There were 2.8 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in England last year, with 1.5 billion made in London alone.1
Bus shelters provide the perfect opportunity for businesses to increase long-term brand awareness and advertise their services to a wide audience.
In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about bus shelter advertising and explore some of its top benefits. Let’s dive in!
Suggested reading: Read our free resource, ‘The benefits of OOH advertising’, for a broader overview of out-of-home advertising and its uses.
What is bus shelter advertising?
Bus shelter advertising, also known as bus stop advertising, refers to any billboard or poster displayed at a bus shelter. It is a method of public transport marketing or transit advertising.
While bus shelter advertising is a relatively straightforward concept, it encompasses a couple of different formats.
Types of bus shelter ads
One of the most common bus shelter ad formats in the UK is a D6 — or ‘Digital 6-sheet’. This is found on one end of the bus stop.
D6s are a popular choice because they are:
Visible both by pedestrians and passing cars
Often located in highly populated areas
Cost-effective to run
Bus shelter ads can also include 6-sheet posters, made from paper rather than digital displays. Which ad format you choose will depend on your local and citywide marketing campaign plans, target demographic, advertising budget, and much more.
To discover which out-of-home (OOH) format is the right choice for you, check out our article, ‘3 types of billboards and OOH you need to know about’.
Key benefits of bus shelter advertising
According to a Thinkbox and Gain Theory study, OOH advertising can boost social media ads by 9%, print ads by 11%, and radio ads by 9%.2 This places it far ahead of online display and generic search advertising in terms of the results it can achieve for your business.
Bus shelter advertising specifically has a number of further benefits that make it the first choice for small and fast-growing companies:
1. Wide reach
Reach refers to the number of people who come into contact with your ad — whether they’re in a car, getting the bus, or just walking past the bus stop.
One reason for transit advertising’s effectiveness is its high-traffic area visibility and pedestrian and driver exposure, allowing businesses to reach people of different ages, sexes, and incomes.3
This is perfect for local business promotion, as it allows you to:
Build wider community brand awareness through bus shelter ads
Collect information on your audience’s demographic and perception of your brand
Analyse this data to gain insights on how best to reach your target market
Develop a more effective OOH marketing strategy
2. Audience receptiveness
Of the 50% of online desktop ads that are viewable, only 9% are actually viewed.4 For the most part, this is because people are busy looking for something and don’t want to get distracted by ads.
Bus shelter advertising is unique in that it reaches people while they’re in the passive state of waiting for the bus — and will be more interested in reading your ad.
Pro tip: Approximately 25% of local bus travel is commuting, while 22% is for shopping and 21% for leisure.5 Designing creative billboard ads that have a targeted demographic appeal can help improve your commuter audience reach.
Consider using the following creative display opportunities to make your ad even more effective:
Engaging visuals: If you’re focusing on a working audience, for example, consider using commuter engagement tactics that relate to their journey.
A core message that aligns with your brand identity: Whether you’re advertising a product, service, or event, your ad needs to convey who you are and what you’re providing customers.
A clear call to action: Think about where you want potential customers to go next — if this is to an online site, make sure you provide an up-to-date link or QR code.
3. Cost-effective
Bus shelters are one of the most cost-effective outdoor ads. This is because they give you a 24/7 advertising presence and can deliver strategic locational benefits, all at a relatively low running cost.
In the case of D6 bus shelter campaigns, you can also run ads at specific times or according to a schedule. As such, small businesses that don’t have the budget for several-week campaigns or large city centre billboards might choose to run bus shelter ads in their local community only during peak commuting hours.
At Alight Media, we’re passionate about connecting people through the power of out-of-home advertising — which is why we offer no minimum order value on any of our billboards. Explore our buying routes for more information.
