January 2022 - Outdoor Advertising News

How to Promote Your Business in the Community

Posted on January 27, 2022 by admin

Promoting your business is essential if your goal is to stand out from your competitors and gain brand recognition in the community. Therefore, it’s important to take advantage of promotion opportunities in your area that will generate more customers and help solidify a trusted brand-consumer relationship in your community. In today’s digital age, promotion opportunities are endless. Businesses can spread the word about their product through search engines, social media channels, online directories, or even go with the ever-so-trusted billboard. To reach your target audience, you must make your brand visible on multiple platforms. Here are some different ways how to promote your business in the community.

Out-of-Home Advertising (OOH)

The first step to promoting your business is to make it visible. What better way to do it than out-of-home advertising (OOH). Outdoor advertising techniques include street signage, flyers, street teams, promotional events, and the beloved billboard.

The most trusted and original forms of OOH advertising are billboards. Billboards work because they are eye-catching and one of the most trusted forms of advertising for consumers. The majority of Puerto Ricans live in urban areas, and the great thing about billboards is that they can target local high-traffic areas where customers can interact with your campaign.

Today, we are seeing billboards evolve, boasting endless advertising potential for business. Digital billboards continue to rise in popularity because it allows users to directly engage with the advertisement, creating a memorable experience that highlights the product/ service you are offering.

To ensure a successful billboard campaign, we have determined some best practices to help maximize your promotion:

Keep it simple
Use borders and cropping appropriately
Be intentional with colors and contrast
Leverage key locations and seasons
Be careful of fonts

Establish a Social Media Presence

There are 2.32 million social media users in Puerto Rico as of January 2021, equivalent to 81.6% of the total population. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are great marketing tools because of the ability to engage with existing customers while reaching out to new customers. As of December 2020, Facebook received 80.3% of all social media site visits in Puerto Rico. Facebook advertising is all about getting your message on the right news feeds using targeting options. Facebook allows you to advertise using images, videos, and even polls for interactivity.

Additionally, social media can be used as a marketing tool by creating brand-specific content. Social media has provided us with a range of posting formats such as images, short video stories, live sessions, tutorials, and more. Creating content for these platforms is an opportunity for business owners to engage with consumers while promoting a specific product, service, or event.

Take Advantage of Search Engines Like Google

Being visible on Google is great for your brand, it puts you directly in front of consumers seeking solutions. Creating and verifying your Google Business profiles allows your business to show up on Google Maps and caters results to the searcher’s current location. Creating a Google My Business account is free and once verified, you can optimize your listing to show up as a high-ranking result for relevant searches using a good SEO strategy.

Be Involved in the Community

If you’re wondering how to promote your business in the community, a good place to start is to be active and attentive in your community. Businesses can sometimes be involved in the community for the wrong reasons and they show. Be sincere, be genuine. Don’t push your business if it’s not relevant or actually helpful. In one way or another, your business will come up and your community will support it after they’ve seen and felt your support.

Being involved in the community involves giving back to it. Donating to a local charity will bring your business closer to locals by making it more approachable. Consumers are likely to support your business if you’re associated with a charity or cause close to them. You can give back to your community in several ways including:

Annual contribution to charity
Special promotions with a percentage of sales going to a cause
Donate products or services to local schools or community centers

Get Online Customer Reviews

Set up profiles on platforms like Yelp and Tripadvisor to increase brand exposure. These platforms are used by locals and visitors when looking for local businesses. 92% of consumers purchase from a business after viewing it on Yelp. These platforms allow customers to leave reviews, making it easy for business owners to monitor and respond to any business inquiries. Make sure all business information, such as hours, phone number, address, and website are all accurate for potential customers.

Importance of a Good Marketing Strategy

A good marketing strategy is a blueprint that will determine how your message will reach out to your target audience. Your business might be making a profit, but to remain successful, you must consistently stay ahead of your competitors. The best way to ensure this is to have a good marketing strategy in place. Not only will good advertising give you an edge, but it can also give you insight into how your business is performing, allowing you to make the right business decisions.

Market research is crucial in creating your promotional strategy. Data and information collected from this research will allow you to develop your product or service to boost profit potential. It can also help you create a detailed organization plan, ensuring optimum utilization of resources to get the message in front of the target consumer.

How to Measure the ROI of Your Campaigns

Once you’ve learned how to promote your business in the community, it’s then important to know how to measure the effectiveness of your promotional efforts.

Marketing ROI involves attributing profit or revenue as a direct cause of marketing growth initiatives. To determine whether your advertising campaign is successful or not, there’s a straightforward formula you can use:

ROI = (Sales growth – organic sales growth – Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost

Marketing costs include but are not limited to:

Overhead and internal expenses
Agency fees
Media buys
Creative costs

ROI helps determine budget allocation for ongoing and future ad campaigns. It’s important to consistently evaluate KPIs such as reach, frequency, and impressions so you can determine if your marketing efforts are benefiting business growth and help you allocate your budget accordingly.

Strategize with bMedia Group

If you’re looking for ways to promote your business within your community, reach out to bMedia Group. We are Puerto Rico’s leading experts in outdoor and billboard advertising. Our professionals can help you strategize, execute and maximize the effectiveness of your promotional campaign and market research.

How Much Does a Billboard Cost?

Posted on January 27, 2022 by admin

They’ve been around for centuries and have proved valuable, but what is that worth? It’s the question we all want answers to – how much does a billboard cost? Well, that depends on a few things. Let us explain.

What is a Billboard?

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Miriam Webster Dictionary defines a billboard as a flat surface, panel, wall, or fence on which information is posted, specifically outdoors. They can be on giant sides of the road, on buses, in airports, or pretty much any other surface you can imagine. Also, there are now many great digital options to allow for ever-changing and interactive billboards.

How Prevalent are Billboards?

Some estimate that there are between 425,000 and 450,000 billboards dotting the landscape along American highways.

The effectiveness of billboards is not limited to the United States. bMedia Group contends that billboard advertising is an ideal way to promote products and services and build brand awareness in Puerto Rico.

Effectiveness of Billboard Advertising

In a Forbes study, almost twenty-five percent of those surveyed stated that they visited a store the same day that they saw a billboard advertising their products. And even when they didn’t, the brand often lodges in their mind to return next time they find themself considering that product or service.

Financial experts have calculated that the return on investment for billboard advertising is almost six dollars for every dollar spent.

It is little wonder that companies like Cracker Barrel spend almost half of their advertising dollars on outdoor advertising.

How Much Do Billboards Cost?

Exactly how much does it cost for billboard advertising? The answer to this question is not as simple as it sounds. Several factors determine the cost of a billboard. However, here is one example:

If you print an advertisement on a fourteen-foot by forty-eight-foot billboard, you will need seven hundred square feet of vinyl. The cost of the materials will run anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars.

Renting the advertising space for your ad will cost between five and eight hundred dollars a day. Prices vary with location, as well as how many days you want the ad space.

How Much Does It Cost to Get a Billboard?

The question of how much do billboards cost has multiple factors that go into the answer.

Location

As with real estate, the location of your billboard is crucial. Your aim is maximum viewing by your niche market.

How much does a billboard ad cost in cities around the US? In New York City, renting a billboard for a month will cost between $1800o and $12,000. In Los Angeles, the same space would cost between $1500 and $9,000. Chicago billboard space rents for between $1200 and $6,000. Philadelphia billboards cost between $1200 and $6,000 while in San Francisco, you can rent space for the same costs.

Size

It is not surprising that billboard costs increase with size. Studies show that the larger the advertisement, the more impressions it will make and the bigger the impact on the consumer. Larger billboards require more material and higher labor costs to erect them.

Rental Time/Campaign Duration

Writer Kelly Main points out that size, location, and duration all play a part in billboard costs. For example, billboard costs average between $750 and $1,500 per month in rural areas. In small to midsize cities, the costs rise to between $1, and $2,000. In larger cities where many more people will see them, the cost of billboards rises to between $14,000 and $15,000.

Billboard Type

Costs also vary with the type of billboard. There are three types:

Classic or print billboards are typically vinyl. They usually cost less than the other types.
Digital billboards are more dynamic advertisements than static billboards. They incorporate elements like a moving image. Digital billboards can be easily switched, based on your market and the time you want the bulletin board to appear each day. This can benefit you if you are targeting an off time, but raise costs if you want prime time.
Billboard advertisements on busses, cars, and other moving vehicles are called mobile billboards. They are more likely to be seen by your target audience because vehicles move while they showcase your brand, products, or special event.

Market or Demographics

Demographics consider the people who pass by the billboard. Your niche market considers the age, gender, socioeconomic level, education, and occupation of the people you are trying to attract with your advertising. If you are trying to attract a larger audience, higher-income individuals, or those with higher education, the cost will likely be higher.

Market Population

Generally speaking, the larger your target market, the higher the cost of billboard advertising.

How Much Does it Cost to Put a Billboard Up?

Aside from the costs associated with the physical structure of the billboard, there are also other costs relating to the creation and setup of a billboard. So, how much does a billboard cost?

Designing the Billboard

When it comes to the actual design of the billboard, it’s not something you want to take shortcuts on. You can pay premium fees for a billboard in a prime location, but if it looks low quality, it can actually hurt your brand.

There are essentially three aspects to a billboard ad: the concept or idea, the copy (the words), and the visual design.

Definitely consider hiring a specialist for all three of those areas. Many people think they can come up with an idea, write it, and then pay a graphic designer to whip up a beautiful image. That can work, but creating ads is a skilled craft (especially considering the strategy involved in outdoor media), so you may be surprised at the quality (and return on investment) you’ll get from expert help.

For any stage of the process, you essentially have three options:

Create it in-house: If you or someone at your company is creative, good with words, and skilled with visual design, this method keeps the most control. The downside is time, costs of doing it yourself, and it’s sometimes a disadvantage to not have an outside perspective.
Hire a freelancer: With the prevalence of sites like Upwork and Fiverr, this has never been easier. It can be fast and cost-effective, but the downside is it can take time to find a quality freelancer, and they aren’t always available when you need them.
Working with an agency: Many billboard companies keep the necessary staff to be able to design quality outdoor advertising. And considering it’s their business, they can be pretty good at it! There isn’t a huge downside here, just make sure you understand the pricing structure before getting started, as well as who has ownership over the designs they create.

The prices for these different options can vary significantly depending on your location and who you hire. A rough estimate is everything from $30 to hundreds per hour. In many cases, it will take striking a balance between quality and affordability.

Physical Cost of the Billboard

An obvious, but sometimes overlooked, cost with billboards are the actual materials. This really will only come into play if you’re building your own sign because any outdoor advertising agency should already have this factored into their cost structure (but, double-check!).

If you are building your own, you will have to consider the cost of the real estate, the building materials for the structure, the vinyl for the sign, the printing on the vinyl, and the construction and maintenance costs.

Maintenance and Other Recurring Costs

The costs don’t necessarily stop once the sign is installed. Depending on the local climate, you have to maintain the billboard to keep it looking fresh. Most billboard companies will have any fees built in the initial contract, and they usually cover the agreed-upon time period. Keep in mind that you may again have these costs if you decide to extend.

Billboard Variations

Rapidly changing technology has made it easier for billboard advertisers to capture the attention of those who drive or walk past. Interactive technology has transformed billboards from static images painted vinyl frames, walls, and vehicles. The Internet has made billboards increasingly smarter. These electronic billboards appear next to bus benches, shopping centers, or on walls in high traffic areas.

Once popular, digital billboards proved easy to ignore. On the other hand, new interactive billboards speak—literally and figuratively—to your niche market. “Smart” advertisements can dynamically react to their environment. They can send and receive data. These billboards can adapt to demographics, weather, and time of day. Billboards of the future will react to their environment and audience by changing the content based on information collected about those who view them.

Why Invest in Billboards?

If you want to get higher brand recognition, you have an event to publicize, or you want to drive more traffic to your website, billboards are an economical and effective tool.

Billboard advertising broadcasts your business, products, services, or an upcoming campaign to a wide audience.

People spend an average of 70% of their time outside their homes. Compared to other types of marketing, billboards give you maximum exposure.

How to Get Started

Whether you want to advertise your brand on billboards or you want to start a billboard advertising business, you have some decisions to make first.
What are your advertising goals?
Where is the best place to locate your billboard?
What is your market audience?
What message do you want to give them?
What types of billboards do you want to utilize?
What skills/information do you need?

Why Choose bMedia Group?

Now that you have the answer to the question how much does a billboard cost, you may be wondering about next steps or other additional information. Advertising experts like bMedia can break down billboards according to price, type, format, and message.

They can help you achieve your advertising goals using their experience in outdoor advertising and their technical skills. bMedia Group offers a wide variety of out-of-home media choices. They have one that will fit your goals and your budget. They have proven success at targeting any audience.

To discuss how bMedia Group can help you achieve your advertising goals, learn more about our billboard advertising.

Foods to Try in Puerto Rico

Posted on January 18, 2022 by admin

Our beautiful island of Puerto Rico boasts exquisite beaches and is home to a vibrant culture that includes upbeat music, people, and most importantly, exquisite cuisine. When visiting the island, prepare to fuel up on some of the most delicious dishes of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican cuisine is extremely diverse and is influenced by West African, Spanish, and Indigenous Taino ingredients and cooking styles. Popular ingredients in Puerto Rican cuisine include plantains, yucca, rice (Arroz), papaya, tropical fruits and vegetables, and more. Here are some of the best foods to try in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican Foods to Try

There are some traditional and popular foods that are loved by Puerto Ricans and visitors alike.

Some of the most authentic foods to try in Puerto Rico are as follows:

Mofongo

This Puerto Rican delight is made with green plantains, mashed garlic, and meat such as chicken, beef, fish, or small pieces of chicharron.

The plantain is chopped into pieces and fried, they are then crushed and molded into a bowl with a hollow inside where the meat is placed.

Mofongo can be found at various food trucks and restaurants and is considered one of the most popular Puerto Rican dishes.

Tostones

This dish, which is often served as an appetizer, is made with thinly sliced plantains coated in batter.

Tostones are deep-fried and flattened using a tostonera, which is a wooden press.

They are often served with a condiment made from ketchup, mayonnaise, garlic, and other spices, also known as mayo ketchup.

Tembleque

Tembleque is a dessert pudding made from coconut milk, sugar, salt, and cornstarch.

It has a smooth consistency and is often topped with cinnamon.

This dessert is enjoyed all year round but is a staple for the Christmas season.

Pasteles

Pasteles are a combination of vegetable dough and meat filling and can be made with either yucca or green plantain.

They are stuffed with meat, usually pork, but can also include vegetables and pumpkin.

They are wrapped in banana leaves and boiled until the leaves fall off. Once ready, they are seasoned with achiote and sofrito.

Ensalada de Pulpo

In English, this dish translates to octopus salad, and that’s exactly what it is.

Ensalada de Pulpo is made from chewy octopus and tart vinegar.

This dish is usually served with another Puerto Rican favorite, Tostones.

Rellenos de Papa

Rellenos de papa is a popular island appetizer best described as a savory mashed potato croquette stuffed with ground meat or picadillo and seasoned with sofrito.

Other ingredients, such as cheese, onions, and other vegetables can also be found in Rellenos de Papa.

Arroz con Gandules

This is probably one of the most popular foods to try in Puerto Rico.

This holy grail dish centers around rice and Gandules, or pigeon peas.

Gandules are used often in Caribbean cuisine and manifest as small, green, oval beans that contain a nutty flavor.

Arroz con Gandules or Puerto Rican rice is the island’s national dish along with roasted pork, or Pernil.

Pernil

Pernil is a slow-roasted pork leg or shoulder marinated with adobo mojado, which is a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper.

Pernil is most often served with Arroz con Gandules or sweet plantains and is usually enjoyed during the holidays.

Advertising in Puerto Rico

The marketing opportunities are endless in Puerto Rico; however, a unique and localized communication strategy is needed because of the island’s uniqueness.

Puerto Rico is a unique market because we see U.S influence mixed with Hispanic culture and the Spanish language.

The island is usually thought of as a middle ground between North America and South America, which is why businesses see lucrative opportunities on the island. However, it helps to know who your audience is – including what they eat.

Food Advertising

Food advertising, especially with the use of billboards, is aimed to reach a wide range of people and demographics.

In 2016, approximately $13.5 billion was spent on advertising by food companies.

In Puerto Rico, restaurants held 2.69% of the total spending on digital advertising in 2021.

Food companies invest in advertising such as billboards because it’s an effective way to increase return on investment (ROI).

Advertising can easily influence an individual’s food choices, so this is a great way to advertise your company’s new food product or to highlight your restaurant’s new menu item.

Billboards and OOH Advertising

Gone are the days of static billboards, today we see digital and smart billboards that are transforming the advertising market. If you’re looking for foods to try in Puerto Rico or you’re looking to influence certain foods to try, chances are that advertising will play a part.

Effective advertising can help you get ahead and stand out from the competition, and billboards are the easiest way to do that.

Here are some reasons why:

Outdoor advertising is more noticeable than mobile or television ads.
- Online advertising can be ineffective due to ad-blockers. Additionally, due to the increasingly high number of mobile and television ads we see each day, it can be challenging to make your advertisement stand out on these platforms.
Billboards are more accepted by consumers.
- Billboards have been around for a long time, and are generally accepted as a form of advertising. The ethical issues surrounding social media and online ads have made people wary.
Billboards help with brand building.
- OOH advertising can build brand awareness as people are most perceptive of their surroundings when outside of the home.
Billboards are cost-effective.
- Billboards are generally cheaper than print or online advertising. Additionally, they are more long-term than other forms of advertisement that often require businesses to make repeated payments.

bMedia and Your Business

BMedia is the leader in OOH advertising in Puerto Rico. We work with people from all types of industries, including the food industry, to help them reach their target audience and increase their return on investment.

With decades of experience erecting high-performing and eye-catching billboards, we aim to maximize your businesses using strategic locations and advanced analytics to optimize billboard engagement.

The billboard real estate in Puerto Rico is thriving, and we’re here to help you find the perfect spot for your advertisement.

Through best practices, we aim to help your business reach its maximum value.