Billboard advertising can be a little daunting for a lot of marketers. Many brands may be put off because they think billboard advertising belongs to bigger brands. They may view it as a higher risk project than other more measurable forms of advertising, or they may think it may be outside their budget.

In fact, billboard advertising can be a lot more affordable than people think. And there remain few quite so powerful means of getting your message across.

So how do you go about designing a billboard to get the attention that you are after? Here’s our top tips;

Keep it simple

As with all marketing campaigns, the trick with billboard design is to make the complex and difficult, look simple and easy. It can be even more tempting with billboards however to fill all of that space available with as many sales messages as possible. The trick with billboard design, however, is to make your sales message both stand out and be understood instantly. Whether your audience is pedestrians walking the streets, commuters on the train or drivers, you only have a few seconds to make the impact that you are after. 

Your message, therefore, needs to be concise and to the point. It needs to encapsulate exactly what you have to offer in as few words as possible. The images you choose to use should also tell the story of what you’re selling. You need to ensure that every available piece of space is working to trigger a response amongst your audience. 

Have fun

While your billboard design needs to be functional that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be fun. Adding humour or something a little different to your design will make your advertisement stand out.  As well as having an instantly recognisable message, add a little intrigue or creativity to your message. You will engage your audience and encourage them to spend more time viewing what you have to say. 

Be bold, be different

Your audience will appreciate you taking a risk. Simply telling them that you have a sale on is a good way to attract attention.  But, by being bold with your design or message and trying something a little different you can reap the reward of the element of surprise. We’re all subjected to hundreds of different sales messages each day, many of which are almost identical in approach. By doing something different you can stand out from the crowd and dictate your own terms. 

Be targeted

When we think of billboards we might not always think of targeted advertising, but we should. When planning your media buying you can also decide the geographical areas that you’d like your billboards to occupy. Understanding the typical traffic of these areas and the kinds of people that are going to see your billboard can really help you tailor your design and your messaging. If you have a store nearby to the billboard you might even want to tell passers-by how far away they are so they can stop by. 

At Kaizen Brand Evolution we are experts at getting your brand attention. Looking for adshels, billboards or backlit lightboxes?  We know how to help you make the most of out of home advertising to drive brand engagement and sales. To find out how we can help you can visit our billboard and adshel design page or get in touch via our contact form or by calling 028 9507 2007.