Are you a business owner in Chicago hoping to boost the impression your brand makes on your city? Are you now wondering how much a billboard costs to implement in your outdoor marketing campaign?
Let's delve into how easy it is to get your brand displayed prominently on the best billboard ads in high-traffic locations in Chicago when working with us at View Chicago. Using Wallscapes, HotSpots, and Wild Posting advertising displayed in the right places in the right neighborhoods, our neighborhood experts can get the communities to know your brand by equipping you with ideal ad spaces. View Chicago’s outdoor ad placements have the power to help you to captivate the gaze of thousands of passersby daily.
The traditional billboard has stood the test of time and reigns supreme among ad formats, while Chicago takes the crown for location. Regarding the impactful canvas of billboards, only some cities offer the dynamic backdrop and audience diversity Chicago does. The Windy City isn't just a hub of commerce and culture; it's a viable playground for advertisers looking to make a lasting impression.
Pinpoint your target audience and plan your campaign goals around them
Start your campaign with a clear vision to get the best billboard ads. The sheer size of billboards allows them to communicate messages to a massive audience in an instant. A successful campaign takes more than just having your billboard seen, though. It's more effective when billboards are strategic in their visibility. Our neighborhood experts at View Chicago help businesses find the best billboard ad spaces for their billboards to be easily and frequently seen by members of their target audience. We help you locate and utilize high-traffic locations in Chicago where thousands will see your ads, but the ad spaces bring you closest to those you identify as part of your target audience. Consider this when planning your ad campaign goals.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Who is your target audience?
Are they resident Chicagoans or tourists?
What are their demographics, behaviors, and preferences?
What message do you want to convey to them?
Are you promoting a single product, a service, an event, or your entire brand?
Is your goal to reach consumers only, or prospective investors and team members, too?
Hone in on this information and use the answers to these questions to guide you in tailoring your billboard content to resonate with the right people in the right places.
Build the budget that meets your needs, wants, and anything in between
The most effective, best billboard ad campaigns require careful budget planning to ensure that all aspects of the campaign are covered. You'll have to make sure you can financially secure the physical space for your billboard ads, afford eye-catching graphic design services to produce a compelling creative, and pay the installation costs associated with ensuring the billboard is securely affixed and compliant with regulations.
With View Chicago’s placements, you don’t have to worry about ongoing maintenance and upkeep, we take care of all of that for you.
Keeping these aspects of planning and executing an ad campaign in mind, some essential items to include in your budget are:
Billboard space fees
Graphic design services fees
Installation fees
Partner with professionals who can propel your ads based on your campaign goals
Billboard advertising isn't a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Just as Chicago has many diverse neighborhoods, at View Chicago, our billboard spaces come in a diverse range of formats. Why have different formats, and which make for the best billboard ads? The best depends on your needs because each format has different strengths and advantages based on its shape, size, and strategic approaches.
Choosing the most suitable format is your artistic decision, but keep in mind that each billboard format caters to different campaign objectives. Consider the following three billboard ad types.
Wallscapes. Wallscapes may be the larger-than-life format that comes to mind first when you think of billboards. They can be fifteen feet high or as much as thirty feet high with any size width. These are the go-to formats for advertisers wanting to make bold statements in high-traffic locations in Chicago with extensive, disruptive campaigns. It's not just the sheer size of Wallscapes that sets them apart, but their style, too. These ads can be directly affixed or painted onto a building's surface, making them feel more like artwork that's part of the city for residents and tourists in Chi-Town to connect to and admire.
Wild Postings. For a form of effective street-level media, try dedicated Wild Posting advertising. Wild Postings are an excellent option for displaying ads in high-pedestrian, commonly frequented retail and public transit areas. The locals and visitors living, working, and playing in these spaces can easily pass by and look at your Wild Posting advertising multiple times a day. You can use Wild Posting advertising to specifically target millennial demographics and catch their attention as they go to school and work by day and enjoy the city nightlife later.
HotSpots. If you're planning a marketing campaign to reach more of your audience across several spots, consider using HotSpots. These are the best billboard ads to implement in hyperlocalized areas because they're smaller and often very affordable. The affordability of HotSpots allows you to include a greater number of them in your budget so you can cover multiple spots across the Windy City, while their flexibility makes them fitting and appropriate for any need and goal.
Find the formats that fit your finances and campaign goals
The question that's for sure to come up while you're planning your budget is, "How much does a billboard cost?" How much a billboard costs in Chicago can vary depending on factors like location, size, format, ad quantities, and duration. For instance, it'll be more affordable to display billboards in areas that aren't very busy compared to the most active, high-traffic locations Chicago has to offer. Likewise, a Wallscape is a larger format than HotSpot and Wild Posting advertising, with the ability to make bolder, bigger impressions, so it costs more at $5,000 to $50,000/4-weeks compared to $1,000 to $6,000 for the same duration.
Explore billboard ad formats and select the one or combine the ones that align with your campaign goals and the message you're trying to send. Consider the funds you allocated for creative design, production, and rental costs, the nature of your campaign, your target audience's preferences, and more to select the format that'll make the best billboard ads without breaking the bank.
Meet with our View Chicago team of experts
Chicago isn't a monolith; it's a mosaic of neighborhoods, each with its own unique identity and demographics. From the art-focused River North to the intellectual enclave of Hyde Park to the upscale allure of Gold Coast, these neighborhoods are microcosms of varying interests and lifestyles. Expert guidance will shine at helping you tailor your ad messages to specific audiences, ensuring your billboards resonate deeply within each community. Rely on the years of experience in the industry, guidance, insights, and knowledge of View Chicago's neighborhood experts. Our team knows the neighborhoods and can help you conquer them with the best billboard ads.
Hand-pick locations and formats with our help
Selecting the most ideal and strategic locations for your billboards is paramount to the success of your campaign. Audiences are all different and have different buying power and engagement with the brands they see.
Our experts at View Chicago know what makes audiences different, can identify all the high-traffic locations in Chicago's neighborhoods, and provide the ideal vacant spaces that are key to getting your message displayed in front of the right eyes who will engage and take action in response to viewing your billboard ads. Relying on our extensive knowledge of the city's landscape, you can identify, use, and make the most of prime spots that guarantee maximum visibility.
Promote in places where your products match Chicagoans' preferences
Say you create a dynamic and visually captivating billboard advertising a new nightclub, an art exhibit, or a live music event catering to the energetic and social crowd. Our View Chicago experts know your events and services would appeal to the residents and visitors in River North. We can help you choose this neighborhood, with its vibrant nightlife filled with hot go-to upscale restaurants, bars, and art galleries, as the perfect place to display HotSpots or Wild Posting advertising suited to young professionals, foodies, art lovers, and more living, working, and having fun in the neighborhood.
Maybe your establishment isn't a nightclub but a fine dining eatery. Or, perhaps you're the owner of a luxury brand, and you want to promote it through an elegant, sophisticated creative you designed. In this case, our experts will help you transform your creatives into HotSpots lining the lavish streets of Gold Coast, a neighborhood synonymous with opulence, high-end boutiques, and upscale residences, frequented and lived in by a mixture of affluent families, couples, and well-established professionals.
Design your creative
Considering the billboard ad format and location that best suits your brand and campaign goals, design your creative imagining how it will look from certain streets and viewpoints in the neighborhoods your target audience members frequent.
Are you trying to advertise a family-friendly event or recreational space? Consider designing a creative that will look aesthetically pleasing as a HotSpot or Wild Posting advertising among the lush green spaces and lakefront backdrop of the high-spirited, youthful Lincoln Park neighborhood. A heartwarming, brightly colored billboard that matches the residential and high-traffic locations in Chicago and the bustling, energetic, upbeat atmosphere of the young adults and families in this area.
You design your creative, and we strategically display it! Considering the height and scale of some of the ad spaces we provide, we suggest you keep in mind:
Being clear and concise in your creativity. The hustle and bustle of the city, especially in areas like The Loop or River North, give passersby limited time to absorb your message. For plenty of the best billboard ads in the busiest areas, simplicity is critical. Avoid cluttering your billboard with too much text or intricate details. Instead, focus on a single, compelling message people traveling around Chi-Town will understand in just a few seconds.
Creating a strong visual hierarchy. Guide the viewers' gaze through a clear visual order. Place the most essential elements, such as your headline and call to action, in prominent positions where viewers will see them first. Use font sizes and positioning to establish a hierarchy that leads the viewer's eyes exactly where you want them to go.
Wisely using colors as bold as your ad space. Consider selecting a color palette that resonates with your brand and message and is bold and contrasting enough to ensure high visibility against the backdrop of the city. Try designing a creative that fits in just as much as it stands out so it feels like a part of the city and the audience connects emotionally to it and trusts it in ways that ultimately boost your brand familiarity.
Design a flexible creative with a style that can be switched when you introduce new campaigns
In the dynamic world of advertising, staying fresh and relevant is essential. That's why View Chicago empowers you to switch your ad creative whenever you introduce a new campaign. Typically, the best billboard ad campaigns succeed in 4-week terms, making monthly upgrades ideal, however, if you want to update your content seasonally, quarterly, or even maintain an iconic evergreen ad all year long, you have the flexibility to adapt to your marketing strategies.
When you're ready to amplify your message and reach new heights of visibility in Chicago, View Chicago is here to help you transform your vision of the creative you design into a reality, affixing your creation to the most ideal, strategically located surfaces. Let's make your mark on the cityscape and leave an impression that lasts. Your audience is waiting! Get in touch with us today, and we'll enhance your OOH ad campaign in prime, high-traffic locations in Chicago and ensure your audience never misses out on what you have to say.