November 2021 - Outdoor Advertising News

Unique Billboard Designs

Posted on November 30, 2021 by admin

With the dawn of the internet, it’s amazing watching some of the most unique shares go viral. This has to be one of our favorite picks because it involves billboard advertising! Check out these truly unique billboard designs made out of snow! Some are dubbing it snow graffiti.

Have you ever been stuck in a snowstorm and started dreaming of warmer climates? You surely have if you’ve ever spent any significant amount of time in a colder area, as it’s a common problem that everyone complains about. Even though many people seek out tanning beds and other temporary solutions, they always daydream of warm sun and sandy beaches. But, have you ever considered that this might just be a great way to get the attention of your customers? You might not have the budget to send them to an exclusive beach, but what about planting the idea in their head? When images fail, nature speaks!

Billboard Design Best Practices

If you’re looking to create unique billboard designs, there are a few traits that you shouldn’t forget:

Keep it simple. Stick to one goal for your billboard and don’t distract from that. It’s easy to get carried away when thinking about innovative billboard designs, but too much going on will just confuse people.
Make it fast. Most viewers take in billboards quickly and look away. The most successful either cause a double take so the potential customer will look back, or stick in the back of their minds so they will think about it later on.
Have a main takeaway. You ideally want there to be one key message from your billboard. A new product you have, an upcoming sale, or even just a reminder that your business is around. Instead of combining messages, an alternative would be to have multiple billboards with the same theme but different messaging.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of billboard design best practices, but these points are key to successful campaigns.

A Whole New Meaning of “Cool Billboard Designs”

Mexico’s Board of Tourism was trying to attract cold people from their urban homes, and they wanted to motivate them to hop on a plane and come to support the Mexican economy. They took the concept of cool billboard designs to a whole new level when they found the perfect opportunity in the third most populated city in the US. They took advantage of the fact that citizens of Chicago hate the long and cold winters.

During a spring snowstorm, some artists took to the streets of the city with the goal of using frozen water to spread warm thoughts. They either packed the snow onto surfaces, or they shoveled it off. In both cases, they made it into a message of words that were easily read by viewers. They all discussed how warm it is in Mexico to try and inspire people to book a beach vacation to warm up their bones.

Four Noticeable Slogans

It was mostly text (not images), and the words weren’t random. They used four specific slogans that made these unique billboard designs amazing!

1) “Take your clothes off.”

2) “Beaches with sand this white.”

3) “Mexico: Always a warm Welcome.”

4) “Come melt under the sun.”

Snow Graffiti for Attention

One thing that makes this campaign stand out is how simple these unique billboard designs were when compared to many of the high-tech ads that have been turning heads lately. All it really took was a few guys with snow, shovels, and ladders. They needed something to put it on (or take it off of) and plenty of creativity. It didn’t need virtual reality, artificial intelligence, or any other technology that seems to belong in a science fiction story.

Playing to What People Want

Chicago is famous as being a place with cold and bitter winters, and that fact was absolutely necessary for this campaign. There are many cities that occasionally see snow, but a lot of them generally have temperatures that are much more comfortable. This could have physically been done in warmer places, but it wouldn’t have been as noticeable to the residents because they wouldn’t be bordering on the feelings of desperation for anything hot.

The Results Were Hot

This whole stunt was put on by Lapiz, which is a branch of the Leo Burnett Group. They were working with an area artist, NosE Lanariz, to actually create the messages, and this helped them connect with the local scene.

It’s been viewed as a great use of outdoor media in an innovative fashion, and it’s a nice example of how a low-budget campaign can still have very successful results.

Taking Advantage of Other Ads

There have been plenty of ads talking about the nice weather of Mexico. For example, just think about any commercial for Corona that you’ve ever seen. That means this campaign was benefitting from all of those. The image that the tourism board wanted to convey was already in the minds of customers, so it wasn’t really necessary to show it to them. All they had to do was trigger those thoughts, and once they were pulled out of the depths of frozen minds, they were now associated with the idea of taking a trip to Mexico.

Not Just Snow: Other Unique Billboard Designs

While we’ve been focused on this icy example, there are plenty of other cool billboard designs that take advantage of their surroundings.

Show Your Product With Innovative Billboard Designs

It’s hard to find a more iconic brand than Coca-Cola, but you would think there are only so many ways to put a drink on a billboard. Think again. They ran this clever campaign where giant straws left the top of the sign and interacted with the surrounding environment.

Everyone knows what a cold Coke tastes like, and seeing this automatically makes you taste the bubbles.

Nature Works With Simple Billboard Designs

There are situations where people think that billboards distract from the surrounding environment – whether that’s urban or deep in nature. An artist named Brian Kane decided to show how innovative yet simple billboard designs can actually highlight their surroundings. These digital billboards display different images depending on the time of day, but they always show a beautiful scene behind them. Sometimes trees, sometimes celestial bodies.

Cool Billboard Designs — Source: Today.com

This isn’t really a billboard you’d want your company to create since it doesn’t advertise anything, but it’s a great example of how to get noticed.

Taking Advantage of Digital Billboards

Now for an example where a digital billboard showcases a specific product. A lot of people use digital billboards the same way they would an ad online, but that can miss out on a huge opportunity!

Billboard Design Best Practices — Source: The One Club Awards

McDonald’s used this billboard where an Egg McMuffin mimicked the rising sun, and that really helps it stand out from other digital ads that don’t take advantage of its surroundings.

Breaking Out of Standard Media

Trying to get away from using standard media channels can be very challenging, but it can sometimes be far more successful than sticking to the same methods being used by everyone else – so it’s always worth thinking about. This strategy can have amazing results when you have such an opportunity as the Mexican Board of Tourism did in Chicago.

Even if you don’t have an idea this great, you can still think of innovative ways to use established forms of media. For example, billboards can take advantage of 3D solutions, or they can integrate some sort of technology.

Have You Made It Snow on Your Customers?

Being different and unique is a great way to get a customer’s attention. It’s made even better when it plays upon their desires to solve a problem, as it did in this case. However, don’t make it snow just because you can. If all you are doing is trying to be creative, you might attract attention, but it won’t necessarily increase your sales. So make sure that when you bring the snow, you drop it on the people who are actually ready to book a flight. If you want some feedback on your ideas, reach out to us. We love hearing your creative plans for unique billboard designs, and we’re happy to give advice!

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

Posted on November 28, 2021 by admin

To a certain extent, advertising can be a trial and error process. Not all marketing campaigns start out great, right off the bat. Most successful strategies are built on little errors businesses weed out over time by measuring advertising effectiveness.

What’s the Importance of Measuring Advertising Effectiveness?

Sure, you can equate a sudden influx of clients to your recently implemented marketing campaign, or a downturn in lead conversion to seasonal variables, but unless you have the metrics and cold hard statistics to prove it, you can never be sure how your strategy is performing.

When it comes to advertising your business, you need to know the real-world effects of every decision you make, as each of these decisions is costing you money. So, let’s take a look at the different ways of measuring advertising effectiveness, and what advertising metrics you should be using.

Advertising Performance Metrics

Before you can apply any advertising metrics to your campaign, you need to ensure that it is measurable, and this is done by setting time-sensitive, advert-specific goals.

Establishing Objectives

Objectives are everything when it comes to marketing. After all, if there is no goal to work towards, it’s impossible to measure success, as success becomes irrelevant – which isn’t the outlook you want to have if you’re trying to grow your business.

Once you’ve established the objective of an advertisement, you’ll know what metrics to apply to measure performance.

These are known as key performance indicators.

Deciding on Key Performance Indicators

You can think of KPIs as steps that must be taken to achieve your marketing objective.

For example, your overarching objective might be to drive sales of a particular product up 20% by next quarter. Therefore, a KPI to observe would be the number of visitors the product page receives after the release of the ad compared to the traffic it was logging beforehand.

Once you’ve established a quantifiable backdrop for your advertisements, there are literally hundreds of ways to track the performance of your advertising campaign and determine whether you’re pulling in an ROI. Let’s take a look at some of the more commonly used metrics.

Reach

Reach is quantified in different ways depending on the medium, but it always tells you the same thing. It simply refers to the total number of people exposed to your advert — the more, the merrier!

Frequency

Frequency is the number of times each individual sees your advert. Repetition plays a huge role in memory retention, so if each person sees your ad a few times, it’s definitely a good thing; however, too much exposure to the same advert will cause fatigue, and it will start to fade into the background.

Impressions

Impressions metrics are basically a combination of reach and frequency metrics. They measure the total number of times your advert has been seen, even if by the same people.

Cost Per Customer

How much does your advertisement cost when split between the customers it brings? If the cost per customer is less than the revenue they brought in, then your advert is, at the very least, not drawing a loss.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Similar to cost per customer, this metric measures how much the ad is costing you when divided across the clicks it has garnered.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

How many people are clicking through on one of your online advertisements? If the number is exceedingly low when compared to the overall reach of the ad, it’s underperforming.

Advertising Metrics: How Is the Efficacy of Out-of-Home Marketing Measured

With advancements in technology, thousands of metrics have been made available to the online digital marketer, which may leave you questioning the relevance of traditional outdoor advertising. How would you even go about measuring advertising effectiveness through the impact of a billboard or poster campaign?

Well, you’d be surprised how quantitative this area of the marketing industry is. In fact, as your outdoor ads are mostly going to direct viewers to engage with your brand online in some form or another, it means you can use a lot of the same technologies utilized by digital marketers, to assess your outdoor advertising effectiveness.

One Strategy at a Time

Firstly, to assess how well your outdoor advertising is doing, you need to stabilize all other marketing activities. If you see an increase in interest or revenue, you need to be able to say with confidence that the outdoor roll-out is responsible for the growth.

Traffic Data

Here at bMedia, we use a state-of-the-art car tracking system in all our billboard locations to give you an accurate estimate on the probable exposure of your advertisement.

Landing Page Tracking

Just because your adverts are out in the real world, doesn’t mean you can’t use computers to analyze their performance. By placing a unique URL on your advertisement, you can then use an online tracker to measure how many visitors the URL receives, just by viewing your out-of-home advertising.

Hashtags and Social Media Tracking

You can do a similar thing with hashtags. Assign a unique hashtag to your billboards, and monitor proliferation online across various social media platforms.

Promo Codes

The same principles apply to promo codes too. Let’s say that you’re a watch manufacturer, and you wanted to entice customers with a modest discount. You could print, “Use Promo Code WATCHTHISSPACE for 10% off” on just your billboards, then measure how many customers applied the code at checkout.

Keyword Tracking

It’s quite possible that people will see your advert, get the general gist, but miss the exact wording of a promo code or hashtag. They may then respond to your ad by searching your brand online alongside phrases such as “new deal”, “watch offer”, or “promotion”.

By keeping an eye out for those keywords in your online analytics, you’ll have a clearer picture of how many people your outdoor advertisement is influencing.

Customer Surveys

Don’t get us wrong – state-of-the-art analytics technology is great and all, but you could also just try asking your customers where they heard about your brand and what brought them to your site. Try this in your online contact forms, email marketing campaigns, or even social media.

Mobility Tracking

Another way you can drum up more of an idea about reach, frequency, and impressions is to measure the movement of journeys people make in vehicles or otherwise in a certain area. This can be done by monitoring the GPS location of willing survey participants or, perhaps, asking them to write and submit a travel diary.

Outdoor Advertising Effectiveness: Why Outdoor Advertising Is Essential to the Success of Your Business

As more and more of our lives are playing out in front of screens, we’ve seen a massive spike in the popularity of digital marketing, and while this is an effective means of reaching people, it’s not necessarily the best way to advertise to prospective clients/customers.

The constant barrage of online ads and lead acquisition emails we experience in our day-to-day lives is enough to drive anybody up the wall. Rather than enticing the viewer, they tend to cause irritation and feelings of distrust.

In response to this over-exposure to digital marketing mediums, the value of traditional outdoor marketing has skyrocketed, and bMedia is at the forefront of this surge in popularity.

When people see a bMedia billboard, they’re not scrolling past it at lightning speed or distracted by a million other bits of data, they’re focused on your advert and your advert alone, reading it slowly, weighing up each word, enjoying the visual accompaniment, making a mental note to investigate further once they get to where they’re going.

bMedia Can Help You Grow Your Business

Contact us today and gain access to over 500 high-exposure areas across the entire island of Puerto Rico, meaning that we can single-handedly optimize the reach of your outdoor advertising campaign.

Our intuitive billboard location map makes it incredibly easy to explore your options, but we do so much more than simply provide the space for your advertisements. Our crack team of marketing strategists with years of experience in the industry will help you build your campaign from the ground up to serve your specific business goals.

Do I Need a Passport to Visit Puerto Rico?

Posted on November 23, 2021 by admin

If you are an American citizen considering visiting Puerto Rico, then you might often find yourself wondering if you require a passport to visit this island. Do I need a passport to visit Puerto Rico is something that many people debate. But, if you are actually considering a trip to the island, then this is something that you actually need to know the answer to.

In this quick guide, we’ll be taking a look at why this is, and lots more that you should know before traveling to Puerto Rico.

Do I Need a Passport to Visit Puerto Rico?

As an American citizen, you will not need your passport in order to enter Puerto Rico.

This is because Puerto Rico is an American territory and not a separate country from the United States. So, if you are an American citizen you can travel freely to Puerto Rico without requiring a passport, including travel for business.

Do I need a passport to visit Puerto Rico as a Non-US Citizen? If you are not a US citizen, then you will be required to use your passport to travel to and from Puerto Rico.

Although Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean, it is actually an official U.S. Commonwealth. So, when you are traveling to Puerto Rico from the USA, it really is no different from traveling from a mainland state to Hawaii. The same principle applies to other US territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands.

So, if you are planning to travel to any of these islands, you also will not need a passport.

But, just because you do not need your passport doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take it with you. In order to board a flight from the USA to Puerto Rico, you will need to show photo identification.

This can be your driver’s license, but if you do not have one, or have misplaced it, your passport might be a better option.

What to Expect When Visiting Puerto Rico

If you are a US citizen, traveling to Puerto Rico is easy. Despite this, many US citizens haven’t actually visited the island.

So, what should you expect from Puerto Rico?

Well, the first thing that you should expect from Puerto Rico is beauty.

This island is breathtaking, and most residents refer to it as paradise. The island isn’t massive, but it is packed with lots of excellent things to do, for both tourists and business travelers. From beautiful beaches to breathtaking views and outstanding food and drinks, there is something for everyone in Puerto Rico.

As Puerto Rico is a US territory, you might expect it to be very similar to the USA. In some ways, Puerto Rico is very similar to the States that make up the USA, but there are also some pretty big differences.

Life in Puerto Rico moves at a different pace to life in many of the US States, especially the big cities. So as well as expecting breathtaking views, you should also expect a slower pace of life. After all, this is why Puerto Rico is such a popular destination for a weekend getaway.

Things you Need In Order to Travel to Puerto Rico

One of the main things that makes Puerto Rico appealing as a travel destination is how easy it is to travel there if you are a US citizen.

Can I Travel to Puerto Rico Without a Passport?

Do I need a passport to visit Puerto Rico?

As it is a US territory, you do not need your passport to travel there, which makes planning to travel a lot easier. This is also a massive help if you are planning to travel for business because it is one less thing that you have to worry about on your trip.

In reality, to travel to Puerto Rico, there really isn’t that much that you need to take with you if you are a US citizen. As it is a US territory, a lot of the things in Puerto Rico mirror the United States.

So, you do not have to worry about things such as currency and learning a new language when you plan on visiting, because the official languages are English and Spanish, and you can simply use US dollars.

You also do not have to worry about getting any additional vaccinations because the only vaccines required by the CDC to travel to Puerto Rico are routine vaccines that you already will have had.

Overall, Puerto Rico is a pretty safe travel destination, especially for solo travelers.

So, the only thing that you need to travel to Puerto Rico is a form of photo ID.

Why You Should Visit Puerto Rico

So, as you can see, there are lots of outstanding reasons why you need to visit Puerto Rico. It doesn’t have to be for a vacation, you could simply visit this beautiful island to take a break and really focus on your work and your business. While Puerto Rico makes an outstanding trip for leisure, the fact that it is a US territory also makes it convenient for business trips too.

To travel to Puerto Rico you do not need to worry about exchanging currency, you do not need to worry about learning any more than basic Spanish, and you don’t even have to worry about taking your passport.

Additionally, you can also rent a car or use apps like Uber in Puerto Rico easily because these companies work the same way in Puerto Rico as the rest of the USA, and your cell phone will also work exactly the same too.

So, as you can see, there are lots of reasons to visit Puerto Rico. Especially if you are planning a business trip.

Effective Billboard Advertising

Posted on November 16, 2021 by admin

Billboards are a great medium to use when you really want to get your message to your customers. Some people think they’re outdated in an increasingly digital world, but there’s a reason they’re still going strong. Everywhere from Times Square to Puerto Rico, they work! However, there are a few key factors worth noting that really contribute to effective billboard advertising.

Some say TV and radio advertising are losing out to streaming services. Others champion using online ads, but each channel there has a critic claiming no one uses that social network anymore. What’s undeniable is that people will still venture out into the world on a regular basis, and there’s no need to update their device in order to read a billboard.

The effort and detail put into everything behind the billboard will help maximize its message and effectiveness. In other words, the more you focus on the goals behind the ad, the audience, the design, and the location, the more optimized your billboard is for maximum effectiveness.

Here’s where to start your quest for effective billboard design:

Tips for Most Effective Billboard Advertising

To make sure your billboard advertising is reaching its full potential, there are a few things you’ll want to pay close attention to.

Follow these 7 guidelines:

Make sure you know your target audience
In most cases, simple is better than complex
Use clear messaging
Follow best practices for ease of reading
Always aim for a goal
Focus on one call to action
Never forget to use this to build your brand

This may seem like a lot of steps, but it really isn’t since many of them build on each other. Learn on to read how to best accomplish each one of these.

Define a Target

The first important aspect of creating effective billboard advertising is making sure that it’s targeting a specific group of viewers. Since such a wide variety of people will be exposed to it, it’s very tempting to try to advertise to everyone. Studies have shown that targeting a specific demographic using your billboard can often get the message across far more clearly than going after a broader group. Instead of a lot of people getting your message, it generally turns into no one hearing it.

When you decide on a target group, you’ll know who you’re talking to. Once you know exactly who’s going to be listening, you know how to craft your message in a way that they’ll hear it.

Keep It Simple

Too many words end up being too much information to remember. Don’t forget that people often see billboards when they’re driving or busy doing something else, so they don’t always have the chance to stop and read – even if they want to. Make sure you get your point across as quickly as possible.

A good general rule is to use a maximum of six words on your billboard, as this is about the most that people can quickly take in.

But, just because you can use six doesn’t mean that you have to. Using only one word can be great. Zero words can be amazing.

Make Sure People Understand You

The next step is to keep your billboard understandable. When you’re trying to sell something, you don’t want to show off in a way that strains the brain of your customer. If someone really has to stretch to understand what you’re saying, they might start feeling stupid. Once they associate your brand with that feeling, people aren’t really going to have a lot of motivation to give you their money.

But, if you make your billboard easy to understand, your customers will start to feel good about themselves. Suddenly, you’re the brand that they relate to, and that’s who they want to have in their life.

Make Sure People Can Read It

We’ve already covered why your billboard should only have a few words and why it should be easy to understand, but it’s also extremely important to make sure people can read it. By this, we mean to make sure the actual design can be taken in by the eyes of your customers.

Don’t use elaborate fonts that are difficult to make out. Don’t use colors that are so similar that they’re hard to tell apart. Make sure the billboard has lots of contrast between the different elements, but also make sure they’re colors that go well together.

Set a Goal

This is near the bottom of the list, but it’s still one of the most necessary parts of creating an effective billboard. It really should be done at the same time that you define your target. Make sure that you have a specific result that you hope for the sign to accomplish, or you’re just going to be creating a colorful banner.

Are you looking to create more brand awareness? Perhaps you’re marketing a specific product or service, for which you can track sales through the billboard campaign?

It doesn’t need to be a complicated or difficult goal.

Do you want to get more people in your store? That’s a great goal.

Do you want to make sure potential customers learn about a promotion? That’s another.

What about just making people interested in your brand? That’s one of the most common reasons for creating a billboard.

Define a Single Call-To-Action

What are you wanting your audience to do when they see your ad? Is there a phone number you want them to call? Maybe a website or social media channel you want them to visit? Is there a discount code you’d like them to enter? Don’t forget your contact info somewhere within the billboard advertisement, to make sure viewers don’t just see your ad – they engage with and respond to it.

Go With Brand Building

Now that we’re talking about your brand, that brings up a really good piece of advice. Think about using the billboard mostly to keep your brand in the eyes of your consumers. They’ll see your message every day on their way to work, but they don’t always have the chance to stop and read it. Or, they may not even have a need for your products or services at the moment – but the sign will still be there.

If your name has been melted into their brains during a morning commute every single day, they’ll take that into consideration when they encounter you in a shop. You’ll feel like a trusted friend who has always been there for them.

Don’t Be Intimidated By Overdone Effective Billboard Advertising Examples

If you do a search for “effective billboard advertising examples”, you’re likely going to come up with some pretty impressive results. You might find these amazing pieces of art to be inspiring, or you might be prepared to throw in the towel because you’ll never be able to think of an idea so great.

Take a deep breath and remember that out of millions of billboards, the internet will be happy to point out a few amazing success stories. These were developed by the top advertising agencies, and often had a bit of luck to really make them happen.

Just focus on the fact that the point of your billboard is to achieve your goals with your customers. Having an award-winning ad that will go viral online feels great, but it doesn’t contribute to your bottom line. Stick with the tips above, and you’ll be fine.

How to Buy Billboard Advertising

Now that you have more of an idea of how to do billboard advertising, you’re probably wondering the specifics of how to buy billboard advertising. Essentially there are two ways to go about it: building a billboard or renting space on one that already exists.

Pros of building a billboard:

You have more control over the billboard as a whole.
You don’t have to worry about the contract running out and not being able to renew.

Cons of building a billboard:

You need to either own or rent the land where it is placed (or the building it’s attached to).
You’re responsible for building and maintaining it.

Pros of renting an already existing billboard:

There is a lot less planning and commitment on your part, and the whole process can be significantly faster and easier.
If you decide the location isn’t working for you, you can move when the rental term is finished.

Cons of renting an already existing billboard:

Depending on the contract, the price or availability of the billboard could change in the future.
Some (but not all!) companies will place restrictions on what you can put on the billboard.

How bMedia Can Help With Effective Billboard Design

Now that you have all this new knowledge about billboards, why not put it to the test? Give us a call, we are the largest provider of outdoor media in Puerto Rico and can help you get started with creating effective billboard advertising. As we consider your audience, your message, and the size of the ad, we’ll make sure that your billboard ad is most effective in its location and performance.