Hi, Dave Fox here from Starscape SEO. When it comes to outdoor advertising, businesses have a variety of options, from billboards to bus shelters, but one often-overlooked avenue is bench advertising.
You’ve likely seen them while waiting for a bus or strolling through a park—benches emblazoned with ads promoting local services, real estate agents, or restaurants.
But is bench advertising right for your business?
Like any marketing strategy, it comes with its own set of advantages and drawbacks.
In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of bench advertising, helping you decide whether it’s a smart investment for your brand or a potential mismatch for your marketing goals.
Bench Advertising – Pros
Bench ads offer a range of benefits, especially when integrated well with other marketing efforts.
Here are the key pros of bench advertising:
High Exposure
Constant Visibility: A bench ad is always visible 24/7, offering ongoing exposure without needing ongoing maintenance. This can create strong brand recall, especially for those who pass by frequently.
Targeting Commuters and Pedestrians: Benches are often located at bus stops or in high-traffic areas, making them ideal for capturing the attention of commuters, pedestrians, and people waiting for public transport. This consistent exposure can reinforce your brand in the minds of passersby.
Cost-Effective
Affordable Local Reach: Compared to other forms of outdoor advertising (like billboards), bench ads are usually much more affordable, offering a cost-effective way to establish a presence in a specific neighborhood or community.
Low Maintenance: Once the ad is in place, there are typically no ongoing costs apart from the rental fee, making it a simple, set-it-and-forget-it option.
Localized Marketing
Geographic Targeting: Bench advertising is hyper-local, meaning it reaches people in specific neighborhoods or areas. This makes it ideal for local businesses like restaurants, repair shops, or real estate agents who want to target residents and commuters in that region.
Synergy with Other Efforts: If you’re running local promotions, holding events, or even advertising in nearby stores, bench ads can reinforce those efforts by ensuring your brand is seen frequently in a specific area.
Builds Brand Awareness
Top-of-Mind Awareness: Because bench ads are often placed in high-traffic areas, they can help with building brand awareness over time. The more often people see your brand, the more familiar they become with it, which is great for long-term brand-building.
Repetition: Repeated exposure in the same location means that people who frequently pass by or wait at that bench are likely to remember your brand when they need your services.
Reinforces Offline Campaigns
Synergy with Physical and Digital Campaigns: Bench ads can complement other offline and online campaigns. If you’re running ads in local newspapers, on radio stations, or online platforms, the bench ad serves as an additional touchpoint that reinforces the same message and increases brand visibility.
Easy to Pair with QR Codes: You can make your bench ad more interactive by including QR codes or URLs that link to online offers, promotions, or landing pages, bridging the gap between offline and online marketing.
Simple and Direct
Clear Messaging: The size and format of bench ads usually limit how much information you can include, forcing you to keep your message simple and focused. This can be a good thing, ensuring that viewers get the essential info quickly, without clutter or distractions.
Great for Branding or Slogans: If your goal is to build brand recognition rather than explain complex offerings, bench ads provide the perfect opportunity to showcase your logo, tagline, or a memorable slogan.
Reaches a Diverse Audience
Broad Demographics: Since benches are placed in public spaces, they reach a wide variety of people from different age groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, and interests. This broad reach is useful for businesses with a wide target audience.
Captive Audience: People sitting at bus stops or walking nearby are often waiting with nothing to do, so your ad could get more attention than, say, a passing billboard.
Local Credibility
Fosters Community Trust: Advertising in highly local spots can make your business feel like part of the community. People may trust a business they see frequently in their area, and this can give your brand a sense of local authenticity.
Establishes Familiarity: Being consistently visible in your local area helps create a sense of presence. People might not need your services today, but because they’ve seen your ad around town, they may think of you when they do.
Works Well with Seasonal Campaigns
Effective for Time-Sensitive Ads: If you have a seasonal business or specific events (like sales or promotions), bench ads can be timed to capture the right audience at the right time. Placing ads near event venues or areas with high seasonal foot traffic can drive short-term spikes in awareness and engagement.
Bench Advertising – Cons
Bench advertising, like any marketing strategy, comes with potential downsides that should be carefully considered.
Here are some cons:
Association with Benches
Perceived as Low-End: Some might associate bench ads with low-budget marketing, which could affect the perception of a brand’s quality or professionalism. Businesses aiming for a more premium image might find that this medium doesn’t align with their desired branding.
Vandalism: Public benches are often in high-traffic areas, meaning the ad could be exposed to vandalism or damage, leading to poor representation of your brand.
Ad Staleness
Overexposure: Since the ad is in a fixed location, people who frequently pass by may grow tired of seeing the same ad over and over, leading to “ad fatigue” where the message becomes less effective.
Limited Flexibility: Updating or changing the ad frequently can be expensive or time-consuming. This could make the message feel outdated compared to digital ads, which can be updated quickly.
Location-Dependent Effectiveness
Limited Reach: The effectiveness of bench ads is highly location-specific. If the bench is in an area with low foot traffic or isn’t relevant to your target audience, the return on investment might be low.
Environmental Factors: Weather conditions, such as rain or snow, might reduce visibility or damage the ad, limiting its effectiveness during certain seasons.
Targeting Issues
Broad Audience: Bench advertising generally doesn’t allow for specific targeting. Unlike online ads where you can focus on demographics, a bench ad will be seen by everyone passing by, including those outside your intended audience.
Limited Interaction: Since it’s a static, one-way form of advertising, there’s no way to engage potential customers in real-time or track their interactions, unlike digital ads.
Potential Negative Association
Public Perception: If the bench is located in an area associated with loitering or less desirable activities (e.g., near high-crime areas or unclean locations), people might form a negative association between your brand and that environment.
Hard to Measure ROI
Tracking Effectiveness: It can be challenging to measure the direct impact or return on investment (ROI) from bench ads since there is no precise way to track how many people view the ad or how many acted upon seeing it.
In the ever-evolving world of advertising, bench ads offer a unique way to connect with local audiences through consistent, visible branding.
Final Thoughts
While they can provide high exposure at a relatively low cost, the effectiveness of this medium largely depends on your business goals, the location, and your target audience.
By weighing the pros and cons, you can determine whether bench advertising fits into your broader marketing strategy or if another approach would better serve your brand. Ultimately, success lies in understanding how this form of advertising complements your other efforts and aligns with your brand’s image.