One of the key influencing factors that can determine the success of outdoor advertising is traffic. The location of billboards is mostly decided based on this because the objective is to collect as many ad-views as possible in a relatively short time.
High traffic, high impact
Overhead bridges (OHB) are one of the main large poster media spaces that plays an important role in outdoor advertising. Like billboards, OHBs can be very effective when they are placed at strategic locations. In most cases, OHBs provide static ad spaces although there are some which have moved on to digital boards to align with current trends.
Popular hotspots
The rule of thumb for OHB advertising is to spot the right location. Several factors need to be taken into consideration.
- Location – The most crucial factor here because you want your ad to be seen by as many people as possible.
- Traffic – This will pretty much tell you how many potential ad-views you could get each period. In most cases, OHB spaces are located on major roads or highways.
- Cost – This is determined by the location and number of vehicles travelling each day. The higher the traffic, the more expensive space will be.
- Ad-view duration – In terms of duration, you might not get too much attention from the viewers. This could be as short as 2 seconds while highly congested areas could garner attention span of up to 5 minutes.
- Profile – The location will bring about a specific group of viewers as the road can be along a residential area but if it is on a highway, the viewers would be totally different.
Best practices for OHBs
Ultimately, an OHB would very much be a static space. This means that you have to enact the structure carefully, taking into consideration that it will stay there for a while. Hence, they should be:
- At high traffic locations. Take the cue from many along the Federal Highway and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) where there are literally hundreds of thousands of vehicles traveling along each day.
- On the opposite side of the road facing the oncoming traffic. This is because static large Billboards will always crowd around on the left side of the flowing traffic. OHBs on the other side of the road will have better clarity and would be more attractive.
- Image and large texts – Your viewer might not have a lot of time to read your ad if it is too wordy. The idea is to capture their attention, let them know what you are about and move on.
