As a small business owner, your advertising and marketing techniques may be imperative to the growth and evolution of your company. Many different modes of advertising can be implemented within a business plan, but some techniques may work better than others. Depending on what your product is and what type of demographic you are looking to advertise to, transit advertising may be one marketing method for your small business to pursue.

What It Is

Transit advertising is advertising placed in or on modes of public transportation or in public transportation areas. Using this method of advertising, ads can be placed anywhere from on the sides of buses, trains and taxis, to inside subway cars, inside bus stations and near train or bus platforms. The main purpose of transit advertising is to reach riders and acquaint them with your brand.

Importance

Transit advertising is important because it can provide high visibility for your product on a daily basis. Also, your audience may not necessarily be able to ignore your ads as they would, for example, by fast-forwarding through a television commercial or radio advertisement, or flipping past a magazine ad. Many times, it may be hard for a person to ignore an ad they are sitting across from on a train or bus, simply because it's in their direct line of view. Also, transit advertising guarantees your small business a varied audience by age and income.

Demographic

When considering transit advertising, it's important to assess what demographic you are hoping to reach versus who you will actually be reaching. For example, the people riding public transportation do not just include those who don't own cars of their own. Many car owners park their cars at train or bus stations and use public transportation every day to commute to work. Studying the demographics of riders who would be exposed to your transit ads would be beneficial to your advertising plan. For instance, if you want to specifically target daily commuters, certain train or bus lines may have more commuters than other lines. Depending on your product you may want to target families, tourists, professionals or students with your advertising.

Varied Mediums

Transit advertising is quickly moving beyond only the traditional print advertisement. New technology has allowed advertisers to explore with different mediums in transit advertising. These mediums include digital advertising on plasma or LCD screens, interactive advertisements that allow you to scan a barcode with your smart phone, and "animated" advertisements set up in subway tunnels that "move" as the train whizzes past hundreds of images like a flip book.