Marketing and advertising rely heavily on proven strategies. It is essential that the correct demographic is targeted in a way that the people who form this category can relate to the advertisement and be enticed by it. Masses of research studies have been conducted on the science of different media and the strategies to employ in order to increase effectiveness. When it comes to billboard advertising, a variety of popular strategies are employed. These include the following:
- Comparative advertising: Typically used to compare specific characteristics of a brand to the competition (without using names of brands), this type of advertising shows how a brand performs against others. It is usually employed by follower brands wanting to gain a bigger market share.
- Inoculate advertising: The goal here is to introduce the potential customer to a campaign in small doses over time so that when the full campaign is launched the audience is much more receptive to the brand and its message.
- Refutational advertising: This type of advertising is not used very often because it presents possible legislative issues. It states claims made by the competition and then refutes these claims, and redirect focus to the benefits of the advertising brand. When legislation doesn’t apply, this can be a very effective billboard advertising strategy.
- Endorsed advertising: Endorsements are very popular and effective. A famous or well-liked celebrity, expert or public figure act as a brand ambassador and testifies publicly to the effectiveness of the brand and the reasons others should choose to use this product or service. It lends credibility to the brand and can quite effectively increase market share.
- Distraction advertising: This approach aims to distract the attention of the audience with clever design, music, artwork, colour, moving imagery or text. This distraction makes the billboard hard to ignore and therefore gains a larger audience. This strategy works particularly well with digital billboards.
- Unique selling point: The brand shows the audience what makes it different (and more effective) than competitive brands on the market and emphasises the benefits of the brand. This means that the brand must have a unique characteristic that other brands do not possess, and the focus is shifted specifically to this unique selling point. The aim is to increase sales, and the unique selling point must be persuasive or important enough to entice the desired audience to invest in the brand.
For more information about effective billboard advertising, contact our team at Face First Media!
