Are you literally letting potential customers pass you by? If your vehicle carries no mark of brand signage, then you are likely missing out on advertising opportunities!
According to Statista, there were an estimated 286 million vehicles on the roads of the US in the first quarter of 2023. Out of these, an average driver would pass by at least 9 million vehicles in a year. That means advertising on vehicles has plenty of hidden potential for your brand to grow.
Moreover, The Trucking Association found that 98% of Americans responded in the affirmative to recalling advertisements on vehicles (especially larger vehicles). You can rest assured that driver inattention will be the least of your problems.
Now, the process may seem challenging and require some trial and error. Fret not! This guide has you covered in terms of navigating the world of affordable vehicle advertising.
What is Vehicle Branding: A Few Real-World Examples
In short, vehicle branding can be defined as an effective marketing campaign on wheels. It is the process where businesses use different kinds of signage on their cars, local vans, or trucks to advertise their brand for purposes of raising awareness and generating leads.
The two most prominent real-world examples of vehicle branding are logistics companies, such as DHL or FedEx, and the popular beverage brand, Pepsi. Pepsi even openly commented on this type of strategy, stating that the brand receives adequate exposure before a captive audience.
Since it uses full-body wraps on large trucks, people on the roads (especially in traffic) can hardly miss noticing them. As for DHL, the bright yellow-colored vans or trucks with a simple brand logo in red is enough to create a lasting professional image in the passerby’s mind. This company’s trick to successful mobile branding is to keep the interface simple and tie it all to the brand’s essence (its signature yellow and red colors) with minimal text or graphics.
How Can Your Brand Benefit from Vehicle Branding?
According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, graphics printed on a local van, car, or truck can generate as many as 16 million impressions in a year. That’s a marketing opportunity even better than that offered by newspapers! Listed below are the benefits of vehicle branding –
1. Reach a Wider Audience in a Non-Invasive Way
Marketers often struggle between grabbing the attention of potential customers and appearing intrusive. Vehicle branding turns out to be the middle path through which you can reach a wider audience segment without invading their time and space.
In a single day of travel, your vehicle has the chance of being noticed by 88% of fellow drivers on the road. These numbers can be even higher in case of traffic jams. Moreover, you can easily drive your car or van to areas where your target audience is likely to congregate.
You may use this advertising tactic for years, and it will still work as good as ever. This makes vehicle branding an effective tool to reach a wider audience on a long-term basis.
2. A Cost-Effective Marketing Tool
Billboards, though easily visible and effective, are highly expensive. This is primarily because they are a piece of real estate that offers not only commercial potential but also involve heavy capital expenditure. Even the printing costs are high, depending upon the size of the billboard.
Costs can get even higher if you plan to switch the ad once a month or at different locations. You can avoid such exorbitant costs simply by branding your vehicle. Most forms of vehicle branding signage are pretty affordable. Plus, we’re talking about a moving billboard, which offers the greater potential of being noticed.
This makes vehicle branding a cost-effective option.
3. A Highly Flexible Form of Advertising
Customer tastes and preferences are evolving at a lightning pace. The only way to keep abreast is to continue to evolve as a brand. This means your branding will also go through changes in the form of an upgraded look, seasonal offerings, special discounts, and promotions, etc.
Advertising all of that becomes easier with vehicle wraps and signs. They are a highly flexible marketing tool that can be taken down intermittently to make room for time-sensitive offers. This is much more challenging and expensive to do with traditional advertising options like print ads.
Types of Vehicle Signage Available
Another reason you should consider investing in vehicle branding includes the wide number of available options. Invest in a relevant type of vehicle signage depending upon your business needs and create brand awareness or generate new leads.
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Full or Partial-Body Vehicle Wraps
Full or partial-body wraps are vehicle signage that covers the entire body of the vehicle (in the case of the former) or anywhere from 25% to 75% of the body (in the latter’s case). This option allows brands to make a solid statement through an endless scope of creativity.
They are ideal for larger businesses as they involve greater capital expenditure as compared to other vehicle signage options.
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Body Lettering
Vehicle lettering is a type of signage printed onto the vehicle’s side or back glass. This kind is usually used to convey brand details such as the service name, contact number, email address, etc. Body lettering may be the most inexpensive option among vehicle signage and is best suited for brands in the service industry.
However, their scope is also somewhat limited because you cannot play around with colors or graphics to make them stand out.
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Magnetic Signs
Magnetic car signs are an affordable option for vehicle signage for small businesses. These signs can easily last for years down the line, which makes the replacement costs minimal.
As observed by SignWarehouse, these signs are highly effective marketing tools for businesses that are constantly evolving and undergoing branding changes. This is because magnetic signs are versatile and can be taken down or switched with ease. Also, they’re easily customizable in terms of shape, size, colors, etc., for different kinds of advertising needs.
- Stickers and Decals
Also known as spot graphics, these are small stickers that can be easily pasted on any part of the vehicle. Their most common usage is the side or back of the truck or van. This signage option is ideal for businesses with large fleets and constricted budgets.
In most cases, this vehicle signage displays attention-grabbing offers or quotes because its scope for information display is limited.
Important Dos and Don’ts of Vehicle Branding
It is irrefutable that vehicle branding is a class-apart advertising option, but before you slap on a decal or magnetic sign onto your vehicle hastily, there are some important dos and don’ts to be careful about. Listed below are tips to ensure you do your vehicle branding the right way.
1. DO Remember Your Respective State’s Vehicle Branding Regulations
Let’s start with the legal aspect – it may be illegal to paste decals or signs onto certain rails or windows of the vehicle. For instance – Wisconsin makes all window decals illegal, but Colorado allows window branding as long as the view remains unobstructed.
Check with your respective state’s vehicle branding rules before you proceed. Also, choose the branding location based on the type of the vehicle. The aim is to ensure the information is clearly visible, even from a distance. Accordingly, you can choose the sides or the back of the vehicle’s body.
2. DON’T Overload the Car or Truck with Graphics
A vehicle’s body is not the place to try and list down every possible service your business offers. If there is way too much going on, people will just avoid looking at the signage altogether.
Don’t mess with their eyes, and ensure the most important information is up for display – your business name, contact number, and the basics of what you specialize in. In the process, you can use your brand’s logo, fonts, and brand colors.
Your audience has only a few minutes or seconds to retain the information, so make it as digestible as possible.
3. DO Keep the Text Easily Readable
Some businesses choose overtly flowery fonts that only make it harder to read what’s written. Keep in mind that you’re advertising on a moving object, not a stationary one.
If you want your viewers to be able to read what’s written even from a distance, it is important to choose the font style and size carefully. Stay miles away from hand-lettering and calligraphic fonts. In case you wish to experiment, select only one word with a flowery font keeping the rest straightforward. This should, of course, be consistent with your brand’s image.
The same goes with the colors and pictures – keep the look clean and simple. Make the text as easily readable for the viewer as possible.
Final Thoughts
Because vehicle branding is so effective, there is more than one way to go wrong with it. Companies that ensure their message is clear and concise, the text is easily readable from a distance, and take the help of a professional vehicle branding installation service, make the most of their rolling billboards.
Well-planned graphics make the brand pop out in a crowd of bland vehicles, thereby conveying professionalism and seriousness. Motorists and pedestrians who noticed the vehicle (on the go or parked) may later choose to do more research on the brand or directly visit one of its retail stores.
On a final note, vehicle branding is a double-edged sword as brands must choose vehicles in good condition and ensure drivers practice good roadmanship, or they’ll receive a bad rep in the market.
As a business owner in today’s ever-evolving commercial setting, you have to come up with the best marketing strategies to ensure you’re standing out from the crowd. One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to do so and promote your business is to get your vehicle involved in the process. By using your car as a medium for brand advertising, you can easily raise awareness, boost your reputation, and attract potential customers to your products and services.
First and foremost, you’ll need to decide which type of vehicle you’ll strapping your advertisement onto – you can go with anything from cars to vans, trucks to trailers. When it comes to the cost of using vehicles as a medium for ads, it is relatively inexpensive. Plus, it allows you to get your message across in an effective and engaging way.
Once you’ve decided on a car, you have to choose the type of advertisement you’ll use. You can opt for an attractive, eye-catching design or a simple message that instantly draws people’s attention. There are a few things you could consider as well before investing in car wraps or magnets – find something that will make your message stand out, as well as easily recognizable and memorable.
Next, you’ll have to market your services. Due to the eye-catching nature of the advertisement, your car will be a great tool to spread the word about your business. There are no limits when it comes to how and where you can take your car – you can drive it around town, participate in local road races, exhibit it at trade shows, use it as a taxi, or have it roam around specific locations to spread the word.
Finally, don’t forget to measure and track your success. Being able to compare the results and analyze the sales and traffic obtained through your car advertisement will help you understand how effective this approach really is. You should also make sure you always read the reaction of your audience. To make sure your message reaches the right people, you may have to update or redesign the ads every once in awhile.
Using your car as a mobile billboard is a great way to build your brand presence and get more customers. With the right strategy and the right design, you’ll get your business name out to the public and make sure it’s remembered. Above all, just keep an open mind and think outside the box – you’ll be surprised to see what you can do with your vehicle when it comes to advertising.
