It’s reassuring to see more construction companies than ever making effective use of their site hoardings; the panels that form a basic part of almost every site are a unique opportunity for outdoor advertising – but many contractors, construction firms, and developers could be missing a trick when it comes to their hoarding advertising.
Today we’re taking a look at some of the PressOn team’s top advice for advertising a construction business on a set of large format hoardings. We’re printers, not advertisers or designers, but over the years we’ve picked up on a few things that make the difference between an adequate and an exceptional hoarding graphics campaign…
Make The Most Of Your Print Supplier
The first, and possibly biggest, piece of advice we can give is to work collaboratively with your print supplier from the get-go. Large format print specialists like PressOn have expert insights, gained over hundreds (or thousands) of hoarding projects over many years – so don’t be afraid to involve them in the planning right from the off.
Print firms will be able to give you exceptional inside advice when it comes to the right kind of materials to use, the best machinery and methods to print your hoardings, and the most effective way to install the graphics for maximum impact, longevity, and durability. Draw on your printer’s experience, and trust their know-how.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box either – it’s incredible what we can achieve with large format printing now, so don’t be afraid to suggest something unusual or innovative. We’ve worked on all kinds of unique hoardings, and we love a challenge!
Market Your Marketing
A great set of hoarding graphics makes for fantastic visual content – online, in brochures, across social media, and more. A few great ways you can maximise the impact of your graphics beyond their physical presence include:
- Running social media competitions via branded or project-focussed hashtags (you can even make these a part of your designs)
- Creating case studies for your hoarding graphics and promoting them across the web or in paper form.
- If your designs have particular community relevance, you could reach out to local press to see if they’ll provide you with some PR.
It’s also a really good idea to discuss promotion with your print supplier – chances are, if you’ve created a great hoarding graphics project together, they’ll want to promote the prints too. This is a fantastic ‘win win’ opportunity for marketing; it can be really helpful to give your print supplier your blessing to post to their social media, write case studies for the project etc – they’ll usually agree to mention your business specifically when they do.
Know the rules and regulations
As with many forms of advertising, construction hoardings come with their own set of rules and regulations. It’s important to be aware of what these are (and how they’re likely to impact or influence your designs) before you invest time and money into getting them produced.
Take a look at our ‘hoarding graphics rules and regulations’ blog post for a comprehensive look into what you’ll need to know, but for a quick summary, a few of the most prescient points include:
- You’ll need to inform the local authority of your intentions, and provide them with planning permission for the site at least 14 days in advance.
- Hoarding graphics can’t be more than 38 square metres in area.
- Graphics can’t be displayed for more than 3 years in a row.
- Graphics can’t be displayed for more than 3 months before construction starts taking place at the site.
If you have any doubts, speak to your print firm and/or your local authority (usually the Council) for more information.
What Kind Of Designs Work Well For Hoarding Advertisements?
When it comes to the actual designs for your hoarding graphics, there’s enormous scope for creativity and what you can choose to print and display for your advertisement. With that being said, there are a few things you can take on board to make sure your construction adverts have the highest level of impact:
Less is more – As with many forms of large format printed advertising, hoarding graphics benefit from a bit of restraint when it comes to their designs. Every hoarding campaign should have a clear vision, and it’s a good idea to keep the design from being too cluttered. This can make it easier to read and take in for people passing by from a distance or in a vehicle.
You don’t need to be aggressively ‘salesy’ – Hoardings are a hugely effective way of grabbing attention, but they’re not necessarily the best medium to push people into picking up the phone there and then. They tend to be much more powerful as a brand awareness tool, helping to build a positive reputation for and association with your business. With this in mind…
Try using hoardings for community engagement
One of the most effective ways to use hoarding graphics is not to advertise directly at all; the secret lies in finding ways to engage directly or passively with the local community in which the site is located. This can help develop a positive local reputation, and have more beneficial long term impacts on your overall business.
There are all kinds of ways in which you can do this; you could giving people a look into the construction process with graphics which feature a timeline of the work; you could pay homage to local history or culture; or you could find a way to make your hoardings a well-integrated part of the local community by featuring something like artwork from a nearby school.
Take a look at our blog post for a more detailed look into how hoardings can be a fantastic part of your business’s community engagement!
Planning a project? Get in touch!
If you’re working on a construction project, and want to make the most of a set of hoarding graphics, head over to our contact page and get in touch with one of our expert project managers. They’ll be able to provide a quote, or answer any questions you may have.
