Is Advertising on Digital Billboards more Cost Effective?

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Digital Out of Home (or DOOH) is becoming increasingly popular, but is advertising on digital billboards more cost effective? How does it compare to more traditional forms of outdoor advertising, and is it worth the investment?

Digital Out of Home is Expanding

For several years now experts have been hailing DOOH as the future of outdoor advertising. The industry has indeed seen much growth over the last decade and with recent advancements in technology, DOOH is predicted to transform the face of outdoor advertising over the next few years.

The Advertising Association/War Expendituire Report reported that DOOH accounted for over a third of all UK Out-of-Home adspend during the first half of 2016. And PwC predict that DOOH revenues will grow 15% per annum to overtake traditional spend by 2020.

How much does advertising on a digital billboard cost?

As digital out-of-home becomes increasingly commonplace, what effect will it have on marketing budgets? Is it more expensive or cheaper to advertise on a digital billboard?

Well, the reason why DOOH is set to expand so rapidly in the coming years is partly because the cost to produce LED screens today is significantly lower than in previous years. It can cost anything from £3,500-£120,000 to install a digital screen, depending on its size.

And so OOH media owners are rolling-out more digital screens across UK cities. Just last week we saw Lucozade transform an iconic neon sign that has been welcoming drivers into London for decades into a digital billboard.

DOOH installation costs may not be directly relevant to advertisers seeking to rent a digital billboard. However, as these digital billboards become more commonplace, rental costs become more affordable.

It costs around £144 to rent a digital forecourt screen through Bubble, compared to £542 to rent a billboard, or £162 to rent a phone box poster. Have a look at our blog about the cost of billboard advertising to get more of an idea about costs.

Advertising on digital billboards can save you money

In many ways, advertising on a digital billboard can be more cost effective. Production costs are cheaper, in that there is no printing required. That’s a saving of £150-£200 per billboard (based on printing costs for a 48-sheet billboard).

Digital billboards also allow for greater flexibility when it comes to the length and timing of a campaign. Whilst traditional outdoor advertising tends to work in 2-week blocks, digital billboards do not. Production and placement schedules are far more flexible for digital out-of-home, which means a digital advert can begin and end on whichever day you want.

As such, you only pay for the weeks, days or hours that your campaign will actually be effective. For example, advertising a bar on a Friday afternoon as people leave work is likely to be more effective than advertising it on a Monday morning.

Want to know more about advertising on digital billboards?

Find out more about the benefits of digital billboard advertising in our article here, or read-up on the various digital outdoor advertising shapes and sizes. And if you’d like to chat about your outdoor advertising project, get in touch – we’d love to help!