Make your own Times Square: Location plays into effective ads

That old cliche, "location, location, location," may have been said so many times that it's lost its meaning, but it's supported by facts, and can apply to vinyl signs as much as any other form of advertising.

An infographic designed by Carlos Monteiro recently appeared in AdWeek breaking down the power of placement in Times Square, New York City. Though this is a very specific place, you can take lessons from this when it comes to creating your own advertising that grabs customer attention.

According to this source, the billboards in this area tend to be effective, and only 5 percent of visitors to the area (on average) don't look at them at all. The source found that 35 percent tend to spend as many as 4 minutes looking at these displays, and 30 percent of city walkers were found to spend 10 minutes or more.

More than half of those who observed these signs were local, dispelling the idea that this strategy is only for tourists, and more than 80 percent of the respondents to one survey said that a Times Square ad made them think more favorably of a specific brand.

Money spent on billboards and other forms of outdoor advertising continues to be cost-effective and has seen a more than 3 percent growth over the past six years. Although there are many different kinds of advertising at a company's disposal, the important thing is that displays are placed where they can drive interest and traffic.

You may not have skyscrapers and giant screens at your disposal, but you can take advantage of the practices that work for big brands in the Big Apple.