In today’s digital age, marketing strategies have gone beyond traditional print and television ads. Digital marketing strategies have become more effective in reaching out to wider audiences. For universities, digital billboards have become a valuable tool for promoting their brand, attracting potential students, and showcasing their campus culture.

In this blog post, we’ll explore five digital billboard marketing ideas for universities.

Universities are often in competition with one another to attract the best students. As such, they need to stay on top of their marketing game to showcase their unique selling points and brand identity.

While traditional print and television ads have been effective for many years, digital marketing strategies have taken over in recent times, offering more opportunities to reach wider audiences.

One such avenue for digital marketing is through the use of Digital-Out-of-Home (DOOH) billboards. In this blog post, we will explore five digital billboard marketing ideas that universities can use to attract potential students, promote their brand identity, and showcase their campus culture.

How to Create a Successful DOOH Advertising Campaign

1. Showcase Campus Life and Culture

When it comes to attracting students, campus life and culture are often some of the most significant factors that students consider. Digital billboards provide universities with the perfect opportunity to showcase their campus life and culture. By tailoring the images and messages displayed on the billboard, universities can highlight the different aspects of campus life, such as sports events, campus organizations, and social activities.

One way to showcase the university and its culture is by highlighting events and activities through digital billboards. For example, during the football season, the university could advertise upcoming games and tailgating events to create a sense of community and excitement.

Another idea is to showcase different cultural clubs and organizations on campus. The digital billboard could feature a photo of the organization, along with information about their upcoming events or meetings. This would allow students to learn more about different cultures and potentially join a club that interests them.

The university could also use the digital billboard to highlight different campus amenities, such as the gym or library, and showcase the benefits of attending their institution. For instance, they could display statistics on the success rates of graduates, or highlight unique academic programs offered by the university.

Finally, the university could use the digital billboard to showcase the campus’ natural beauty, architecture, and history. This would not only highlight the physical features of the campus but also create a sense of pride and nostalgia among current and former students.

Augusta University digital billboard

(Image source: moderncampus.com)

2. Highlight Successful Alumni

Another effective way to promote a university is to highlight successful alumni.

Many students are drawn to universities that have produced successful graduates, especially if those alumni are in fields that interest them personally. Digital billboards can be used to showcase alumni who have made significant contributions in their respective fields.

For example, a university could feature a successful entrepreneur or notable alumni who started their business while attending the school, or a famous actor who graduated from the drama program.

This type of marketing not only highlights the success of the university’s alumni, but also serves as inspiration for current students.

The design needs to be visually appealing with compelling language that highlights the alumni’s achievement, including the university logo and name to reinforce the connection between the alumni and the university.

The digital billboard’s location should be in high traffic locations to maximize its visibility and message impact.

University of Illinois Springfield digital billboard

(Image source: twitter.com)

3. Promote the Student Body

Universities are made up of diverse student bodies, and highlighting this diversity can be an effective marketing strategy. Digital billboards can be used to showcase the different backgrounds, talents, and interests of the student body.

For example, a university could feature images of students from different countries and cultures or highlight the accomplishments of students in various academic programs. This type of marketing not only showcases the diversity of the student body, but also creates a sense of community and inclusivity.

Developing eye-catching content is a sure way to grab the attention of the viewer.

See these impressive examples Digital Out of Home Examples

Use bold colors, clear fonts, and engaging images to draw the eye and make the message easy to read with a call to action that would encourage potential students to take the next step such as visiting the university’s website or attending an open house.

4. Enhance Brand Identity

Digital billboards can also be used to enhance a university’s brand identity.

By using consistent branding elements such as colors, logos, and slogans, universities can reinforce their brand and create a strong association with their identity.

For example, a university could use its logo and colors in all of its digital billboards and consistently use the same message or slogan. This type of marketing helps to create a strong association between the university and its brand, making it memorable and recognizable to potential students.

With pDOOH, targeted dynamic content messaging would speak directly to the university’s audience, through highlighting strengths, promoting specific programs, or featuring notable alumni as mentioned earlier, whilst keeping the billboard engaging and fresh. This could include video or animations, social media feeds, live updates on university events or even QR codes that link to the university’s website or social media pages.

LSU digital Billboard

(Image source: ocala.com)

5. Improve Search Rankings

Finally, digital billboards can be used to improve a university’s search rankings. By including relevant keywords in the messages displayed on the billboard, universities can increase their online visibility and improve their search rankings.

For example, a university could include keywords such as “top-ranked,” “research-based,” or “award-winning” in its digital billboard messages. This type of marketing helps to improve the university’s search rankings, making it more likely to be discovered by potential students who are searching for universities online.

Remember, monitoring the performance of the digital billboard campaign is vital to its success, whereby content and location adjustment can be done as needed to optimize search engine rankings. At the end, this can help ensure that the university is getting the most value from its investment in digital billboards and maximize ROI.

Digital billboards offer a unique and effective way for universities to promote their brand and attract potential students. By showcasing campus life and culture, highlighting successful alumni, promoting the student body, enhancing brand identity, and improving search rankings, universities can create a strong and memorable digital marketing strategy that would eventually attract more students, create a stronger sense of community and ultimately achieve their mission.

Get Started with Programmatic DOOH Today

With The Neuron, this all happens via single-click processes on a dashboard that’s easy to use and navigate. You can use the platform to track your campaign, with the freedom to edit the campaign times, target audience and message to optimise the performance of your campaigns. And of course, you can view in-depth analytics so you can adjust and optimize in real-time.

It couldn’t be easier to get started with programmatic DOOH. Start now!

Try The Neuron today.

How to Create a Successful DOOH Advertising Campaign