Billboards are a brilliant way to make a statement with your advertising campaign, especially if you’re deciding to go the traditional route and have all of your key target demographics mapped out and in order.
But designing a good billboard is more difficult than just deciding where you want your advertisements to be. And Chicago billboards spaces can be highly sought after because it is such a highly populated and metropolitan area.
If you’re going to be spending money on Chicago billboards, make sure that you have a design that makes it so eyes will only be interested in learning about your company, and not the other businesses who are competing for attention with you with their billboard campaigns.
Large Text
The main goal of any text on a billboard is to be seen and read by any passerby. In most cases, these passersby are going to be in their cars and on a commute. It’s important that your Chicago billboards are easily read from large distances away. And that means that your text size is going to need to be pretty large.
In most cases, unless there are very large amounts of traffic in the city, people are going to be driving in their cars and moving at a relatively constant speed. That means, at best, your billboard is going to cross paths with human eyes for five seconds at a time.
Make sure that your potential customers have the physical ability to read what you’re writing on your billboards, unless you’re aiming to waste your money.
Use Bright and Bold Colors in Your Design
According to Billboard Connection, it’s best to use colors that are eyecatching and have a good chance at holding onto the attention of your potential clients. That means, while you may not feel like your billboards are always the most aesthetically pleasing, it’s best to stay away from neutral or muted colors that will fade into the background of someone’s peripheral vision.
Billboard design is extremely different from other forms of design, and if you want your Chicago billboards ad campaign to thrive and get your business the attention you think it deserves, then it’s best to utilize best ad practices here.
Evoke Emotions
Hubspot’s blog says that the billboard marketing campaigns that work best are the ones that stick with people for a long period of time. That simply means that something about the billboard was memorable.
Just covering your billboard in neon pink and green doesn’t necessarily mean that the image or message you put up in your out-of-house (OOH) ads will be remembered.
The best way to be remembered is to make sure that your audience walks away from your ad feeling emotionally impacted. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to make them feel sad, although it can mean that too. But what it does mean is it’s best to avoid just sounding like a run-of-the-mill ad.
Make potential consumers laugh, make them angry about a cause, or make them feel overwhelmingly happy just because of the wholesome content and copy that you put up in front of them.
Don’t Have White Space
Especially in the case of digital billboards, which are becoming more and more popular, too much white can wash out the rest of your design. In the case of Chicago billboards, the city is growing steadily more and more modern with every passing day. That means that digital billboards are becoming more normal.
In addition to washing out your design, having too much blank space, in general, can be too distracting to people who are looking at your billboards. That’s even the case with traditional, non-digital, billboards.
Make sure that you’re taking up as much space as you can with the area that you’re given. Make your logos bigger, make your text bigger, and make your images bigger. That all increases the odds that your designs will make a more significant impact on those who see your ads.
Be Aware of the Context
When you’re picking locations for your billboards, it can be helpful to know what that area of Chicago is best known for or why most of the people commuting in the area are there to begin with.
Is there an airport nearby? An art museum? Maybe a theme park or a national reserve? Take all of this into account. This makes it much easier to personalize particular designs to the areas you’re targeting, making it look like your company cares about the town it’s advertising in.
It’s also more likely to hit close to home with those who are looking at your ads. If they’re going to a national park and your billboard says something about supporting the parks or the environment, they’re going to feel like their morals align with those of your business in a more real way.
