10 Steps To Making A Great Billboard Ad

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From the word go, designing a billboard ad can be a long and stressful task. There are so many factors to consider including how much information you should include, what style you should go for, fonts, images and even how to decide what target audience you're trying to reach.
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From the word go, designing a billboard ad can be a long and stressful task. There are so many factors to consider including how much information you should include, what style you should go for, fonts, images and even how to decide what target audience you’re trying to reach.

With these points in mind, here is our ten stage checklist to ensure you are heading in the right direction when creating your billboard advertisement. According to the study, there are six elements in successful billboard advertising campaign but there is a few more.

 

Type of Billboard

The first step in creating a billboard ad is to decide what kind of billboard you are going to be using.

Mcdonalds Billboard

There is a wide range of solutions on offer from digital billboards, traditional paper billboards, billboards that can be seen on the back of a van or even inflatable platforms that can be set up in public spaces.

 

Billboard Design – Colour

It doesn’t matter whether you’re designing the text or the images of your billboard, you want the image to stand out.

Billboard Colours

This means using bright, vibrant colours that catch the attention of your audience and engages them in your advertisement.

 

Billboard Design – Slogans

The majority of your audience will only look at your billboard for 5-10 seconds maximum as they drive past. This means you need to invent or invest in a slogan for your billboard that catches their attention and sticks in their mind. These slogans are one of the most important aspects of billboard advertising and it’s highly recommended that you use 7 words or less.

Subway billboard

A great tool for checking the word count of your written content is Easy Word Count. Use this when brainstorming ideas for slogans and it will allow you to easier keep track of how many words you have used, enabling you to make the most of the space you have.

 

Billboard Design – Images

By including an attention grabbing, interesting or otherwise familiar image on your billboard ad, not only will you draw the attention of passers, you will also help to increase awareness of your brand, service or product and help to drill awareness into the minds of your audience.

Billboard with good imagery

This reinforces the importance of using creative imagery to enable your brand to start out from the competition and not fall for the typical trap of just ‘blending in with the crowd’.

 

Billboard Design – Content

It’s important to note that the contact or call to action information is also as clear and as catchy as the message and advertisement itself. This means that phone numbers or websites should be easily noticeable and catchy enough for someone who is driving to remember later on in the day.

 

Location

This is the most important element when it comes to billboard promotion. The location of your advert is absolutely key and is always the defining factor to whether a project is successful or not. Research your target audience and brainstorm locations in which you can best target the largest volumes of these people.

For example, if you’re a business selling a new sports-related drink, ideal advertisement spaces would be near gyms, football stadiums and other sports-related areas.

 

Purpose

When designing your advert, always remember the purpose of your advert in every decision you make. It doesn’t matter whether you’re promoting a specific product or service, increasing awareness in your business or trying to promote a call to action such as getting the public to sign up to your social media sites or another business related channel.

By placing this purpose at the forefront of your team’s minds, you’ll be able to make the best decisions when it comes to making that purpose stick with your target audience.

 

Simplicity

The primary location of billboards is on the side of the roads. This means that people in vehicles will be your main audience and the majority of them will be travelling past your advertisement at speed.

Billboard Advertising

This means you’ve got to keep your design simple and to the point. Minimal words, big, attention-grabbing images and attractive colours are all good starting points when designing the perfect ad.

 

Refine

As with anything in the business world, the art of designing a billboard ad is a tricky one to master and it’s very rare that you’ll get it right first time. This means that you should always look for ways to improve your design to make it as effective as it can possibly be.

Try and shorten or reword your slogans. Make your image larger or more defined so it grabs more attention. Change the fonts of your contact details so they are one of the key elements. As you would when designing a product, streamline and refine your advert so it’s operating to its maximum potential.

A great tool for refining aspects of your billboard ad is Paper Fellows. This online community is full of writers and training writers that can provide vital feedback on your written content, allowing you to refine your wording and make the most of your available space.

 

Be Smart

Billboards are an extremely proven method of advertising that has worked time and time again and is an effective tool in any marketing campaign. Always remember when designing your board that anybody can look at it and everyone will have their own opinions. Be smart and clever with your designs ensuring you won’t cause offence and minimise the amount of negative feedback you may receive.

Book your billboard today.
Book your billboard today.

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