Corporates today are pumping in billions of dollars into advertising. Advertising is a method employed by them to make the potential customers aware of the business as well as the products and services the business offers. There are different types of advertising used these days, such as print, television, Internet and outdoor advertising. These mediums are selected on the basis of the kind of customers that the business is trying to target with its product offerings as well as the advertising budget. Each of these mediums has its own place and use in the media strategy employed by a business. In this Buzzle article we will talk about outdoor advertising. As the name suggests, outdoor advertising is a form of advertising which promotes the product/service in the outdoors, by a number of means, such as billboards, posters, kiosks, vehicles, mobile signs, public furniture, wall murals, subways, amongst many others. In this day and age, when a potential customer is bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages almost every single day, the businesses and advertising companies have to come up with some creative advertising techniques, which will make such an impression on the potential customers, that they remember the product or the service offered for a long time. It is generally observed that people tend to buy products which they are somewhat familiar with, rather than those they are hearing about for the first time! Keeping this in mind, businesses are coming up with some really innovative outdoor advertising techniques. Billboards Billboards are the hoardings and signs that you see along the roads. On the billboards, businesses display some catchy pictures or write a gripping small message, which attracts the attention of the passers-by, compelling them to try out the product once. The commonest usage of billboards that you will see is perhaps on highways, where small hotels and restaurants, often invite the travelers to have a meal. The best thing about billboards is that they are visible to the potential customers at all times. This means that their visibility and the probability to put the message across is much higher! To make this form of advertising even more effective, businesses employ many innovative billboard advertising techniques. For instance, on the billboards, companies mention the address of their website, thus combining outdoor and Internet advertising, which can result in more product awareness and increased sales. Also, with the latest cutting-edge computer technology, some really amazing looking graphics and images can be put up on the billboards, which increases their visual appeal, thus making them more noticeable to the potential customers. Trade Shows and Events Many companies participate in trade shows or sponsor events, in order to increase their product awareness and sales. You must have seen soft drink manufacturers sponsoring a sports match as there is a high probability of sale of their product at such events, and the kind of people who come for such events are their potential customers. By setting up a booth in a trade show, businesses get the chance to interact with the clients directly. By manning the booth properly, making use of computer technology to make a presentation of the product/business at the booth, by having trained personnel talk to the customers, businesses cannot only enhance product awareness, but can actually make sales directly at the trade shows. Vehicles Earlier, advertisers made use of buses to display signs and hoardings of the product. Then came the usage of taxis, wherein signs were mounted on the taxis for everyone to see. Now, the latest addition to these mobile signs is various kinds of vehicles, which are especially hired by the advertiser, that are driven slowly through the streets so that people can read the advertisement message on them. These mobile vehicles are generally driven at places where the advertisers feel that the potential customers will frequent. Sign Twirlers This is a comparatively new advertising technique, which many businesses are still experimenting with. Sign twirlers are hired, trained and then made to display their "moves" at the streets, especially during the peak hours when there is a lot of traffic, so that the advertising sign that they are carrying becomes more visible to the passers-by. As millions and millions of people in the United States travel for work and other purposes, covering innumerable miles everyday, the effectiveness of outdoor advertising cannot be doubted. It provides substantial exposure to a business and its products, and is in a way much more cost-effective than other mediums of advertising.