Outdoor advertising is enjoying a surge in popularity largely due to its relative cost effectiveness at reaching large numbers of people when compared to other mass media such as broadcast or print.

On the positive side, an outdoor billboard space in Australia is generally “purchased” for a month while a major newspaper advertisement lasts one day. In broadcast, it’s as short as 15 or 30 seconds.

So given this longevity, a well-executed outdoor advertisement (often at around the same price as a large newspaper advertisement) can be a good cost effective press advertising alternative.

Of course, one of the limitations of billboards is that, compared to other forms of media, they cannot hold much detail. Due to the nature of the passing traffic, all the advertiser gets is a few seconds to make a very quick impact.

Traditional advertisers will tell you not to include phone numbers in billboard advertising. This is because humans don’t remember the number sequence quickly enough.

Bucking the trend, phone words work extremely well on outdoor advertising because they are quickly memorable.

As the traffic races by, a good phone word quickly implants itself in the consumer’s mind and, at the same time, describing what the business or brand does.

To maximize your outdoor advertising efforts, make sure that you follow these handy guidelines:

1. Make sure your phone word is prominent on your billboard. If it cannot be quickly and easily seen, it will not be remembered.
2. Any billboard advertising messages need to be brief because you have limited time to get your message seen.
3. Billboards work well when they are part of an overall promotional plan. Use your outdoor advertising in conjunction with radio, direct mail, and press advertising.
4. When selecting billboards, you need to know your target audience. Where do they live and work? You want your target market to see your messages. How do they travel? In trams or trains? By car? All of these variables alter where you place your outdoor advertising.