Last updated on Feb 28, 2024

What are the best practices for designing effective transit ads in outdoor advertising?

Transit ads are a type of outdoor advertising that use buses, trains, taxis, and other vehicles as moving billboards. They can reach a large and diverse audience, especially in urban areas where people spend more time commuting and traveling. However, transit ads also face some challenges, such as limited space, fast-moving viewers, and cluttered environments. To design effective transit ads, you need to follow some best practices that can help you capture attention, communicate your message, and motivate action. Here are six tips to help you create transit ads that work.

1 Know your goals

Before you start designing your transit ad, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Do you want to raise awareness, generate interest, or drive sales? Your goal will influence your choice of format, content, and call to action. For example, if you want to build brand recognition, you might use a large bus wrap that showcases your logo and slogan. If you want to promote a special offer, you might use a smaller bus shelter ad that includes a coupon code or a QR code.

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Aleeha Raheem

Effie Award Winner | Brand Strategist | Content Creator | Creative Guru
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Keep it simple, and ensure that the communication in the advertisement fulfills the goal of your campaign, whether it is creating a brand personality, directing your customer to a specific website, or simply informing your audience about something.

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2 Choose the right format

Transit ads come in various formats, such as bus wraps, bus panels, train cards, taxi toppers, and bus shelters. Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your budget, target audience, and message. For example, bus wraps are more expensive but have more impact and visibility. Bus panels are cheaper but have less space and exposure. Train cards are ideal for longer messages and captive audiences. Taxi toppers are great for reaching pedestrians and drivers in busy areas. Bus shelters are effective for delivering detailed information and engaging viewers.

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Terri Scott

Brand Identity | Digital Marketing | Communications Strategy
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Beyond just the logistics of where your ads will be placed - think of where your audience is. Do your customers prefer the bus or taxi to get around? Think also of what type of ad will resonate with them. What kind of emotion elicited will make them act? Transit ads are ads that are seen briefly, so consider how to make your ad memorable.

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3 Keep it simple

Transit ads have only a few seconds to catch the eye of the viewers, who are often distracted by other stimuli. Therefore, you need to keep your design simple and clear. Avoid using too many words, colors, images, or fonts. Use a catchy headline, a relevant image, and a clear logo. Make sure your text is large enough to be read from a distance and contrast with the background. Use simple and direct language that conveys your value proposition and benefits.

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4 Be creative

While simplicity is important, you also need to be creative and original to stand out from the crowd. You can use humor, emotion, surprise, or curiosity to attract attention and create a memorable impression. You can also use the shape, size, or movement of the vehicle to enhance your message or create an illusion. For example, you can use the windows of a bus to create eyes for an animal character, or use the wheels of a taxi to create a clock for a time-sensitive offer.

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5 Include a call to action

A call to action is a phrase that tells the viewers what you want them to do next. It can be a phone number, a website, a social media handle, or a QR code. A call to action is essential to measure the effectiveness of your transit ad and to generate leads or sales. However, you need to make sure that your call to action is easy to follow and relevant to your audience. For example, you can use a QR code to direct viewers to a landing page that offers more information or a discount. You can also use a hashtag to encourage viewers to join a conversation or a contest on social media.

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Susan Coelius Keplinger

CEO at Force of Nature | Performance Marketing at Scale
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Make it easy for viewers to take the next step. Whether it's visiting a website, scanning a QR code, or following on social media, your call to action should be clear and compelling.

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6 Test and optimize

The final step to design effective transit ads is to test and optimize them. You need to monitor the performance of your transit ads and collect feedback from your audience. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, surveys, or social media analytics to track the results of your call to action and measure the reach, engagement, and conversion of your transit ads. You can also use A/B testing to compare different versions of your transit ads and see which one performs better. Based on the data and insights, you can make adjustments to improve your transit ads and achieve your goals.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the best practices for designing effective transit ads in outdoor advertising?

1

2

3

4

5

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7

1 Know your goals

2 Choose the right format

3 Keep it simple

4 Be creative

5 Include a call to action

6 Test and optimize

7 Here’s what else to consider

Advertising

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What are the best practices for designing effective transit ads in outdoor advertising?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Know your goals

2 Choose the right format

3 Keep it simple

4 Be creative

5 Include a call to action

6 Test and optimize

7 Here’s what else to consider

Advertising

Rate this article

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