How to Grab an Audience’s Attention With Mobile Billboards

In the age of smartphones and social media, any information that we want to see is just a swipe away. While this is beneficial for customers, businesses who want to get noticed online may find that their advertising campaigns are getting lost among countless competitors or hidden by an ever-increasing amount of ad blockers. While your business needs to have a digital marketing campaign, sometimes it’s better to get back to the classics. Mobile billboards have been around for years, but they continue to generate positive ROIs for companies that are looking to reach a broader audience.

Keep reading to understand some of the great benefits of mobile billboards for your advertising campaign.

Reach a Greater Audience

Upon first impression, digital marketing may seem like it reaches significantly more people than a mobile billboard would. After all, a mobile billboard is limited to the city of the car or truck that displays it. Meanwhile, an online advertisement can reach people at all ends of the world.

However, anyone viewing an advertisement on the internet can easily keep scrolling. They may not even register the message that your company took months to develop. Someone who is handed a print advertisement may crumple it up and throw it away without even looking at it.

A driver who hears a radio advertisement will probably just switch the station.

Meanwhile, if a pedestrian waits at a stoplight and sees your mobile billboard affixed to a bus a few feet away, he’s not going to walk away from it. Because of sheer proximity, he will have to read your advertisement.

The same goes for sitting in traffic or driving your car. How many times have you passed a slow truck on the highway, only to notice the mobile billboard design on the side of the truck? Maybe you commented to the person in the passenger seat about it.

Even if you didn’t like it, you’re still giving the advertisement more attention than you would to one presented on a different channel.

Reach a More Relevant Audience

Mobile billboard advertising is great for reaching a greater audience. It’s also beneficial for reaching a more relevant audience. This is especially true for local businesses that want to attract a nearby customer base.

You can strategize where and when to use your mobile billboard to reach the audiences that you want. For example, if you’re looking to attract 9-to-5 workers, have your mobile billboard on the highway during morning and evening rush hour.

If you want to attract students, take your mobile advertisement to a space they commonly visit. If you want to send a message to a competitor, drive your mobile advertisement near their store and stop at places nearby.

Let’s say that you want to target members who are attending a particular event or conference. Place your mobile advertisement on the side of the public transportation used for that event, and the majority of those people will see it. Even placing a mobile advertisement on a taxi that frequents certain areas can make a difference for that population.

Higher Recall Rate

Perhaps because it’s much harder to look away from a mobile advertisement than it is to ignore a digital or print one, mobile billboards have a much higher recall rate on viewers. Whether they mean to or not, pretty much all mobile billboard viewers remember the message that they see from a mobile advertisement.

97% of people who view a mobile billboard remember it, compared to only 58% with digital advertising. This means that taking part of the budget that you planned to spend on mobile ads to use on mobile billboards instead could be much more lucrative for your ROIs.

You don’t have to ditch your digital marketing campaign entirely, though. Combine advertising on mobile billboards with other campaigns like Facebook ads or SEO marketing, and you may be even more memorable.

For instance, you can put a life-size QR code on your mobile advertisement that takes customers to an exclusive discount code on one of your social media pages. Or you can design a Facebook ad campaign that references the advertisement, drawing viewers in and encouraging those who haven’t seen it yet to keep their eyes open around their city.

Effective for Every Budget

Speaking of budgets, mobile billboards give you the freedom to design an advertising campaign that works for your company’s budget. Unlike using other marketing channels, even creating a small mobile billboard campaign can generate returns.

Even funding one mobile billboard can be effective, as trucks and cars drive miles and miles every day. If you’re in a city, imagine all of the people who would see a single mobile billboard as they’re crossing the street. And if you want to ramp up your efforts, simply design more mobile billboards.

You can also upgrade your design or keep it simple based on your budget. If you want a less costly campaign, use just a few words and a simple image. If you’re looking to spend more, create different designs that you can place on multiple vehicles.

Mobile billboards also possess the ability to integrate with digital designs, a factor that also changes based on budget. Companies looking to shock viewers may spend a significant part of their advertising budget designing a mobile billboard that uses cutting-edge digital technology. Meanwhile, businesses looking to experiment with the digital-mobile advertising mix can integrate a few digital features into their billboard without committing to a higher budget.

Plus, Linkedin found that setting up a mobile billboard campaign was less expensive than advertising using other popular methods. This includes:

• stationary billboards
• TV commercials
• Printed advertisements

So, if you find yourself tight on your budget after dedicating most of it to other marketing campaigns, you may find that a mobile billboard is just what you need.

Best Practices for Mobile Billboards

While mobile billboards generally provide great benefits to most businesses that use them, some will see better ROIs than others. Keep in mind these design tips for your mobile billboard so that you generate the best results possible.

Make the Visuals Simple

Many viewers will see your mobile advertisement when either you are in motion, they are, or both. This means that they’ll only be able to look at the image for a few seconds.

Keep the visuals as simple as possible. It’s not a great idea to put an infographic or a collage of pictures on the side of a moving vehicle. Instead, use one statement image with just a few lines of text. If you can, keep your mobile billboard to under seven words. Make sure that the text you use is easy to read and big enough for viewers to see.

Use Bold Colors

In print and graphic advertising, white space is great. You don’t want to overwhelm the viewer with color. When it comes to mobile advertising, though, the opposite is true.

Try not to leave any white space. Instead, create a design that uses bright background colors, bold images, and colorful text. Your mobile billboard is competing with all of the colors, signs, buildings, and people around it. Think about how your colors will stand out with all of these other sensory details.

Remember Bigger Doesn’t Mean Better

Just because something exists in larger-than-life-size doesn’t mean that it deserves to. Before you commit to your mobile billboard design, view it on a variety of channels and sizes to make sure the design is actually effective.

View it on your mobile browser, print it on a poster, and make it small enough to fit on a business card. If it still looks good, you probably have a winning concept. Do this with a few designs to see which one holds up the best across different perspectives.

Change up the Design

If you decide that you want to use multiple mobile billboards for your advertising campaign, change up the designs on each one. The overall message should still be the same, though. This will create brand recognition among viewers but continue to attract their attention because unique designs will spark their curiosity.

Design Your Mobile Billboard

Take your message to your customers using a mobile billboard advertising campaign. Along with having the ability to reach the audience you want, attract their attention, and stay within the confines of your budget, mobile billboards are great for another reason – they’re fun!

Contact us today to get started on your mobile billboard campaign. We’re excited to help you make your creative vision come to life!