Ad Campaigns for Local Businesses - It Can be Done! (Successfully)
Vira Creative has had a few clients approach us questioning print ads in various local magazines. Great we say, and we send them media kits and rate cards only see their eyebrows raise at the sight of the cost. While print media is still effective, it isn't always the best use of dollars. So what we direct our clients to look at Out of Home (OOH) advertising. This also comes as a surprise to our clients, for whatever reason the majority of them have never considered it, likely because OOH can be perceived as very expensive (which it can be) or viewed as something only national brands can do.
Our go to example of cost effective OOH advertising which also casts a wide net as far as reaching the target market is the CTA. In other words, for just a few dollars more than running a print ad in a magazine, your ad could be viewed by hundreds of thousands of commuters each day, a much better return on your investment. What's great about the CTA is the audience is captive. Standing on the platform, and seated on the trains or buses people tend to not want to look into the eyes of fellow commuters, our eyes either wander up at the ads or down at our morning RedEye's, coffees and iphones. Chicago commuters, know exactly what we are talking about.
Vira Creative recently sat down with Julie Veternick, Account Executive with Titan Advertising, the agency which handles all media buys for Chicago's CTA. Julie agreed with us that OOH can be cost effective and create a great ROI for any sized business. Some of the most common buys are: train interiors and exteriors, train platform sheets, and bus interiors and exteriors.
Julie cautioned the campaigns that perform well are attention grabbing conceptually and from a graphic design standpoint and those with minimal copy (wording.) The less is more rule applies to OOH and any client of Vira Creative's has heard us say this a thousand times! Julie also talked about colors. Bright and vibrant colors do well. Neutral tones which match the outdoor scene blend in and don't catch riders attention. QR codes don't perform as well as expected because people all the way on the other side of the platform can't scan them and neither can people sitting inside a bus or train.
Here are some local businesses which have boldly gone where you may have yet gone: Sugar Fix Dental Loft, ProACTIVE Chiropractic and you could be next! Contact us today and we'll handle your ad campaign from start to finish while you sit back and relax knowing your brand is getting maximum exposure to people right in your business' back yard!