Outdoor advertising, better known as Out-of-home (OOH), shares the same physical space as consumers and reaches them while they are outside their homes. Billboard advertising is a traditional format of OOH advertising but in recent years there has been significant growth in digital OOH (DOOH) which includes digital billboards.
Traditional and digital billboards offer their own unique benefits. Static billboards, or traditional billboards, as we know them, have been around for more than 100 years whilst digital billboards were introduced in the early 1990s but have since become one of the fastest growing forms of advertising worldwide.
Static billboards’ popularity has also increased over the years thanks to new printing technologies and creative solutions such as 3D technology. Static billboards offer 24/7 exposure to an advertisement. This is why static billboards remain a popular choice for advertisers seeing that their advertisement is the only one on the billboard for a long period of time.
Some of the other positive aspects of static billboards are that they provide high impact, reach large numbers of consumers every day, give the audience a chance to see the advertisement clearly and allow advertisers to choose the perfect location for maximum visibility. Static billboards are typically rented for longer periods which can greatly increase awareness of an advertiser’s brand.
The advertisement on a static billboard may be reprinted and reinstalled throughout a campaign if it gets damaged or if the campaign requires multiple changes. This could get costly.
Digital billboards are computer controlled electronic displays and are taking outdoor advertising to a new level. Advertising space on a digital billboard is usually sold in slots, giving your advertisement a few seconds exposure after each cycle.
One of the biggest advantages of digital billboards is that advertisers can change and update their advertisement much easier. This makes it easier to run new campaigns and to advertise at peak times. Digital billboards also give advertisers the opportunity to be highly creative seeing that they can use videos, moving images or live streams in their campaigns.
Static and digital billboards differ according to their reach, location and cost. Digital billboards may have the benefit of grabbing attention due to the lights and moving images but a brand will also be competing with other brands that may be more popular. Traditional billboards are exclusive.
Digital billboards tend to be placed in areas that get the highest levels of consumer traffic whilst static billboards target more specific locations. Digital billboards tend to be more costly than static billboards.
Traditional and Digital billboards are both effective methods of outdoor advertising and when deciding between the two – the main objective of the advertisers’ campaign must be considered.
