For many Illinois businesses, attracting commuter and drive-by traffic is the difference between enormous profitability and bankruptcy. While billboard advertising is an ideal way to reach drivers in their cars, when just as in real estate, the rules of advertising are three: location, location, location. Marketing your business, service, or product to a specific demographic is the only way to monetize the hard-earned money that gets allocated to marketing. The position of your billboard is far more important than any catchy slogan or design feat. Billboard ads that fail to draw traffic aren’t failing because of their contents or because they are billboards are ineffective. (See especially the discussion of Bigfoot advertising.)
Take, for instance, the goal of reaching commuters to and from Chicago to Waukegan or the north shore. Lake County advertising is a must for any business that relies on commuter traffic. Lake county is an extremely desirable place to advertise for a number of reasons. First, the upwardly mobile population makes the county the 31st richest in the country — wealth that can translate into tremendous returns in sales of products and services, or in capturing the attention of the much sought-after “influencers” or “decision-makers,” whose social capital will multiply the effect of converting them into customers.
For those looking to capitalize even more on suburban wealth, Barrington advertising provides a good way to target a lot of Chicago suburbanites. Billboards in Cary or Fox River Grove are truly in the faces of of the many thousands of commuters who make this trip every day. While not all of them are rich, there is enough wealth in Barrington to make advertising to its residents worthwhile. While marketers for local services like gas and restaurants can do well, those offering higher-end services can make constant impressions on wealthy, middle-aged suburban parents. Cosmetic dentistry practices have benefited, as will non-profits, extracurricular activities, and — especially in this housing market — real estate companies offering experience as their point of distinction. Lake county advertising has seen similar successes with the latter.
Bigfoot advertising functions in a similar fashion. While the state line is not exactly jammed with traffic, the airport traffic and interstate freight traffic that passes from Wisconsin to Illinois and vice-versa make it the perfect place to advertise for businesses that rely heavily on patronage from users of the interstate: travelers to and from the airport, truckers who carry cargo interstate, and commuters who travel the same route. Gas stations, restaurants, hotels, airlines, traffic lawyers, and even transportation to and from the airport or across state lines are big beneficiaries of this well-placed advertising, which is really the only way to reach travelers on specific routes. We can see how this location works most clearly when we juxtapose with Barrington advertising.
Billboard advertising, like all advertising, allows marketers to target specific users. The same commuter and traveling routes are used by people who have a lot in common as far as their needs for products for services; targeting them and converting them is just a matter of location, as all three examples have shown.
Tags: Advertising, barrington advertising, Outdoor Advertising