A big election year is quickly approaching. If the last Presidential election is any indicator, this coming November will be contain a polarizing event that drives people to the polls. With so much potential activity in this next election, it’s important to ensure your candidate has the right coverage to maintain visibility for voters. A complete strategy includes TV appearances, debates, and commercials, as well as other forms of advertising that offer an effective way to improve visibility and that is where political billboards come in.

Outdoor advertising especially provides a great way to reach your constituency, around the country, as a political candidate. With the static nature of outdoor political billboards you have the ability to place your message in a single spot for a lengthy amount of time, increasing awareness as commuters drive past your billboard each day.

The trick is to know where to put your ads up and for how long to maximize the exposure potential during a political race.

Familiarizing yourself with statewide voter turnout

Focusing your attention on states where voter turnout is already historically high is a good place to start when researching outdoor advertising options. In Georgia, for example, voters turned out in record numbers during the last presidential election. Over four million votes were counted.

Additionally, Georgia has continued to show high voter activity in subsequent elections. The state ranked 12th in the country for voter turnout during the 2018 midterm elections, with 55 percent of the population coming out to vote across the state.

These numbers demonstrate that Georgia is a state where people will pay attention to political advertising because they’re already active in the process. They won’t gloss over a political billboard related to an upcoming political campaign. They’re already a vested audience even before they drive past your outdoor advertising each day it’s up to see.

Capitalizing on county-specific voter turnout

After establishing whether or not a state has the level of voter turnout to make outdoor advertising there worthwhile, the next step is to see if there are any high pockets of activity. These are great areas to target either way. For an area with a large number of existing supporters, you can reaffirm their commitment and remind them to vote. In areas where your popularity is in the minority, you can put up ads to try and sway some votes.   

In Georgia, voter turnouts across all counties primarily falls between 70-79 percent but there are a few counties where the numbers reach slightly higher. For example, the counties surrounding Atlanta, Forsyth to the north and Fayette and Morgan to the south, have turnouts in the low 80 percent. Digging deeper into voter turnout data can impact your strategy in where specifically you’ll utilize outdoor advertising for your political campaign,

Targeting your billboards

Once you know what areas will most likely serve you best to create political billboards in 2020, you should establish a timeframe for advertising. It’s important to note that in Georgia, along with many other states, early voting is a popular thing. Whether hitting the polls to beat the rush or sending in an absentee ballot, voters don’t always wait until election day to make their choice. As a result, it’s important to get your billboards up with enough time for even early voters to have repeat exposure.

In the last presidential election, in Georgia, 45 days prior to election day, over two million Georgians had already cast their vote. It’s a good rule of thumb to get your political billboards up at least three months ahead of election day to maximize coverage..

Finding the best billboard location

Researching the best billboard locations can be tricky since what may look like a great deal on paper, for the extended amount of time you want to advertise, actually isn’t. Often, the photograph of a political billboard location, in its ad, is misleading. You may see it as an option that’s highly visible and close to the highway or intersection you’re trying to target. The picture could simply be capturing the location from its best angle, neglecting to show you there’s actually a huge obstruction between the billboard and the road. 

The best way to avoid advertising on a hard-to-see billboard is to physically go and visit each potential location. This confirms that you’ll have the highest visibility and the greatest return on your investment. This also takes up a lot of time. Companies like Effortless Outdoor Media relieve you of this responsibility by doing the legwork for you. By visiting potential billboard locations around Atlanta, they have the knowledge to tell you the truth as to whether a specific billboard is really a “good deal” or not.

Getting the highest ROI

Narrowing down your location and finding the right political billboard means you can focus in on the benefits of using outdoor advertising during a political campaign. Because of their placement throughout a city, billboards give your campaign a static spot to display your message and put a face to the campaign. Daily, commuters will not only see the candidate but get a quick reminder of where they stand on a relevant platform. If you have a lot to say as a candidate, consider finding space on a digital billboard in order to change your message at any time to continually inform voters of where you stand on a series of issues. You can also notify voters of when you’ll be in town and where they can gather to show their support through this updated medium for billboard advertising.

Using a cost-effective, highly visible advertising option

Political campaigns always seem to go by fast. Especially with all the moving parts candidates manage between public appearances, debates and other obligations. It’s important a cohesive advertising strategy is in place that provides an ample amount of exposure, and the big and bold placement of a political billboard can do just that. 

In order to create the right outdoor advertising strategy in 2020 it’s highly beneficial to work with a business who already knows the area and knows about political billboards. The decades-long experience of Effortless Outdoor Media means you get customized attention to help locate the best billboard for your campaigning goals. Let us help you with your political billboards in 2020.

For the best billboard and outdoor advertisement prices, placement and service contact us now at info@effortlessoutdoormedia.com and we will respond within 24 hours or less. We are the best billboard company in Atlanta.