Analyzing the Effectiveness of Billboard Ad Campaigns

In the fast-paced and ever-changing world, businesses have access to a variety of methods to advertise their products and services. From innovative digital approaches to traditional printed materials, the opportunities are endless. Billboard advertising is a part of traditional advertising that will never be old news. It still is and will continue to be a powerful marketing tool to level up the advertising game across industries. 

In today’s blog post, you will explore everything you wanted to know about billboard advertising: its benefits, how to deliver an outstanding ad as well as core billboard advertisement examples that will inspire you to launch your next campaign. 

The power of creative billboard advertising

A billboard campaign has a lot of potential and can be a key component of a comprehensive marketing strategy enhancing it with a wide range of benefits. To maximize its effectiveness, it should be strategically planned and integrated along with other advertising tactics to reach your business goals. Here are some of the core advantages of billboard advertising that make this medium highly appreciated by businesses worldwide. 

High visibility and impact

Usually, billboards are placed in high-traffic zones to make sure a large number of people including drivers and pedestrians see the advertisement. The higher the ad viewability is, the higher the impact and the better the campaign outcomes are. 

Broad audience reach

Continuing the previous point, with the high visibility of the billboard, marketers can increase the audience reach and speak to a wide and diverse demographic, thus opening more business opportunities. 

Potential for creative expression

Billboard ads nurture creativity and allow advertisers to ideate and implement a variety of eye-catching designs and compelling slogans to create a strong impression and wow the audience.

Local targeting

It’s a perfect way to target the local audience, thus it’s an excellent marketing approach for local businesses to expand their reach and attract new clients to their products or services. 

Brand awareness weapon 

As billboards can be placed in multiple locations, when seen repeatedly, they can significantly raise brand awareness and make people recognize a certain business during future encounters. 

Truth be told, billboard advertising is also associated with some slight challenges as well. They are not to be compared with their immense potential though. Nevertheless, you should be aware of the possible bottlenecks related to this advertising approach. 

Short attention span 

The main trick with billboard advertising ideas is that you need to make sure to capture the viewer's attention quickly. It’s imperative to make your billboard short and sweeping, otherwise, your ad is doomed.

Competition

Keep in mind that you will have to compete with other outdoor advertisements. There are plenty of popular billboard ads, especially in very dynamic zones of a city which makes it more difficult to stand out and grab people’s attention. 

High initial cost

To launch your billboard campaign, some substantial investment is required. It’s necessary to pay upfront not only for printing advertising but also for the billboard space itself. 

Absence of specific targeting

Unlike digital advertising, billboards cannot be targeted for the desired audience. The main drawback is that not all people can view the advertisement and not all of them belong to your specific demographics thus causing potential budget wastage. 

Criteria for standout billboard advertisement

In the era when advertising rules the world and people become more and more sophisticated with their choices, it’s extremely challenging to come up with an ad campaign that speaks to the audience and compels them to action. 

Now that you are aware of the immense potential of billboard advertising, it’s time to move on and see what makes good billboard ads that easily grab people’s attention. Down below, you will find top criteria that are paramount if you want to run a successful billboard campaign. 

Clarity and simplicity

So what makes a successful billboard? First things first, make it as simple and clear as possible. It applies to both design and messaging. People will view your ad for just a matter of seconds so keep it short and sweet, to create a powerful impression that lasts and doesn't leave indifferent. On top of that, your message should be straightforward, concise, and very clear without leaving any room for doubt. 

Creativity and visual appeal

Again, taking into account the short attention span of people passing/driving by your future billboard, it’s pivotal to channel all your creative ideas into the campaign. Use bold colors, high contrast, readable fonts, and play with the wording — let your leap of imagination take over your conventional approach. 

Another piece of advice is to introduce some brand elements that will create connections with your audience and raise brand awareness. Use your brand colors, logos, or anything that will remind people of your business. 

In the case of billboard advertising, the stakes are really high: it’s all or nothing. Remember that creativity is highly welcome but take into account that it should still be very transparent and easy to understand (back to the previous point).

Relevance

To come up with an impactful billboard you need to make it relevant to the audience. Yes, it's true that the audience viewing the billboard will be very wide. Nevertheless, making the ad relevant and resonating with people is a challenge you should face to achieve successful outcomes. 

Think of ways to make your ad relevant to different demographics. Tailor the message according to the audience's interests, and needs, and take the context into account. Relevance is key to making your campaign memorable while increasing engagement, retaining attention, and increasing ROI as a result. 

In addition, don’t forget to take care of the strategic ad placement in high-traffic areas to maximize the ad exposure. Make sure the ad is relevant to the zone where it will be displayed.

Strong call to action

Whether your advertisement is digital or printed, the same rule applies — always introduce a strong CTA. What is the end purpose of the billboard ad? To follow your social media, use the promotion code, buy products with discounts, or recommend the service to a friend? 

Whatever your objective is, you should come up with a strong call to action that will make people want to interact further with your business and complete an action you want. Make all your messages including a CTA to be emotionally resonant, compelling, and direct as it will increase the conversion rate. 

Somehow you need to drive traffic to your website or social media. So make it easier for people by including contact information, QR code, or website URL that is short and easy to remember.
Now, let’s move on to the most engaging billboard ads examples to use as a reference for your future campaign. 

4 Best billboard advertising examples of 2024

Once you know what makes a great billboard ad, we should move on to the most famous billboard advertisements that will create a sense of direction for your future campaign. Let’s dive in! 

Example #1 

Description

Samsung has found a creative approach to advertising its new flip smartphone. It’s a new generation of foldable phones, and the company presented it in a very unconventional way. 

Visual analysis

The minimalist design is eye-catching thanks to bright colors and unconventional design. The girl stretching highlights that the new phone is as flexible. There is a brand logo that will make people easily recognize it. 

Effectiveness

As you can see, there is the name of the model as well as a hashtag that motivates people to engage with the brand via social media and create some buzz around its emergence. As a result, they will have higher conversions, and more people will explore the new smartphone without effort. 

Takeaways

The company has followed the main principles of great billboard advertising we described above. Their ad is minimalist, catchy, straightforward, and memorable. The hashtags leave no other choice but to engage with the brand and move through the marketing funnel. 

Example #2

Description

The recent billboard ad of Ikea designated for their new store's grand opening. Very simple but the fuss about this ad is incomparable. 

Visual analysis

Well, it’s as simple as possible. The billboard is nothing else than a famous Ikea shopping bag. They used their brand colors so there is no chance people confuse it with something else. 

Effectiveness

The brand is recognizable and doesn’t need an additional introduction. This billboard makes it crystal clear what the ad is all about. 

Takeaways

Only some companies can implement this approach. You need to be a worldwide renowned brand to do the same trick as Ikea did. Until then, apply their simplicity but add some captivating messages so people start to create connections with your company. 

Example #3

Description

Those who want or already started learning a new language definitely know about Duolingo. And if no, after this ad they definitely do. And it's one of the best billboard ad examples. 

Visual analysis

Duolingo has applied its brand colors and its mascot, an owl, making it very easy to recognize. Their messaging is sharp and to the point. In combination with the visual design, they wowed the audience.  

Effectiveness

The company placed their billboard advertisement in a very high-traffic place, in the streets of New York, which is not just full of people but full of tourists from all over the world. Therefore, they cover the large audience that can be potentially interested in using their app. 

Takeaways

This ad is a great example of how you should use your branding along with the strategic placement of an ad in order to conquer a big audience. 

Example #4

Description

When sustainability was at its peak, Nuud created a striking advertisement encouraging people passing by to choose their plant-based brand instead of competitors using plastic to make their gums. 

Visual analysis

Very straightforward and to the point. They not only used their brand colors and gum design but also used the hint of their competitor as an opposition to their plant-based more sustainable and healthy gum option. 

Effectiveness

Most people use gum daily, that's why their advertisement is relevant for a large audience and can resonate with people who care about their health. It speaks to the emotions as well as to the common sense of the people. 

Takeaways

We recommend getting inspired by the bold decision the advertisers took. Vivid colors, and engaging and resonating messaging, all created strong lasting impressions. 

Consider SmartyAds your trusted partner 

Billboard advertising is very effective and can be transformative for businesses. However, it has its pros and cons and cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution. If you want to experiment and enrich your advertising effort but are not quite ready to invest in billboard advertising, we have a solution for you. 

Although we cannot help you with the physical billboard ad, SmartyAds has an even better option. Did you hear about DOOH? DOOH or digital out-of-home advertising is a great and modern alternative to billboards that is a game-changer in the advertising landscape. Basically, it’s the digital version of a printed billboard as it’s displayed on digital panels, for instance, in shopping malls or on the streets. Therefore, they don’t require printing, making this option faster, risk-free, more budget-friendly, and more easy-to-implement. 

Programmatic is the most suitable environment to launch your future DOOH ad campaign as it brings a lot of advantages. First of all, you will be able to reach broad audiences with powerful automation. RTB enables you to connect with the global pool of viewers significantly expanding your reach. Moreover, advanced targeting options available in programmatic enable advertisers to select a precise audience that matches the desired business criteria instead of showing it to a mass audience like in the case of billboards. 

Wondering how to launch your DOOH campaign? It can be easily done with SmartyAds DSP. It’s an all-in-one solution for advertisers looking to take their business to a whole new level. With our DSP, you can effortlessly create, target, and launch DOOH ad campaigns as well as effectively manage and analyze them through the single-view dashboard. Starting a new ad campaign has never been easier. The platform supports a variety of formats, so why limit yourself to DOOH if you can also experiment with display, video, audio, and other ad formats that will connect you with the target audience and drive more revenue? 

Final words

As you can see, billboard advertising still holds ground in our digital age and offers a wide range of benefits to businesses. To enhance your strategy and drive substantial growth, we recommend you combine billboards with other digital advertising approaches that will enable you to achieve better results. 

Creative billboard ads have the immense power to resonate with the target audience, drive attention, and leave memorable impressions that will lead to increased ROI. Make sure to implement our best practices for billboard advertising while aligning them with your business values, vision, and objectives. 

Get started with SmartyAds DSP today — and connect with a large audience through meaningful advertising!