In South Africa, outdoor digital billboards are becoming an increasingly popular form of advertising. With the rise of digital technology, more and more businesses are turning to digital billboards as a way to reach their target audience in a cost-effective and engaging way.
If you’re a South African business owner looking to diversify your marketing strategy, then it may be worth considering outdoor digital billboard advertising. In this blog, we’ll explore the technology and functionality of outdoor digital billboards and why they are a beneficial piece of your marketing strategy puzzle.
What Is A Digital Billboard & How Is It Different From Traditional Billboards?
Digital billboards, also known as electronic billboards or LED billboards, are a modern and dynamic form of outdoor advertising. They are similar to traditional billboards in that they are large signs that display messages to a wide audience, but they offer a number of competitive advantages over traditional billboards ‒ which we’ll dive into shortly.
How Do Outdoor Digital Billboards Work?
Digital billboards consist of a large LED screen, a control system, and require a power source. The LED screen is made up of thousands of individual light-emitting diodes, better known as “LEDs”, that can display a wide range of colors and brightness levels.
The control system, which is typically a computer or specialised digital signage player, manages the content displayed on the screen, including text, images, videos, and animations. The power source, which is usually an electrical grid or solar panels, keeps the digital billboard running.
Why Are Outdoor Digital Billboards A Better Option Than Traditional Billboards?
As we mentioned before, outdoor digital billboards have many competitive advantages over traditional billboards.
Dynamic Visuals: The advantages of digital billboards stem from their one unique selling point, being that the visuals on digital billboards are dynamic. This means that they display full-colour images and videos. This allows advertisers to create more engaging and dynamic messages that capture the viewers’ attention. Instead of there only being capacity for one static visual over a set period of time, advertisers now have the option to display multiple ads at different periods of the day, playing in a loop. As a result, there is much more room for experimentation.
Fantastic Capacity for A/B Testing: If you’re not familiar with A/B testing, this is a term that marketers use to explain a method whereby they try changing different aspects of a campaign to determine which “mix” produces the best results and return on investment.
Prior to digital billboards, marketers would have a very difficult time reporting whether their billboard strategy is actually working for them. Thanks to digital outdoor billboards, there is plenty of freedom to perform A/B testing by changing aspects such as colours, animations, wording, length, time played, and much more.
Advanced Integration With Digital Marketing Strategy: Another great benefit of digital billboards is their fantastic ability to integrate seamlessly with a business’s digital marketing strategy. There are many ways to do this, but as an example, you could engage the billboard viewers with QR codes.
A digital billboard for a clothing store might display a QR code that viewers can scan with their smartphones to access a special offer or promotion. Or a digital billboard for a restaurant might display a social media handle and encourage viewers to follow the restaurant on social media for special deals and promotions.
Ready To Get Started?
If you’re ready to take the leap and discover how outdoor digital billboard advertising can enhance your marketing strategy in South Africa, our team at Face First Media would be happy to help you get started. We will help you create an effective ad campaign that will reach your target audience and help grow your business. Chat with our team today to get started.
