Advertising on Billboards and Buses, worth it?

[Ali_SA]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of advertising my business which runs summer tech camp and term time classes for kids. I was thinking of advertising on billboards and buses (which is not cheap btw).
Has anyone done this method of advertising before and is it worth it considering how expensive they are?

 

[Calvin Crane]

I tend to think that stuff is for the big brands for brand awareness. If I saw your services on a side of a bus it just would seem weird. However inside the bus on the tv would be ok. Just my 2p's worth.

 

[ethical PR]

@Ali_SA this same question was covered recently in a thread here. Have a look as there is some useful information. You are very late on to be advertising a summer camp.

You maybe better promoting it through advertising at leisure centre, taking a stand at shopping centres and other places where your target audience hang out. Out of the two mediums, buses will probably work better.

As always the quality of the message (design, call to action, copy) is as important as the medium.

 

[fisicx]

Do the buses pass by the parents of the children you are hoping to attract?

Maybe you would be better off advertising on the website children frequent with a landing page designed for children that leads to pages designed to convince parents it's a good investment.

There is a local after school club that covers all sorts of activities, they are always in the shopping centres promoting their classes. They have posters in supermarkets and in the local free sheets.

Marketing is an iterative process - you need multiple impressions before people start to remember you.

 

[StevePoster]

If the target location of your business is within the vicinity of your advertising billboards (considered as general ad) and buses (must be related ad) then this will help on your brand awareness.

 

[saythisinstead.co.uk]

Maybe it's just me but I say it as I see it.

Have you ever......I mean EVER..........bought anything because you saw it on a bus or a billboard?

I haven't, and asking around I haven't found anyone in my circle of friends who has either.

About a year ago there was a huge poster campaign near me. Buses & billboards. I remember thinking wow these folks mean business with this campaign....it went on for a month.

The campaign has never been repeated. So. 1. Was it so successful that they never need any more customers? 2. Did it bomb and fail to get a good ROI?

I'm going with 2.

 

[Ken Moorhouse]

Years ago I was involved with a company that decided to advertise on tube trains (yep I know "not a bus" but maybe the title was meant to come across as punchy). The minimum spend used to give you IIRC about one ad per train. A major (as in "something really unusual happened today which I must tell you about") conversation-starter was "Oh I saw the tube advert coming here today" which was a bad choice of phraseology for the guy who'd decided to advertise in this way. I will go with saythisinstead's conclusion too.

 

[James Lees]

If your audience will see your offering, and you use that medium correctly. Then yes it works.

 

[fisicx]

If your audience will see your offering, and you use that medium correctly. Then yes it works.

When was the last time you brought something after seeing an advert on the side of a bus?

 

[James Lees]

When was the last time you brought something after seeing an advert on the side of a bus?

Last month I bought something after I seen an ad on a train. The advert was tailored towards the audience, and it was very specific in its delivery. I actually spoke to the vendor, and they have had huge success from that advert.

If you display something just detailing your product/service. Then yeah, a complete waste of time. But you have to use that medium to grab their attention with something different.