Have you ever considered how to create billboard designs that attract customers? Billboard advertising, though an old-school way of enticing customers, still holds significance when reaching out to the masses for brand promotion. People notice the giant ads by the side of roads and highways while driving or passing by and explore the companies behind them. Since billboards are huge advertising spaces, they make a unique and memorable impression on people. However, marketers must design a billboard that stands out and makes a desirable impression.
What is billboard advertising?
Billboard advertising involves hanging large advertisements in public places. These large boards are instantly noticeable from a distance alongside highways, roads, and busy markets.
Most billboards are put in crowded places, so thousands of people may notice them. Due to their high-traffic locations, billboards make ideal advertising mediums to generate leads, increase brand awareness, and boost traffic.
Why does billboard advertising work?
Billboard ads are popular among marketers even in the age of virtual ads and social media. Here are three reasons why billboard advertising still works:
- Unhindered Visibility: Large advertisement boards are constantly visible all the time. Unlike other digital ads, which you can block or skip anytime. Whoever passes by is bound to see big ads.
- Enhanced reach: Billboards are positioned at a higher point by the roadside, which enhances the advertised brand’s reach. This is because thousands of people see those ads all the time while passing by.
- Lasting impressions: Billboards’ huge size and bold design elements, such as colors and fonts, help make a lasting, memorable impression on the viewers.
How to create billboard designs that drive attention
Billboards are impressive marketing tools to advertise products or services. However, their design matters since the competitors also implement various advertising strategies. Here are the key tips to consider when creating billboard designs.
Tell your brand story
Every design has a purpose. When you design a billboard, ensure that it tells your brand story. The more captivating the story, the better impression it will have on onlookers. Ensure, you use the right elements to convey your story. Everything from color to font should have a balancing effect for a cohesive visual display and storytelling.
Brands like KFC always use the right elements to tell their story. You can take inspiration from them to visualize your brand.
The billboard above has simple design elements. But did you notice the blurred words? Everyone knows hat KFC’s tagline is “It’s finger licking good.” Here, the large advertisement not only encourages the audience to complete the tagline, but it also showcases that how good their menu is! It symbolizes deliciousness that compels the customers to lick their fingers.
Isn’t it a smart way of brand storytelling?
Make it legible from afar
Billboards may be located by the side of roads, but passersby and drivers have only a few seconds to look at those advertisements. Therefore, a successful billboard design should allow people to get the message at a glance even from afar.
To make it legible from a good distance, ensure that your billboard uses big fonts and has a lot of space left around the elements. That will help catch the attention in seconds.
This NASA’s billboard design is all about chunky font, that’s legible. You can’t stop looking at it and reading the text, can you?
Design it for locals
The local people regularly see billboards in their towns. The billboard designer should consider including local elements that people can quickly relate to. Such billboards also fill people with pride when they see their culture as part of the design.
It could be a sporting event, a local folklore, or anything that the place is famous for.
Take the above billboard design for example. Texas is famous for beer as the state has more than 360 craft breweries and produces over 1 billion barrels of beer annually.
Include interactive elements
An interactive billboard is one that people can use on the spot for a related activity, such as playing a game. People find such billboards useful and stay around them for a long time. Such interactive billboards are gaining popularity amongst marketers and people alike.
For example, a billboard advertisement can be interactive as it compels people to look at it.
Make it unique and memorable
A billboard design that stands out and is memorable will successfully reach out to people with its brand message and purpose. If it is a random design that people have already seen elsewhere, it will leave a bad impression about the brand.
The above billboard from McDonald’s is a suitable example of adding fun and evoking emotions.
Design a billboard that people can relate to but in your unique way. People will emotionally connect with such a design. When you make a billboard, you should look for ways to add humor, desire, outrage, empathy, and a touch of emotion to the design.
These tips will help create billboard designs that instantly convey the brand message. Check each aspect of designing your billboard to ensure that it promotes your business effectively.
If you are looking for unique billboard design ideas, Designhill is the platform to explore. You can launch a billboard design contest, hire a designer, or use a DIY tool to create a billboard on your own.
Wrapping Up
Billboards are excellent marketing tools that convey the brand message effectively. However, billboard design should be unique and simple and carry the reflection of the business in such a way that it can resonate with the audience. It should tell the brand story in bold colors and fonts for the target audience.
