The Takeaway
Awardco used eight digital billboards across Utah to share its Inc. 5000 ranking and build name recognition in its home market. The campaign delivered 9,668 blips and 113,874 estimated impressions at an average cost of $0.16 per play. During the campaign, overall traffic to award.co rose 14.06%, direct search traffic rose 29.56%, and total users on the site rose 16.16%.
Why Awardco Turned to Billboard Advertising
Awardco builds employee recognition and engagement software. In 2018 it partnered with Amazon Business so employers could offer millions of reward options. In 2019, Inc. 5000 ranked Awardco the 25th fastest growing company in America and the number one fastest growing company in Utah.
That is a strong piece of news, and news like that has a short shelf life. Awardco wanted people in its home state to hear it, and it wanted to be seen as a serious name in employee recognition rather than one more software company.
Awardco already had a strong SEO and web presence. Search and content reach people who are looking for you. They do not reach the finance leader, the recruiter, or the future employee who has never typed your name into a search bar. Stepping outside that comfort zone is what made a technology billboard campaign interesting. B2B billboard advertising is unusual for a software company, and that is part of why it stood out.
How Awardco Built Its Billboard Campaign
- Boards selected: Eight digital billboards from the boards across Utah, the company’s home state and the market where the Inc. 5000 ranking meant the most.
- Creative approach: The ranking itself was the message, with a short second line pointing people to the website.
- Campaigns run: One campaign, tied to the Inc. 5000 announcement window.
- Budget approach: Pay per play at an average of $0.16 per blip, so the spend tracked the number of times the ad actually ran.
This is a useful shape for any company thinking about digital billboard advertising for the first time. Pick one market you care about, pick one thing worth saying, and let the boards repeat it.
It is worth looking at other billboard designs for technology companies before briefing the artwork. Awardco did not try to explain its product on a billboard. It used the boards to make the name familiar and pushed the explaining to the website.
The Creative
The board carried the Awardco name, the line Fastest Growing Company in Utah, and a second line reading See why the INC. 5000 Ranked us #1 in Utah at Award.co.
The claim carries the weight, and Inc. 5000 supplies the credibility. A reader gets the company name, one reason to care, and a web address. Anything more would be unreadable at driving speed. If you want a second opinion on your artwork before it goes up, the billboard design guidelines cover the basics.
What Awardco’s Billboard Campaign Delivered
The campaign ran on eight digital billboards and delivered 9,668 blips. Each blip is one eight-second play. Those plays produced 113,874 estimated impressions at an average cost per blip of $0.16.
During the period the boards were live, Awardco recorded three website movements. Overall traffic to award.co increased by 14.06%. Direct search traffic, meaning people typing the name rather than arriving through an ad, increased by 29.56%. Total users on the site increased by 16.16%. The direct search number is the one most worth watching, because that is the number that moves when more people know your name.
The team also noticed an effect it had not planned for. Interest in working at Awardco went up. Employees saw the boards, and so did their friends and families. Recruiting is rarely why anyone buys a billboard, but it is a reasonable place to look when you are working out billboard advertising ROI for a company that is hiring.
Awardco reported these movements alongside the campaign. Website traffic responds to many things at once, so treat the numbers as what happened during the campaign rather than proof that the boards caused every visit.
Blip is essentially the PPC of billboard advertising - they make it possible to run a billboard campaign with a budget that would otherwise not be enough for broadcast advertising. Using Blip helps businesses gain traction and increase their name recognition–especially in targeting local areas.
Bronson Dameron, Content Manager, Awardco
Why This Billboard Campaign Worked
- One market, real depth: Eight boards across a single state gave the same people repeated exposure instead of spreading thin across the country.
- Borrowed credibility: The Inc. 5000 ranking did the persuading. Awardco only had to put it somewhere people would see it.
- A measurable signal: Direct search traffic is a fair proxy for recognition, which makes the campaign easier to report on internally.
- Timing: The boards ran while the ranking was still news, so the message landed when it was most interesting.
- Pay per play: At $0.16 per blip, spend followed delivery. That is what makes digital billboard advertising easier to justify than a fixed monthly rate.
What Software and Technology Owners Can Take From This Campaign
- Do not explain your product on a board: A technology billboard should make your name familiar. The website does the rest, which is the whole logic of B2B billboard advertising.
- Pick a signal you can track: Direct search and branded search are the cleanest way to look at billboard advertising ROI when the product sells through a longer cycle. Blip’s guide to measuring digital billboard ROI covers the rest.
- Use news while it is news: Rankings, funding, launches, and awards give you something worth putting on a board.
- Expect effects outside marketing: Awardco saw recruiting interest rise. Ask your team what they heard, not just what your analytics say.
Run a Technology Billboard Campaign Like Awardco’s
Choose the boards in the market that matters to your business, set a budget you are comfortable with, and give the campaign enough time and frequency to build recognition. Submit your campaign for review and start displaying after approval.
Frequently Asked Questions About Awardco’s Billboard Campaign
How many billboards did Awardco use?
Eight digital billboards, all in Utah. The campaign delivered 9,668 blips and 113,874 estimated impressions.
What did Awardco’s billboard campaign cost per play?
The average cost per blip was $0.16. A blip is one eight-second play, so spend followed how often the ad actually ran rather than a fixed monthly rate.
What results did Awardco see?
During the campaign, overall site traffic rose 14.06%, direct search traffic rose 29.56%, and total users rose 16.16%. The team also saw more interest from people who wanted to work there.
How do you measure billboard advertising ROI?
Watch the signals that move when more people know your name. Direct search traffic, branded search, and overall site traffic are the usual three. Compare the campaign window with the weeks before it, and remember that other marketing is running at the same time.
Is billboard advertising effective for software companies?
It helps with recognition, which is the slow part of selling software. A technology billboard will not close a deal, but repeated exposure makes your name familiar before the buyer ever reaches your website.
Does B2B billboard advertising work for software companies?
It works on recognition rather than direct response. B2B billboard advertising puts your name in front of buyers, employees, and partners who are not searching yet, then your website and sales team do the rest. Awardco watched direct search traffic to see whether it was landing.
How is digital billboard advertising different from a traditional billboard buy?
With digital billboard advertising through Blip, you choose the boards, set your own budget, and pay per play. There are no contracts and no minimums, and you can adjust the campaign as your needs change.
How quickly can a billboard campaign go live?
Pick your boards, upload your artwork, and set your budget. Submit the campaign for review, then start displaying after approval.