Billboards are large poster boards placed beside roads or in other areas where they're visible to large groups of people. Billboards can be used to advertise consumer products and services, as well as public service messages. Although billboards have been around for decades, they still hold a number of advantages over other forms of advertising. However, they also carry a significant number of downsides.
Pro: Visibility
Perhaps the biggest advantage of billboards is their visibility. While it's often relatively easy for a person skimming a magazine to skip over an ad, or for a person browsing a website to overlook a banner or text ad, billboards often dominate the viewer's field of vision. A billboard placed prominently beside a busy highway can expect to attract thousands of pairs of eyes each day, many of whom may turn into customers.
Con: Hard to Stand Out
Although billboards may be highly visible, it doesn't necessarily mean that they stand out. If a person is driving along a road that has a number of billboards, he may be liable to ignore all of them. Unless the billboard is creatively designed, the person may not internalize the message he's reading, meaning that the advertiser has failed to convey the desired message.
Pro: Inexpensive
Another advantage of billboards is that they're relatively inexpensive compared to television commercials and certain types of multimedia advertisements. In addition, the cost of renting billboard space is often quite reasonable. This can make billboards a good marketing option for a company that doesn't have a large advertising budget but that wants to reach a lot of consumers.
Con: Unfocused
Although being visible to everyone may have its advantages, billboards might not direct their message to a particular type of consumer. Certain types of advertising allow a company to target its message to a particular demographic. For example, print ads enable companies to advertise in periodicals read by people who are likely to buy their products: An athletic shoe company, for example, might advertise in a sports magazine. However, billboard advertising allows for no such niche marketing.
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