Out-of-home advertising remains a timeless strategy even as the dynamic advertising landscape evolves. OOH in Chicago advertising is a stable form of marketing that shows continuous growth, with its revenue experiencing a 1.1% increase in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2022, accounting for $1.96 billion, as reported by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). Business owners looking to boost their brands should consider leveraging OOH’s effectiveness to make a lasting impression in their area.
Are you a business owner providing goods and services in Chicago? The Windy City’s iconic skyline offers an ideal canvas for HotSpots, Wallscapes, and other forms of billboards. Likewise, its many neighborhoods, with their unique charms and diversity, are excellent areas to show some versatility and personality in outdoor marketing through Bus Wraps, street furniture, and more. When you’re ready to enter the world of outdoor advertising, enter it with the expertise of local OOH professionals. Business owners in Chi-Town can rely on View Chicago. We provide various options for outdoor advertising formats in the Chicagoland area, in-depth knowledge of the neighborhoods, and the know-how for making marketing budgets work. Our experts can help you determine billboard cost factors and how to appropriately fit specific Chicago billboard costs into your advertising budget to get started on an outdoor advertising campaign that suits your marketing goals and allows you to own the neighborhoods.
Making the marketing budget that meets your needs and covers all billboard costs
One of the best, most appealing aspects of billboard advertising is its versatility. No matter the size of your business or marketing budget, whether you own a large national corporation or a small mom-and-pop, there is a billboard solution that can effectively showcase your message to a wide audience.
Understanding some of the components of campaigns that maximize billboard ROI and attract audiences
It takes careful advertising budget planning to ensure your outdoor marketing campaign is effective and successful. You’ll have to make sure you consider and can take care of paying for several billboard costs, such as:
The physical space for your billboards
Attention-grabbing, high-quality graphic design services to make a compelling creative
Installation costs related to making sure that billboards are securely affixed and comply with any relevant local and national regulations
You don’t have to worry about ongoing, routine maintenance and upkeep when you rely on View Chicago’s placements, as our experts take care of all that for you.
Consider the characteristics that can contribute to and determine billboard costs
On the subject of what View Chicago experts can do for you, we help you navigate the different billboard cost factors and prices according to the unique neighborhoods and audiences to whom you tailor your advertising messages.
When creating your outdoor advertising budget, you should consider that OOH marketing is flexible and personalized to your demands and marketing goals. Billboard costs and prices can vary between your campaign and another brand’s campaign and even between multiple campaigns you plan for your business throughout the year, depending on the factors listed below.
Your billboard locations
Real estate isn’t the only industry where ‘location, location, location’ matters. It matters significantly in OOH advertising. Where do you need coverage? Billboard costs vary considerably based on proximity to downtown hubs, high-traffic areas, or suburban neighborhoods. Prime, more densely populated locations in the city demand higher billboard costs and prices because these areas are busier and, therefore, gain more exposure. When planning out a marketing budget, consider if you need just one billboard near your store or establishment or if you’ll need several billboards posted around Chicago.
The billboard sizes and formats you choose
The physical dimensions and format of the ad play a pivotal role in determining billboard costs. Larger billboards, such as Wallscapes, and other OOH formats like Bus Wraps, tend to come with a higher price tag because they make bigger and bolder impressions.
Strategize the OOH formats you’ll use according to your marketing goals, your target audience, and where they live. For instance, if you have an advertising budget of $5,000 or $6,000 and you want to target Chicagoan residents and commuters in the city, it could benefit you to utilize a large, strategically placed Wallscape in one location. However, you could consider implementing street furniture and several HotSpots set in strategic, hyperlocal areas for the same advertising budget. The same advertising budget could be used entirely on street furniture, which would be especially useful in suburban OOH campaigns.
The duration of your OOH campaign
Think about timing when crafting a marketing budget and campaign strategy. For how long would you need coverage? Do you want to promote a specific local event? Are you looking to promote a seasonal product, service, or deal your business offers?
At View Chicago, we rent billboards to advertisers for four weeks at a time. Limiting your billboard by that time can save you some overall cost. However, the longer your billboard stays up, the more value it garners from the marketing campaign based on the pricing deals we provide. Remember, though, that we are always flexible, and our experts can change ad copy halfway through your campaign to ensure you get better results.
Own the neighborhoods and master outdoor marketing campaigns that make measurable success
One of the best ways to be sure your marketing budget works for you is to define what a successful outcome for an ad campaign looks like for your business. Analyze the billboard ROI so you can refine your strategy for future campaigns.
Take a hairstylist in the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. Success for them could mean getting five clients scheduled for an 8-hour workday. It could mean becoming business partners with another stylist and sharing salon space. They’ll be able to monitor and determine if HotSpots throughout Wicker Park or a Wild Posting in the right intersection increased their website traffic and customer inquiries and attracted more prospective clients and business partners during the campaign.
Making your marketing budget work for you involves carefully balancing strategy, creativity, and financial planning. With the diverse range of outdoor advertising options we provide at View Chicago, we help businesses leverage the iconic Chicago skyline to create impactful and memorable campaigns. By understanding billboard cost factors, exploring options for any budget, and following a systematic approach to budget determination, businesses can harness the power of OOH advertising to reach their target audience effectively.
Explore our billboard ad formats and select the one or combine several that align with your OOH advertising campaign goals. Consider the funds you’ve allotted for creative and graphic design, production, the nature of your campaign, your target audience and its preferences, and more to select the format that’ll make the best billboard ad campaign without breaking the bank. Embark on your billboard journey knowing that every dollar invested contributes to a visible and lasting presence in the heart of Chicago.