Promote Your Business On Public Transit: A Guide

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Updated: October 8th, 2022

What Is Transit Advertising?

Transit advertising refers to displaying ads on different public transportation modes such as buses, airplanes, trains, and taxis The ads are located inside or outside of public transportation mode. Public transportation attracts many people because of the low transit rates.

The main purpose of transit advertising is to reach the public and acquaint them with your brand. If done right, transit ads provide an excellent medium to reach the target audience.

Transit Advertising Key Takeaways

Transit advertising provides high brand visibility on a daily basis
For successful transit advertising, study the riders' demographic and customize the adverts.
Transit advertising provides you frequent brand exposure as the target audience travels via the same route frequently.
Transit advertising is one of the most effective local marketing strategies that work

Transit Advertising: How Does It Work?

Transit advertising is a good example of Out Of Home Advertising.

Let's assume you are operating a local restaurant, and your target audiences are the students and staff of the local university. You approach a public transportation bus operating from the city to the university and negotiate for advertising space.

Your adverts can be displayed on different mediums including:

Digital advertising on plasma or LCD screens
Interactive advertising such as barcodes on bus tickets or seats
Animated adverts set up at the bus station
Print adverts

Since the students and staff will travel the same route twice a day and five days a week, you enjoy brand exposure repeatedly. Over time, your foot traffic and sales begin to increase thanks to transit advertising.

How much does it cost to advertise on public transit?

Generally, the price ranges between $500 to $4,000 per month.

This is depending on whether you're purchasing exterior and/or interior bus signs or wrapping the entire outside of a bus

Real-World Examples of Successful Transit Advertising.

Here are some of the public transit advertising examples and ideas:

1. How DraftKings Increased Brand Exposure Through Transit Advertising

Entering the 2015 NFL season, DraftKings planned large-scale marketing aimed at attracting new customers and increase brand awareness. Transit advertising was one of the key components of the overall (source) strategies.

Results:

DraftKings campaign was one of the most talked-about OOH campaigns during the 2015 NFL season
New customers and wide brand awareness nationally
The adverts reached over 85% of target consumers
DraftKings enjoyed repeated brand exposure across the 14 target market

Today DraftKings is a household name in the Daily Fantasy Sports industry

2. Mars Chocolate Product Awareness Campaign

American company Mars Chocolate wanted to increase product awareness, and choose transit advertising as one of the strategies.

The company collaborated with the local shuttle service and wrapped stickers on the bus exterior. Commuters were left wanting more of their favorite chocolate bar.

The campaign saw increased product awareness, with sales increase across the cities where the campaign reached.

How To Start a Transit Advertising Campaign

Define the target audience and campaign goals
Choose the route and identify the best transportation mode
Calculate the available budget
Select the appropriate transit Ad formats
Specify the advertising period
Get a quote from the transit ads agency

Transit advertising is all about ensuring an appealing advertisement message that targets the right audience. to come up with visually appealing ads, use design software. Alternatively, hire an experienced expert to design the ads.

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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