between adhering to universally understood billboard design best practices, and being creative, eye-catching, and authentic to your brand.
At bMedia, we have decades of experience designing eye-catching and high-performing billboards in Puerto Rico. We use high-level advanced analytics to create and subsequently monitor your business’s ideal billboard advertising campaign. Because of our proven results, we are often regarded as Puerto Rico’s top billboard advertising company.
Why Advertise with Billboards?
Before we take you through our tried and true billboard design tips, you’re probably wondering if billboards and other OOH advertising mediums are still worth it. In this age, practically everyone is glued to their smartphone, tv, or laptop 24/7. Does this mean that online ads are the best?
There are a few different reasons why billboards, and outdoor advertising in general, are still an effective advertising medium in 2021.
Outdoor advertising is more noticeable.
Online advertising can be frustrating since so many consumers have ad-blockers in place. Those that don’t are bombarded with so many ads that none really stand out. However, billboard ads don’t have these problems, as they’re basically unblockable.
Outdoor advertising is more accepted by consumers.
Consumers are generally pretty wary of social media ads, especially after educating themselves on the manipulative tricks that many online advertisers use on them. Billboards, on the other hand, are a long-standing accepted form of advertising that isn’t subject to any ethical issues, like social media and other online ads can be.
Outdoor advertising can benefit other advertising campaigns.
People tend to be more perceptive of their surroundings outside of the home. They can take in your advertisements, even if they’re not consciously aware of it. This effect can boost your other advertising campaigns.
According to research from Ocean Neuroscience, consumers were 48% more likely to engage with a mobile ad when exposed to the same out-of-home advertisement first.
Billboards help with brand building and recall.
Outdoor advertising has shown to be very effective in building brand awareness and brand image. Researchers think that this has to do with the fact that people tend to be more perceptive of their surroundings outside of the home.
This type of advertising can be very cost-effective.
Another key advantage of outdoor advertising, especially for companies with limited marketing budgets, is its cost-effectiveness. In the current marketing environment, outdoor advertising is often cheaper than print or digital advertising. Additionally, outdoor advertising is more long-term than print or digital ads, which often require repeated payments to carry out campaigns. Paying to have an advertisement on a billboard for a month can be a much better use of funds than repeatedly paying for a commercial campaign.
Billboard Design Best Practices
With our decades of experience at bMedia, we’ve compiled a list of billboard design best practices that hold true across all businesses and industries. Note how all of our billboard design tips allow for a lot of flexibility, which is critical to enabling your brand to share its own unique vision.
1. Keep it simple.
Use fewer than 7 words and fewer than 3 visual elements. Billboards are made to be quick bursts of essential information. Making it more complicated than above will dilute the message your brand is trying to send.
2. Use borders and cropping properly.
Making an object larger than life will turn heads. Leverage size, cropping, and borders to help make your billboard eye-catching.
3. Be intentional with colors and contrast.
Bright colors and sharp contrasts make for an easily digestible billboard that’s also eye-catching.
4. Leverage key locations and seasons.
You wouldn’t want to advertise your new holiday line of sweaters in the middle of April. At the same time, you also want to make sure the location of your advertisement matches your target demographic. You’ll want to advertise in different places if you sell luxury goods vs if you sell more affordable, discounted goods. Ensure that you’re getting the right information to the right people at the right time.
5. Be careful with fonts.
The most critical part of proper use of fonts is to ensure your billboard is readable from various distances. You don’t want your font size too big or too small, and you definitely want to stick to simple, easily discernible fonts. Don’t overly condense text, unevenly weight fonts, or make the font too thick or thin! Simplicity and readability are key.
Examples of Effective Billboards
As you may have picked up by now, there’s no one-size-fits-all billboard design. Even when following our billboard design tips, you will see that there’s plenty of room to be creative and unique. As such, there are many different examples of effective billboards that can turn heads and attract customers.
One company that’s done a great job with its billboard advertising is Apple. Even though it’s one of the world’s leading technology companies, Apple frequently uses billboards and other traditional forms of advertising. In 2015, Apple launched its “Shot on iPhone” campaign. The campaign offered iPhone users the opportunity to capture images on their phones that would then be used on billboards, commercials, and other ads. Apple’s Shot on iPhone campaign displays the importance of engaging consumers and being thoughtful with image selection. These billboards were remarkably simple, yet remarkably effective.
Another fantastic billboard example was a Formula Toothpaste billboard in Indonesia. This remarkably creative advertisement shows a man whose teeth are so strong that he is literally ripping the billboard off of its supporting structure. This billboard is a wonderful example of using creativity to stand out. Once again, it’s a clean, simple image that effectively communicates Formula’s product and value while simultaneously being creative.
bMedia: Puerto Rico’s Premier Outdoor Advertising Firm
If you are advertising on the island of Puerto Rico, there is no better company to work with than bMedia. We have hundreds of billboards in strategic locations island-wide to ensure that you can connect your billboard to your consumers. We utilize advanced analytics to measure and optimize billboard engagement, providing your business with maximum value.
bMedia are Puerto Rico’s leaders in OOH media and advertising. We will work with you to ensure your advertisements are seen and remembered. Contact us today!
787 792 4113
