TIPS FOR CHOOSING COLOURS FOR MINI-BILLBOARDS

Mini-billboards are a great way to advertise your business, but only if people pay attention to them. Among all the aspects of mini-billboard design, choosing your colours is one of the most important. After all, the first thing most people notice is the colour of your sign, so you need to make sure it stands out. You only get a few seconds for people passing by to take notice of your billboard, so use these tips to help you choose the best colours for your mini-billboards.

Consider your company colours

This is one of the most common ways to choose your colours, particularly if you’re trying to make your brand known. The only exception to this is if your colours aren’t particularly suited to billboard advertising, like pale or neutral colours, which could blend in with the surrounding area and cause your mini-billboard to be completely overlooked.

Go bright and bold

The brighter, the better, when it comes to choosing billboard colours. With limited space and only a short amount of time to attract people’s attention, you need to choose bold colours that stand out and demand to be seen. Highly contrasting colours work well, but keep your fonts in mind, too. You need to make sure that your text can be seen against the background of your mini-billboard, so choose your font colours wisely.

Use psychology

The psychology of colours can be powerful in marketing. For example, red creates a sense of urgency, while blue tends to symbolize trust and peace. Bright colours like oranges and yellows create a sense of cheer, while black symbolizes power and strength. Choose the right colour to match your message, and people will take notice.

Take the time to consider your colours when designing your mini-billboard and make sure that all eyes are on your advertising.

HOW MINI-BILLBOARDS CAN GROW YOUR BUSINESS

When it comes to marketing your business, bigger isn’t always better. Mini-billboards can pack a mighty punch and help you grow your business in some surprising ways. Here’s how mini-billboards can help your business grow.

They go where the traffic is

Mini-billboards can literally follow traffic when you place them at strategic points along the roadside. If your business is on a busy street, a brightly-coloured mini-billboard could catch the eyes of all those weary drivers sitting in traffic.

Foot traffic may not bring customers directly to your door, but if you place a mini-billboard where lots of people walk or congregate, you may attract business that you otherwise wouldn’t have brought in.

They keep things fresh

Large permanent billboards come at a high cost and are stuck in one spot. Mini-billboards are less expensive and can be placed in a variety of locations, so you can create several graphics and change them out as you need or want to. Use them to alert customers of sales, new products, or other promotions whenever you like, targeting your audience in the perfect location of your choosing.

You can test a market without a huge investment

There’s nothing worse than paying a huge amount of money to advertise in a new area, only to find that your return on investment was tiny or even negative. Save your money and use mini-billboards to test the waters. If you get great results, hooray! If you don’t see the results you want, just move your mini-billboard to a new location and try again.

They can turn events into marketing blitzes

Pair a mini-billboard with an employee handing out your business cards or other marketing materials at the next big event in your community. The billboard is big enough to get attention, yet small enough to be easily portable. This allows you to have a professional presence at any event with very little setup time.

How will you use your mini-billboards to grow your business?

CONTENT TIPS FOR MINI-BILLBOARDS

Not sure what to put on your mini-billboard? Use these content tips for mini-billboards to create a great mini-billboard every time.

KISS

Want to make a big impression in a small space? KISS your mini-billboard, that is, ‘keep it simple, silly!’ Have you ever passed a billboard that was so busy, so filled with information, that you completely missed the point of the ad? Don’t let your signage be like that. Stick to one simple message, one call to action, and keep the clutter to a minimum when it comes to graphics.

Simple should also apply to your fonts–fancy fonts are hard to read, especially from a moving vehicle. Stick to large, plain fonts that are easy on the eyes. Your audience will appreciate it and your message will be more likely to be heard loud and clear.

Clear call to action

Don’t make people guess what you want them to do when they see your signage. Tell them plainly in your call to action whether you want them to call your business for a quote, buy your product, or visit your website. A roadside miniature billboard is no place for subtlety; just tell the world what you want them to do and let them get on with doing it.

Stick with the familiar

Do you have a company logo that’s easily recognizable, or one that you want to be? Use it on your billboard. Drivers don’t have time to puzzle out whose sign they’re looking at as they drive past, so make it as easy as possible. If you aren’t well-known yet, all the more reason to be consistent with your branding in your mini-billboards.

Drama sells

Does your sign tell a story, evoke an emotion, or otherwise jump out at your audience and grab them by their shirt collars? Boring doesn’t cut it when you only have a few seconds to make an impact. Be bold, be thought-provoking, or be funny, but don’t be bland, or your billboard will end up blending in with the scenery.

Don’t be afraid to get creative, just remember that your audience isn’t a captive one. Make an impact with well-designed mini-billboard and see how much your business can grow.

UNDERSTAND THE ROI OF USING MINI-BILLBOARDS

If you’re hesitant about spending money on mini-billboards for your business, you don’t have to be. For the cost of your billboard, you should understand something about the return that you’ll get on your investment, or ROI. Here’s some information to help you understand the ROI of using mini-billboards.

Measuring the impact of your mini-billboard

Many business owners hesitate to invest in something, like a billboard, that doesn’t come with hard statistics about its effectiveness. No, you can’t always tell exactly how much of your business comes from traffic driven by your mini-billboard, but on the upside, if you don’t see obvious results, you can simply change your graphic or move locations.

Create a digital trail

One of the most common internet marketing techniques can be applied to your mini-billboard campaigns to help you see more concrete evidence of where your traffic is coming from. Use a web address, email address, telephone number, or a promotion code that is specific to your billboard so you can track the number of responses you get.

Maximize efficiency in your billboard design

Mini-billboards are naturally less expensive than other outdoor signage, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take their design just as seriously. Keep your signage clear and simple with a single call to action and clear graphics. One single image can be just as powerful as a whole sign full of them, and it’s easier for your audience to digest and process. Keeping your content on point and concise will save you money and maximize the effect of the billboard for a greater ROI.

Investing in mini-billboards can be a great way to boost your business. Even if you can’t see exact numbers, you should be able to see a positive result for much less than you’d spend on many other types of advertising.

TIPS FOR DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE MINI-BILLBOARD AD

Mini-billboard ads are versatile and easy to use, but in order to make them effective, you need to put a lot of care into the design. You can’t just throw anything on there and hope for the best, but you can use these tips to design an effective mini-billboard ad.

Keep it simple

Don’t clutter your mini-billboard with information. People don’t have time to decipher what it is you want to say, so just be as plain as possible when you send your message. Use a single call to action, simple and clear fonts, and keep the text to a minimum, since drivers won’t have time to read much more than your company name and phone number.

Bright, bold colours work best

Eye-catching is the main thing you’re striving for with a mini-billboard. There’s no room for subtlety, especially if your signage has to compete for your customer’s attention. Make sure that your font colours are easy to read–they need to contrast nicely against your background  colours and images.

Use your logo

This is important for two reasons. If your logo is already easily recognizable, customers will know who’s speaking to them through the billboard. If it’s not already known, putting your company logo in front of customer eyes is a sure-fire way to build your brand recognition. Think of your mini-billboard as more than just a promotional item. While it’s true that it will help you relay messages to the public regarding promotions, more importantly, it will help you spread brand awareness and build a solid customer base.

Show and tell

Let your graphics tell a story. Customers connect better with a narrative that they can relate to, so don’t be afraid to use photos to send your message. Some of the most effective ads have very little text. They rely on powerful imagery to make their point, and this can be effective for your business, too.

IS MY BUSINESS A GOOD FIT FOR MINI-BILLBOARDS

You want to spend your marketing budget wisely and are interested in mini-billboards, but you’re just not sure if your business is a good fit for this type of marketing material. Here’s how you can tell whether your business is a good fit for mini-billboards.

Are you selling something?

From fast food to fast cars, mini-billboards are the perfect way to advertise almost anything you are trying to sell. If you often run special offers or promotions, mini-billboards are perfect for those, too. Use them to alert existing customers of upcoming promotions or use them to bring new customers into your business when you advertise your most popular products.

Do you offer a service?

Marketing your services can be easy with a mini-billboard. Need to let people know about your business in an underserved part of town, but don’t have the budget for a big billboard? Use mini-billboards to test the market. It’s an inexpensive, low-risk way to get your business seen by your target demographic, wherever they may be.

Do you need to be mobile with your marketing?

If your business needs to be mobile with its marketing, mini-billboards are ideal. They can be moved wherever you need them, whenever you need them. Need signage for conferences or other networking events? Maybe your business is a mobile one and you need to let your customers know where they can expect you–mini-billboards are perfect for both situations.

Do you need to maximize your marketing budget without spending a fortune?

Mini-billboards are less expensive than traditional billboards and more flexible than print or radio advertising. You can create several mini-billboards for less than the price of a traditional billboard and re-use them again and again.

Whatever type of business you have, a mini-billboard is a great way to get your message seen by more people in more places.

FRANCHISEE SPOTLIGHT: KURT AND KYLA BELICH IN RED DEER

From farming to car washing to commercial development to yoga to coffee to mini-billboards! Meet Kurt and Kyla Belich, our Red Deer franchisees.

After more than a decade spent as the self-proclaimed “car wash guy,” Kurt, who has always had an eye for a great business opportunity, saw his next adventure with Kyla in Postcard Portables.

After much consideration, Kurt and Kyla were ultimately attracted to Postcard Portables as a source of steady income with low overhead and staffing costs. They also recognized the franchise possibility as one that they could truly make their own, given that the business is not needlessly complicated. Looking forward to depending on their own hard work and dedication, together they took the plunge and haven’t looked back since.

Since taking on the mini-billboard market, Kurt describes the best part of franchise ownership as having access to goods and services that you just wouldn’t get as an independent business. Franchisees have a competitive advantage over others because all products sold are made in one spot. “You get the benefit of being a big company, as opposed to a small start-up,” says Kurt. “Even as a small business, you can compete with larger businesses with an excellent product for a reasonable price.”

What does Kurt love about being a member of the Postcard Portables team? The sharing of knowledge! Even as the “new guy” you get to start off way up the learning curve thanks to the shared experiences of other franchisees (as well as the franchisors), who always make themselves available to help each other. Supplier knowledge is another benefit and is also always just a phone call away. There is a lot of support.

In the spirit of knowledge sharing, if you’re considering purchasing any franchise, Kurt has this advice to share: It takes time to grow and become successful. When it comes to business ownership, there is no such thing as a 40-hour work-week. “You will get out of it what you put into it.” Kurt says, “Be realistic with yourself and understand that you have to put a lot more time into it than you think you do. Try to find balance, and know what you want for your life.”

ADVANTAGES OF MINI-BILLBOARDS OVER TRADITIONAL ONES

When it comes to billboards, size matters, but not necessarily in the way that you might think. Most people think of full-size, traditional billboards when the subject of advertising arises, but mini-billboards can have just as much bang-for-your-buck as their larger counterparts. Here are some advantages these little marketing dynamos have over traditional billboards.

They’re less expensive.

This is likely the initial reason most customers consider mini-billboards, but it isn’t the only one. While the initial cost of the mini-billboard is much less than the cost of a traditional one, you can see a better ROI in some other ways, too. For example, if your mini-billboard isn’t driving the traffic you want in one location, just move it to another one. No additional cost, no wasted advertising, just highly adaptable marketing materials.

They’re highly portable.

Want to take advantage of high traffic locations one month, but use the signs elsewhere the next month? No problem. Because they’re compact, you can put the mini-billboards anywhere you need to have eyes on your business. This means you can test a new market with minimum risk, create marketing blitzes wherever you go, and keep things fresh by changing up your graphics whenever you want to advertise new promotions.

They’re fluid.

Traditional billboards tie up your advertising budget in one spot for a set amount of time. You can’t just rip down a billboard and put it up somewhere else if you’re not seeing the customer response you hoped for. With mini-billboards, you can adapt your marketing based on your customer response to each graphic. You can also use more than one mini-billboard to create a more complex marketing strategy for less money than the cost of a traditional billboard.

Bigger isn’t always better. Consider how you can use mini-billboards to boost your business and grow your marketing strategy!

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING MYTHS BUSTED

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about outdoor advertising. The truth is, a lot has changed in the past few years, but outdoor ads are as effective as they’ve ever been, only a lot more versatile. Here are a few myths about outdoor advertising, busted!

Bigger is better

When it comes to outdoor signage, size does matter, but not as much as you’d think. It’s more important to have a good location and great content on your advertising platform than it is to have a large ad such as a billboard. Smaller signage, such as mini-billboards, are just as effective as full-sized ones for a fraction of the cost.

A new outdoor ad will bring instant results

This myth has disappointed many business owners hoping for quick results from a flashy sign or billboard. The truth is, people usually have to see something an average of seven times in order to fully acknowledge it and act upon it. If your brand is only in one spot, your customers may take more than a week to acknowledge and respond to it. You can either be patient or proactive, and have multiple signs within an area.

Outdoor advertising should be ‘set and forget’

If you think you can put up a billboard, mini-billboard, or any other outdoor signage and just forget about it, you’re doing it wrong. People get used to seeing the same things around them all the time, so after a while your outdoor ads will just blend into the background. To be most effective, you should adapt your marketing strategy to include regular graphic changes to keep your brand feeling fresh and current.

Only big companies benefit from outdoor advertising

It’s baffling why this myth is still prevalent. The truth is, if you have a business that you want to advertise, or if you have an event you need to promote, outdoor ads can be hugely beneficial. As long as your placement is strategic to attract your target audience, your business will benefit.

If you’re ready to begin your outdoor advertising campaign, contact Postcard Portables for all your advertising needs. We’ll help you create the right graphics for your business so you can see for yourself what a big impact outdoor advertising can have on your business.

CHOOSING THE BEST SIGNAGE FOR YOUR NEXT TRADESHOW

Choosing tradeshow signage is a delicate art. You have to consider a number of factors before you decide what type of signage to display, from how much space you’ll have to where you’ll be located in the venue. Here are some tips to help you choose the right signage for your next tradeshow.

Limited space

When it comes to tradeshows, space is often at a premium. You’ll want something that is lightweight, easy to set up, and that won’t take up a huge amount of space. Even a typical easel with foam board may be too large for some tradeshow booths, but a pull up banner stand is ideal in this situation. Because it’s relatively flat and doesn’t take up a great deal of floor space, this flat graphic can grab attention without hogging the floor.

Take advantage of traffic

If you’re in a spot that sees traffic from both directions, opt for a sign that lets you advertise in both directions. A-frames do just that, plus they set up in a jiffy. They work well in any trade booth, but if you happen to be on a corner or end of a row, you can be seen by traffic in all different directions.

Keep setup simple

You really want to keep your setup simple at a trade show. Opt for signage that is lightweight and that folds away quickly and easily. X-frame banners are a great choice for trade shows because they assemble quickly and easily, and they disassemble just as quickly and easily. Plus, lightweight canvas banners won’t weigh you down when you’re carrying your display items from your vehicle to the venue. The last thing you want is to wear yourself out carrying heavy, complicated signage to and from your trade show venue, so choose signs that are ‘user friendly’ for these events.

Foam board is your friend

Foam board is just about the most user-friendly tradeshow signage you can find. It can be mounted on a frame, stuck in an easel, or tacked to a wall using double-sided tape. Best of all, it weighs very little, so you can carry several foam board signs to use in your tradeshow display.

Contact Postcard Portables today for all your tradeshow signage needs.