When designing your marketing plan, you likely have covered all the regular advertising and social media marketing avenues. Has your business considered effective billboard advertising?

Today large scale visual display advertising is not just large billboards splashed on the side of the road. There are several options available for a business owner to choose from. Ads placed on the sides of buses or transit benches and shelters can be highly effective. Modern day billboards can vary, from LED lighted screens at sporting game events or community centers, to flatscreen television monitor advertising in strategically placed spots at transit and train stations. Large format video billboards are the latest form of technology, allowing full video ads to be displayed along the freeway.

Why is billboard advertising effective? People spend several hours each week commuting to and from work, running errands, and generally driving from place to place. They’re more likely to see strategically placed ads on buses, billboards and sites around the city, than seeing ads in newspapers or magazines.

Billboards can be attention grabbers with their bold type, graphics and striking photographs. Everyone looks up to see what a billboard has to say. The message will get driven home, day by day. When your customer needs your service, your business name will pop into their heads. Repetition is truly beneficial in advertising. Billboards reach your audience quickly and easily.

Best of all, billboards can be seen by everyone! It’s not just drivers who’ll see your ads, but transit commuters and even people taking a leisurely stroll down the street.

Billboard advertising is considerably cheaper than advertising a television ad, a radio spot or in a national newspaper. Costs are much lower for electronic billboard advertising. Ads can be rotated or kept up 24/7. With the number of commuters on the road every day, that’s thousands of views per day. You’re not likely to get that many people reading your ad in a newspaper. It’s harder to ignore a billboard!

Billboard advertising is way more effective than Yellow Pages. Yellow Pages advertising only works when your customer has the book. If not, it requires your customer to do a Yellow Pages search online to look up a business. But when they drive past billboards, they are creating a list of viable options in their head. A consumer will be thinking, “I can go to XYZ restaurant for lunch, and buy my new tires down the road, and buy insurance at the mall,” after they read billboard signs.

Your audience will see your ads as they commute around town. It’s not necessary for them to make a decision to buy a magazine or newspaper, or even turn on the television. Billboards can point the way to your business, particularly if it’s a hotel, restaurant, or tourist site. Let the board guide their way, working much like a sign does. A small business can truly benefit from billboard advertising.

A well-placed billboard on a busy freeway can provide even more customers than one just located around town. Billboards are available in a wide range of sizes, locations, and formats.

As you plan your 2014 advertising budget, leave some room in there for large format visual advertising. Please contact Direct West Media Group for all your billboard advertising solutions!

As more people buy cell phones, web surfing on a small smart phone screen is the norm rather than surfing from home.

As a business owner many considerations need to be taken into account when considering whether you need a mobile version of your website. More users are browsing websites on their phones rather than on a desktop or laptop computer. At any given time how many people are actually on their computers right now? Look around at all the people with phones in their hands. If they’re not talking or texting, they’re on the net.

When people are going through their day, questions come up that need to be quickly answered with their mobile phones. Information is at their finger tips.

Mobile-ready web pages enable viewers to interact with your business easier than trying to view your full website on their tiny phone screens. A full website can slow down viewing on a mobile device. You don’t want your customers to give up before your site has loaded. Increase your conversion rate by offering a mobile site for customers to use.

A mobile website optimized for usage enables a viewer to quickly view images and text on their small cell phone screens. They can find the information they need quickly. Menus are quick and easy to find. A contact form can be filled out in seconds for any questions they may have.

It’s easy to see how mobile use can surpass laptop or desktop computer usage, as it can take several minutes of time to turn on a desktop computer. Why do that when you have your phone at hand? Your mobile website can be accessible from anywhere by your clients. Mobile websites can be found using any smart phone, it doesn’t matter what type it is.

Potential customers need to have quick access to your contact information or they’re going to shop somewhere else. Your email, phone, and address need to be quickly obtained by a few strokes of the keyboard.

A mobile site presents all your information in one easy to scroll vertical column. Photos are scaled down accordingly. There’s no need to scroll left and right or pinch the screen down. The type is legible. A mobile site may not contain as much information as a desktop version. You many need to scale down the resolution and size of photos so they don’t take a long time loading on your mobile page.

Don’t lose customers because your website hasn’t translated well to a mobile device. Your competition has a mobile website so you need one too!

Can there be any issues with running a mobile site that you should take into consideration? For one thing, your store application may work online, but not appear on a mobile site. You must be careful choosing a store application for your online web store, as it may not translate well over to a mobile site. Is there a point to having a store that only works on a computer when most of your customers will be shopping from their smart phones?

Google Yahoo, Bing, etc. all rank websites that are optimized for mobile usage much higher than a regular website. This is important when planning your SEO: Search Engine Optimization. This translates to a higher ranking on a Google first page.

If you need mobile website solutions please contact Direct West Media Group to help you with all your marketing and advertising needs.

You’ve done your research and know there’s a market for your business. It can take time to build up your clientele. How exactly should you start your marketing plan? There are many different avenues, some more costly than others. How can you create a marketing plan while still having time to run your business?

There are almost as many advertising and marketing groups as there are businesses. Wading through your options can be much like a ship at sea trying to find the nearest lighthouse beacon. Some marketing groups are brighter than others. You can’t base quality on the amount of money they charge.

Contact Direct West Media Group for all your business and marketing needs. We provide a one-stop shop with our experienced Account Managers. Our staff have the expertise and knowledge that you require in order to successfully market your business. We’ll work within your budget and provide fair market pricing for our services. We’ll work with you to create a marketing plan that works for your business, not something that comes from any ship’s hold. Each type of business needs an individualized marketing plan.

If you’ve contacted the busiest ad agencies only to find that they don’t return your calls, it’s time to find someone who genuinely cares about your business. Direct West Media Group’s account managers will develop a business relationship with you. They’ll be available to you during normal business hours should you have any questions. No question is too big or small. Please ask away!

As a business owner you don’t have time to spend updating online social media or obtaining printing quotes. Even setting up social media accounts can take some time. There’s pitfalls to each. Did you know that Twitter will suspend your account if you do too many Follows in one day? Did you know that you can’t sign up on Linkedin as a business, that it has to be under the owner’s name? There are so many little rules, and you don’t want to be shut out of your social media account before you’ve even gotten started. Finding the right printer for your business marketing tools can be tricky too. Some printers only make signs, some only make stationery. If you’re wanting to publish a small informative brochure it can be tricky finding an excellent printer who’ll provide you with great service.

With Direct West Media Group, you can find out how to make your business stand out in the crowd. We provide a variety of business services, from enhancing brand awareness and recognition to advertising and marketing services. We’ll help you increase sales and find the ideal clientele.

A new business owner likely doesn’t have the time or expertise to handle their own direct marketing and advertising. Don’t push it off to the side, leaving your business sinking. Hire an expert to help you out, so you can meet your business goals tomorrow.

While not start by visiting the Direct West Media Group’s Main page and fill out our easy online form. Get started on your way to fulfilling the dreams of your new business startup. Direct West Media Group will help you find your way through the fog!

Our next blog post will talk about why you need to hire Direct West Media Group Inc. NOW!