Marcus Richards
When looking to market your business in the Midwest region of the United States, you’re going to want to focus a good portion of your efforts in gaining traction in Chicago. With a population of approximately 2.7 million people, Chicago is the most populated city in the Midwest. In addition to its hefty population, Chicago is also an international cultural hub, with tourists from around the world visiting the city to partake in its famous art and food. By marketing your business in Chicago, you’re sure to reach a wide consumer base that will help to boost your brand recognition in the Midwest and beyond.
When marketing in Chicago, you’ll want to take advantage of the unique advertising out-of-home (OOH) advertising opportunities that the city officers. From billboards to street furniture to transit advertising, there are so many different ways to market your business to consumers outside of their homes in Chicago. If you’re new to advertising in this amazing city, we’re here to help with some handy tips that you can use to make your Chicago marketing campaign a surefire success.
What is Out-of-Home Advertising?
Out-of-home advertising, also known as OOH advertising, is a form of marketing that businesses use to reach consumers outside of their homes. Sure, you could rely solely on email outreach and social media campaigns in order to market your business, but it can be hard to break out of your own immediate social bubble when you do so. The best way to reach a wide array of consumers is by advertising to them as they go about their daily commutes, errands, and exploring the city (if they happen to be tourists). With a good out-of-home advertising campaign, you can reach consumers that you might not get to otherwise by just marketing to the targeted demographics that you already know appreciate your brand.
What Forms of Out-of-Home Advertising Are Most Popular in Chicago?
Billboards
Billboards in Chicago are a great way to reach a wide array of consumers with your company’s advertisements. There are two main types of billboards available to advertise on in Chicago, print billboards and digital billboards. Print billboards allow you to display a large printed image in order to market your brand, while digital billboards allow you to display a digital image or video. Given their more advanced technological features, digital billboards will run you a slightly higher cost than print billboards: for a typical four-week campaign in Chicago, print billboards will cost approximately $175 to $2,400, while digital billboards will cost approximately $960 to $2,300.
When deciding which type of billboard is best to market your business, it’s important to take your budget into consideration. For instance, you might be able to afford a few print billboard campaigns at a lower cost for the price of one digital billboard campaign. In addition to this, you’ll also want to make sure that you think about the location of the billboard: while you might find a cheaply priced billboard that seems like a deal, it might be worth it to pay for a more expensive billboard that’s in an area with higher foot traffic.
Street Furniture
Street furniture is a form of marketing through which a company places ads on equipment installed in public areas including transit shelters, bus benches, and newsstands. Street furniture can be a great advertising investment in a city like Chicago where a good portion of the population uses public transit to commute each day. Street furniture advertisements also have a long “dwell time,” which means that consumers are more likely to spend a longer amount of time looking at the advertisement (for instance, the amount of time they spend waiting for the bus or train). With increased dwell time, there’s a good chance that consumers are more likely to remember your brand and check it out later.
Transit Advertisements
Transit advertisements are marketing materials that are placed on the sides of buses, trains, and taxis. Transit advertisements have a similar reach to street furniture advertisements as they primarily target heavily trafficked public transit areas.
In Conclusion
When looking to grow brand awareness in the Midwest and beyond, it’s essential to market your business in Chicago, Illinois. With a huge local population and heavy influx of yearly tourists, by marketing your business in Chicago via out-of-home advertising campaigns, you’re sure to reach a wide consumer base that you might not get by advertising via social media or email outreach alone. In order to help get your business recognized by Chicago consumers, you’ll want to utilize billboards, street furniture, and transit advertising campaigns. By using out-of-home advertising strategies like the ones mentioned above, you’re sure to reach a diverse array of consumers and boost your business’ success in a big way. What form of out-of-home advertising do you find most useful when it comes to marketing your business?
