Billboards vs Digital Marketing - Which One Should You Prefer

Are you Starting a new business or just seeking a way to promote your established footprint? If you are not a blind seeker then you must be fighting with the decision of going with either Classical or advanced ways of brand/business promotion. 

In this article, I would try to compare both mainly focusing on the traditional billboard methods and more recently, the apple of the Market Social media platforms.   Would try to cover the ROI of the billboards and how it compares to Digital marketing. 

Note I would take my home city as an example of the marketplace with respect to billboards. You may apply the rates currently active in your respective regions. 

So, how do billboard advertising and digital marketing compare when it comes to cost?

Let's get right into it.

Here’s how much it would cost to advertise on a billboard in Islamabad/Rawalpindi region

I'll go for the large billboard at least 60 by 30  size, as small ones have a negligible attraction for the eyes. 

Prices are monthly:

Average Cost of Billboard Advertising in Islamabad

Large Billboards - RS. 230,000 PKR

So, at the very least, you’re spending 100000 + /month on a large billboard, which is apparently used to target one local community. Those big billboards in town or on the side of the highway would not guarantee you the maximum returns as they are not directed to a specific audience but are amid to attain the local common popularity. 

Even if you can afford it, it's not the ideal platform to invest in initially. Being a startup it's a suicide strategy.  The wisest thing to do is to go for maximum coverage will be less economical.  If that's your thought too, then your focus should be on the factors considering what you could get for the same amount of money if you spent it on digital marketing.

Let’s break that down.

Here's what you could get with Rs 35000 per month in digital marketing services especially focusing on Social media, lead generations, and Brand promotion:

• A marketing strategist who personalizes your strategy to your business’s goals and constantly measures and optimizes your online presence
• Creating your social media presence and promoting your products and services to the targeted audience. 
• Creating NexGen Graphics for your social media posts ( 4 posts per week) 
• Social Media Performance and KPI Oriented report at the end of the month or on weekly bases to allow you to see your standings. 
• Targeted Ads campaigns and Trending hashtags to gain Leads from the different social media platforms
• Help manage your leads. 
• Applying SEO knowledge in creating the brand/business plan for your respective brand or business to increase ROI. 

For 10000 PKR  you could add paid advertising and social media to build a full-scale digital marketing strategy that is not only personalized to you but targets a much larger population, rendering those billboards (at best) less effective than your digital marketing plan. 

Hence assuming you go for the Pais ads on one Channel for 1 week at 10000 PKR, this would cost you.

Rs 35000 + 10000 = 450000 PKR nearly half of what you could spend on the billboard without any ROI measurements, and KPI reports.  

Get Ready to Track the ROI of Billboards - Fasten your seatbelts and I really mean it. 

While paying upfront for billboards is easy, the tracking of ROI is completely the opposite.  

To be able to track how your billboards are doing, you might have to wait for one month as there is no ultimate A/B testing available.  It's a misconception that every driver on the same road as your billboard is your target audience, It is very likely that the drivers might be busy reading up the WhatsApp messages or struggling to find the location via GPS Maps, and miss your Billboard.   The audience is General.

But, if you have a billboard out there, the best way to track the number of people who choose your business based on your outdoor advertising efforts is to ask each customer or client how they found your business.

After a couple of months, add up the sales you've received from customers who found you through a billboard. On average, does this pay for your billboard advertising?

How would you make sure that the potential client who is looking at your billboard would be able to contact you as well as gain some prior info regarding your services, products, or company? Again If you are Missing major social media you are messing up with your clients.

How to Track the ROI of Digital Marketing

Depending on what you want to track, you’ll need to look at these insights:

• Google Analytics
• Google My Business Analytics
• Facebook Insights
• Instagram Insights
• Twitter Followers 
• Pinterest likes

This really varies depending on where you’re focusing your digital marketing efforts and what you have time for. If you’re Hiring My Digital marketing services and you want to talk about tracking your digital marketing success and growing your businesses.,

Final Thoughts

Some experts in billboard advertising will tell you that billboards are better for large businesses with considerable budgets who want to increase brand awareness. Even so, whether or not you should advertise on a billboard comes down to your business's budget. You will still need a digital marketing strategy, though, so that when customers who see your billboard want to do research on your business online, they find accurate information about you. Consistency is key. 

Hire the Best digital marketing expert in Islamabad who would take care of your all social media, and lead generation needs.

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Author:

Asim Ali Khan | Digital Marketing Manager