Why your freelance marketing strategy could benefit from digital billboard advertising
Billboard advertising is an excellent option for freelance marketers. It provides a low-cost, high-impact marketing strategy that can produce significant results. But billboard advertising isn't just for big businesses with huge budgets - it's also an affordable solution for freelancers working on tight budgets. Read this blog post to learn more about billboard advertising and how it could benefit your freelance marketing efforts!
First things first. Billboards?! I know, crazy right? But, yes, with the power of digital billboards, you can actually get your freelance business seen by tens of thousands for pennies on the dollar!
Here is the who, what, when, where, why and how:
Who.
So, after working as a Marketing Manager for few clients, I have learned a ton for free while using their marketing budgets to further their respective marketing goals. One option that recently came up for a long-time client was the use of digital billboards. That's right - digital!
What.
Digital billboards are, as the name implies, billboard signs that are entirely digital - they're lighted billboard displays.
Digital billboard advertising is any kind of on-premise outdoor advertisings (OOA) which uses LED or LCD screens to display commercials, typically one large image with the billboard showing a number of different ads over time as it cycles through them repeatedly. And this can be done in a number of different billboard formats that do not require paper or ink to be printed.
When and Where.
Because digital ads can swap out within seconds, many organizations that own the billboards allow time frames that you can select on your own, using their online dashboard. I am using BLIP billboards currently for my first-ever, two-week billboard campaign. They gave me the option to choose from various times, including high-traffic, off-peak, meal hours, etc. The billboard I am running on has an estimated 40,957 average daily views and it sits next to a major highway! I was able to select this location and hours easily using their user-friendly platform.
Why.
Depending on your budget and what you're looking for, billboards can reach thousands of people near your location or throughout an entire region. Obviously, as a freelance writer, I am not limited to local clients, however, building rapport with local businesses can help me with word-of-mouth marketing over time.
Imagine, if just one business owner contacts me from the billboard and hires me on to write a very conservative number of blogs for them - say five per month - I am already going to get back what I paid for in marketing and any future clients that they refer to me will be free of charge.
How.
This DIY platform is super simple to use. You navigate through the process with ease since they have it all set up in a step-by-step online platform. First, you select available billboards. Then, you choose the budget and time frame in which you want your ads to be displayed digitally for a "blip" (a few seconds at a time and just long enough for folks passing to view).
Third, you either use their simple templates for your billboard image, or upload what you want to have displayed. Remember to keep it simple as people are driving and have just a few seconds to be captured and compelled to act on a memorable call-to-action.
You can always create something for free on Canva. Use custom dimensions within their platform to match that of the billboards you are using.
Your ad will then go to review just to ensure it isn't inappropriate or insufficient for viewing. After that, your payment details are uploaded and you are only charged with each blip - and at whatever you decided was your maximum for the daily budget! They even have as low as $2/day available when you select just one billboard! You can also cancel your ad at any time because, again, this is digital, versus traditional paper billboards.
My campaign starts tomorrow, 10/12/21. I will run it for two weeks and we will see just how well it does, if at all. I am going for a conservative approach during meal hours (when small business owners are out and about running errands or similar, as they are my niche audience), with a $2/day minimum at no more than $.30 per "blip". I will certainly invest more over time. However, tomorrow, I will go see it in person, get a lay of the land and traffic and decide if it needs any tweaking. If it does, I will simply go in and make the changes in real-time! Gotta love the convenience of digital marketing!
Digital billboard advertising is great for any freelance marketing efforts because it provides targeted exposure during key times of day and days of week.
So, would you ever try digital billboard advertising to benefit your freelance marketing? Comment below!
