How to Create an Effective Outdoor Marketing Campaign

Outdoor marketing campaigns are a fun and effective way to promote your business and it’s products and services. Many businesses use this method, not only because it’s cheaper than TV or pay-per-click online ads, but because it can be very effective in brand building and catching attention.

This marketing method is not just about creating a poster or banner of your product and services and placing it where people can see it. The best outdoor marketing campaigns require thorough research, careful planning, and out-of-the-box creativity.

Here are some things to consider in order to create an effective outdoor marketing campaign:

Set your objectives

Before anything, it is important to set your marketing objectives. It is the first step in creating a successful and effective outdoor marketing campaign. Your objectives can be as simple as brand building, increasing sales, or increasing website traffic – be clear what you want to achieve with this campaign.

Marketing goals help measure the success of your marketing campaign. It will also help determine the budget, where to put your prints, the message you design on them and even how long you will need to display them for.

Create targeted content

It is important to research your target market to find what strategies and methods to use to get them to avail of your products and services. Not all strategies will work for one group. You have to have the right tone, the right voice, and the right image to convince your target market to buy your product or service. Market research also helps determine what kind of approach to take, what types of outdoor advertising appeals to your target market, and very importantly where to target them.

Research

Creating an outdoor marketing campaign without research is like going into battle blindly. Market research helps you see what strategies your competitors are doing and what works for them. It also helps you see what advantages and disadvantages you have compared to your competitors, your own USPs, the methods and strategies your target audience responds to, what areas your outdoor advertising can thrive in, and other relevant information.

Location, location, location

When it comes to outdoor marketing, it’s all about location. While it’s best to put your ad in a high-traffic area, consider if that area is where your target audience constantly frequents. Remember: the goal is to have as many of your target audience see the custom banner or flag you set up as much as possible. If you are targeting health-conscious young adults in your area, perhaps consider putting your advertisements near a certain gym or health foods store.

Keep it simple

The best outdoor advertising campaigns are the ones that catch attention, relay their message in less than ten seconds, and have an impact on the target audience. Images and graphics have the power to catch attention and tell a clear story even without the use of words. If you use a tagline or short text, it should only be to clarify or support the message of the image.

Create shareable content

Social media is a powerful marketing tool that you can take advantage of. When you create an outdoor marketing campaign that really appeals to your target audience, they are more likely to take a picture and share it on social media. For this to work, you really need to make your content shareable and cool.

Be creative

Sometimes it’s not enough to just simply feature the products and services offered. Use clever or striking imagery and taglines that people will take interest in. Try incorporating technology that they can interact with. Explore different strategies and experimental ads to catch people’s attention…

A great example is this campaign promoting Marvel’s Ant-Man. The marketing team installed tiny billboards for the Ant-Man movie around in various public spaces. They have also created movie posters with a tiny superhero standing on top of Iron Man’s mask and Captain America’s shield. This strategy not only highlights the superhero’s ability to shrink but also creates an amusing experience when passers-by encounter these clever and tiny advertisements.

Don’t limit yourself

Don’t limit yourself to using just banners, signs and panels, or flags for your marketing campaign. There are other types of outdoor advertising you can take advantage of. Try using beach flags, pavement signs, or even balloons to draw people to your store.

Now you’re ready to get started with your next successful campaign, let us know your creative ideas and how you are using outdoor print in your marketing strategy in the comments below!