Typically placed in high-visibility areas, digital signs offer a great opportunity to increase brand awareness without blowing your entire ad spend budget. Pricing for digital billboards varies by location, but when it comes to sheer visibility, the return on investment is pretty impressive.
What Is a Digital Billboard?
A digital billboard involves a digital display that showcases content on a rotating basis. Traditional forms of out of home advertising, otherwise known as OOH, typically can only showcase one advertisement at a time. These traditional forms of outdoor advertising must be manually rotated, and are also subject to wear and tear over time.
Additionally, traditional OOH displays, like billboards and bus bench ads, are often targeted by graffiti artists and may even be destroyed. Digital signage has the advantage of an automatic rotation (no manual labor involved) and are far less likely to be tampered with. The displays themselves last significantly longer, and are much more eye-catching that traditional OOH displays.
How Much Does a Digital Billboard Cost?
Compared to a classic advertising medium, like a magazine ad or billboard, digital billboards involve a larger investment. While digital billboard displays that are located in prime spots, like New York City or Los Angeles, can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, digital billboards in lower-visibility areas are much more affordable. Pricing will depend largely on how many thousands of impressions they garner, otherwise known as cost per mille (CPM).
When considering whether or not a digital billboard is right for your business, consider your ad spend budget and the goals of your marketing campaign. If you want to target a broad swath of the population and are looking for a general increase in brand awareness, a digital billboard may be a great option for you.
How Do Digital Billboards Work?
Digital billboards are essentially large scale bulletins that can be updated in real-time. Once you’ve determined your pricing strategy, target demographic and location, you’ll have to start thinking about your design. To develop your digital display, it’s often easiest to work with a design company. Keep in mind that this will tack on additional cost, but there are a wide variety of design companies that you can choose from. Small and mid-size design companies will often charge significantly less to develop your digital display. Make sure you shop around and take a look at their previous designs before choosing the right company for you.
Once your design is ready, take a look at some of the digital billboard locations that you’re interested in. It’s always a good idea to visit the location in person, if possible, to make sure it’s the right space for your digital ad.
Digital Billboard Dimensions
The size of digital billboards vary, but in general, you can expect the following size options:
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Small: 6 feet high and 12 ft wide
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Medium: 10 feet high and 30 feet wide
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Large: 14 feet high and 48 feet wide
Choosing the right size billboard for your marketing campaign will depend on your ad spend budget and any location-based size restrictions.
Digital Billboard Features
Digital billboards represent an excellent opportunity to amplify your message and connect with potential customers. They also offer an added degree of flexibility, and the ability to update content in real time. Digital billboards advertising an event could include countdowns, for example, or an ad could share how much money people have saved switching to your company. Car dealerships often take advantage of digital signage to promote upcoming car deals.
Digital Billboard Animations
You’re likely familiar with digital billboard animations, which include video media as part of the display. Animated videos are a great way to grab viewers’ attention and hold it long enough to get your message across. Remember that short and simple animations perform best, and take into consideration the location of the billboard when designing animated content. In general it’s best to put animated content in a location where viewers will have more dwell time, like an area with a higher volume of foot traffic.
Digital Billboard Statistics
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Nationwide, there are 6,1000 digital billboards.
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71% of billboard viewers feel that digital billboards stand out more than online ads.
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55% of travelers who saw a digital billboard remembered the specific message they saw.
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Animated content receives 5 times more viewers than static content.
Benefits of Digital Billboards
Billboards are a great way to get noticed, and digital billboards are especially effective at grabbing the attention of potential customers. Although digital billboards can be pricier than traditional billboards, they offer greater flexibility and the ability to change your content in real time.
Brands That Can Benefit from Digital Billboards
If you’re looking to expand your footprint in the digital space, you’ve likely already explored traditional digital avenues, like social media, digital ads and web content. Choosing to expand your marketing campaign to include digital billboards is a good option if you have a time-sensitive message, like an upcoming event or showcase. Brands that get a lot of traction on social media can also amplify their message by integrating social media content into their digital display. For example, some brands will update their digital display to feature high-engagement tweets, or Instagram images that customers loved.
Digital Billboard Use Cases
Digital billboards are especially effective at conveying a sense of urgency and timeliness. Let's take a look at one case study: The Dodgers baseball team. The Dodgers have utilized digital displays effectively, creating designs that count down the days until baseball season resumes. This type of message is very effective at converting potential customers - people who were thinking about buying Dodger tickets soon - into actual paying customers. By developing a timely message that updates daily, the Dodgers were able to create an engaging message that was uniquely persuasive.
