Transit advertising gets everywhere. Literally.
Transit ads on and in city buses, taxis, trains, subway cars, and other forms of public transportation advertise in places where static billboards simply can’t – which makes transit advertising a fantastic and low-cost way to market your business all over town.
In addition, transit advertising also includes ads at public transport precincts, such as bus stations, subway stations, and train platforms where dwell times are high for thousands and thousands of daily commuters.
Top Advantages of Transit Advertising
Let’s dig into the top advantages of transit advertising for SMBs.
High Exposure
One of the major benefits of transit advertising is long exposure times. The average ride on a bus or subway is 45-47 minutes, allowing SMBs to gain massive audience exposure for their transit ads placed within these vehicles.
Travelers are also essentially a captive audience. With little to do, riders are highly likely to read ads – often more than once. In addition, many different people use public transport – professionals, families, shoppers, tourists, and retirees. In short, transit advertising is a sure-fire way to get your message in front of the people you want to reach.
(Image source: contravision.com)
High Frequency
Many people’s daily routines are regular – those who ride buses, trains, or subways to work, school, college, etc., do so repeatedly. This means that your target customers will be exposed to your ad again and again – perhaps on 20 different days over the course of a month – no matter if the ad is located on the vehicle itself, or at a station, platform, or shelter.
Time + Location
Digital transit advertising is an extremely useful tool for local advertisers as precise transit media can be selected at precise locations at precise times of day using powerful programmatic digital out of home (pDOOH) platforms like The Neuron. Advertisers can launch an advertising campaign promoting a particular product or service in a particular shopping area, ready to draw the attention of nearby shoppers arriving in the neighborhood.
Add to these the overarching benefits of out of home (OOH) in general, and it’s no wonder more and more businesses are turning to transit advertising to reach commuters and engage customers.
(Image source: oaaa.org)
Top Tips for Transit Advertisements
The OAAA’s research demonstrates that out of home advertising offers excellent value, with more consumers paying attention to OOH and wider demographics catered for than ever before. The advantages of digital out of home (DOOH) are clear and this extends to transit advertising as well.
As with any advertising medium there are, however, certain best practices to follow for brands to realize them. Here are some top tips for your next (or even your first!) transit advertising campaign.
When It Comes to Copy, Less Is More
This is particularly true for moving ads – digital taxi top ads, for example, or digital ads on the sides of buses. Since these vehicles will likely be in motion when the ad is seen, the message needs to be quick to read, simple, and succinct.
(Image source: taxifarefinder.com)
In many cases for moving ads, your brand name and logo will often suffice if your aim is to raise brand awareness over town. However, if you do have a particular message, product, or offer you want to promote, you need to keep the copy short, sweet, easy to read from near and far, and easy to remember.
Use Eye-Catching Colors
No matter if you’re advertising on the top, side, or inside of a public transportation vehicle, your ad needs to pop into people’s view. Don’t design an ad that’s the same color as the vehicle it will appear on, as it will get lost. Get to know the colors of the buses, trains, taxis, and ridesharing vehicles you will be advertising on and design your graphic and message so it will stand out against them.
(Image source: topmediaadvertising.co.uk)
With today’s digital transit media, this is, in fact, a relatively simple task. Using powerful programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) platforms like The Neuron, it’s easy to upload many different versions of your creative to be displayed on the digital screens of different vehicles. With single-click processes, The Neuron makes optimizing your transit advertising campaigns a cinch.
Read more: How to Create a Successful DOOH Advertising Campaign: What It Takes to Get Attention
Use Visuals and Video as Well as Text
When it comes to transit advertising, the most important thing is to make your design memorable. To do this, use graphics that wow viewers. This often means using more graphic elements than words – with the copy complementing the image in a clever, funny, or witty way.
(Image source: nymag.com)
With digital transit advertising, video can also be used to really grab commuters’ attention. What’s more, as today’s digital transit media screens are of increasingly high quality, it’s now possible to create some truly innovative campaigns that are contextually relevant to the surroundings.
This is precisely what the marketers charged with promoting the miniseries The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe did on digital signs in the New York City Subway. Recreating Monroe’s iconic image of her skirt blowing in the updraft from subway trains through the sidewalk grating, each time a train pulled in or departed a station, the skirt-blowing scene played out.
(Video source: youtube.com)
Use The DOOH Design Studio from The Neuron
Of course, one of the most important things for a successful transit advertising campaign is to ensure your ads are professionally designed. The great news is that today, you can have your ads professionally designed without having to fork out for the services of a professional designer.
Using the DOOH Design Studio from The Neuron, you gain immediate access to hundreds of professionally designed advertising templates, created by DOOH design experts using techniques that are proven to maximize the recall rates and appeal of your ads.
These templates are designed to work perfectly across all types of digital transit displays – all you need to do is add your copy, your logo, then choose your font and color scheme and you’re ready to go in minutes.
And the amazing thing about this service is that it’s 100% free to use, saving your business hundreds if not thousands on design costs.
Get Started with Transit Advertising Today with The Neuron
With your perfect ad designed, you can use The Neuron to hand select transit screens in your target locality, set your conditions (time of day, day of week, weather conditions, demographics, etc.), and the platform does the rest.
It’s never been easier to get started with transit advertising. Try The Neuron today.
