Street Level Marketing

Promoting Local Businesses

Outdoor advertising does promote local business. What does outdoor advertising include? It starts outside. It is marketing that is based and conducted outside. It may be digital or it may be print. A sign on a bus is considered to be outdoor advertising. The promotion of a local business may be done through outdoor marketing. The following are methods of outdoor marketing:

  • A billboard will promote a local business

  • posters promote

  • vinyl signs promote

  • vehicle wraps


History

Outdoor advertising may have actually started when people lived in caves. This is because people have been creating art on walls since the beginning of time. It is true, signs are art pieces. A billboard is marketing for a business. There is much more to outdoor marketing and there is more history to be revealed.


1872-1891

This were the years that associations for outdoor advertising started to form. This included:

  • Regulatory

  • Marketing

  • Fraternal concerns


This was a period in which a growing number of manufacturers were actively perusing a strengthened national association. The goal, at that time, was to expand and provide a nationwide organization that would coordinate the services that member companies were offering. There was a definite purpose to promote a larger understanding of the entire poster medium. The ethical concerns were to be addressed for future standardization for this particular advertising medium. This association grew into a public relations role. Responsibility was to be enforced with this outdoor advertising.


Space for Billboards

In the year of 1943 the outdoor advertising industry did contribute to approximately 22.5 million dollars worth of posters. The U.S. government had needed a method that would encourage participation in the war effort. The race for billboard space had begun. The billboards were contributing to the following:

  • Recruitment

  • Publicity

  • Education


The Trend Continued to Grow

During the 1950s and 1960s this marketing was full blow and billboards had taken off. Creativity was a big part of the marketing. Signs were becoming structures that people easily recognized and did associate them with particular cities. It had become apparent that outdoor marketing was here to stay. The audience grew larger. Billboards were used to introduce:

  • Fast food restaurants

  • Movies

  • Tobacco products

  • Health food


The list of marketing possibilities grew into the 1970s. This outdoor advertising does continue to change. This marketing does have a long history.