6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Billboard Advertising

One effective form of traditional advertising that businesses use to build brand image is billboard advertising. Despite the presence of social media and online marketing tools, combining these with other methods to create consumer awareness prove to yield results. However, like any other marketing medium, there are pros and cons to this option.

List of Advantages of Billboard Advertising

1. Visibility
Advertising billboards are placed strategically along major thoroughfares and highways, thus, increasing the possibilities of being seen by a great number of consumers all throughout the day. Given the number of commuters and drivers on the road, this advertising medium is effective in catching the attention of the target audience. Moreover, these people usually take the same routes every day. Having said this, seeing a billboard repeatedly contributes to consumer recall.

2. Access to Targeted Audience
Since billboards can be placed in areas chosen by advertisers or companies, it will be easier for these companies to reach a particular or specific consumer group they sell their services and products to. Say, a product is targeted to farmers or people living in the countryside. Billboards can be positioned along the route where prospective consumers drive by or pass by regularly, like in highways.

3. Audience Conversion
The strategic location and unique design of billboards are instrumental to making sales and converting an audience into an instant customer. If a person driving by sees the billboard and suddenly realizes the need to buy the advertised product, it will be easier for him or her to drive to the nearest establishment offering that product. Also, it can be increase sales since anyone can just go online after seeing the website on the billboard.

List of Disadvantages of Billboard Advertising

1. Costs
One of the disadvantages of using billboard advertising is the money a company needs to spend from the time the billboard is set up to the time it is taken down. Apart from signing a contract with the owner of the space, other costs include maintenance and repairs. If there will be natural disasters like hurricanes that will destroy the structure, this will not be inexpensive. And if there will be destruction to property or injury related to a damaged billboard, the owner might have to face legal issues as well as additional expenses.

2. Cause of Distraction
Another drawback of this traditional advertising medium is that it can be a cause of road mishaps. Since billboards aim to get the attention of people who are driving or passing by, they are big in size and often have celebrities as endorsers. Consequently, these people have the tendency to get distracted and at times, get into traffic accidents.

3. Geared Towards Moving Traffic
Since the targeted audience is mobile, billboards need to rely on graphics or images instead of texts. There are disadvantages that can be attributed to this. First, potential consumers will not be able to really grasp the message the advertiser is trying to convey, unless they will be caught in traffic. Second, limited texts that can be accommodated can result to limited information. Third, since the targeted audience is mobile, there is limited exposure of the billboard.
Before investing in billboard advertising, it is important for business owners to know its advantages and disadvantages so they can decide if this is the right route to take.