Promotional vehicle campaigns let you reach your audience in new ways, while expanding into fresh locations. They’re wonderful investments, but as with anything that costs money, you want to ensure you’re making the most of your budget.
Read on to learn how you can run a vehicle campaign in a cost-effective way, resulting in a brand activation that’s eye-catching, engaging, and worth every penny!
Visit our learning centre for advice
Time is money, and if it’s your first time using a hire vehicle for your promotional campaign, you’ll want to learn all you can about them. Instead of wasting time, just head on over to our learning centre. This offers a wide range of helpful articles, designed to help at various stages of your project.
We also suggest checking out our guide to creating a campaign budget. It’ll help you get costs together so you can see how much you’re likely to spend.
Design for attention (and participation!)
With so many promotional vehicles to choose from, you’re spoilt for choice. Either way, you’ll need a fancy design to go along with it. Don’t worry; we’ll send you a 2D vehicle template so you can design for every panel.
You’ll want to treat your vehicle as a moving billboard – think bold visuals, crisp messaging and a powerful call to action for your vehicle campaign. You could also show promo codes, QR codes, and social handles to help push (and track) engagement.
The last thing you need is a design that’s lost, vague, or fails to grab attention. To learn about the design process, visit our guide to preparing your vehicle design for print.
Put customer engagement first
How you interact with your public is key to any promotional campaign, as word of mouth remains one of the most important metrics for a successful brand. Here are some ideas:
- Hire extra staff like ambassadors to help make the event extra special
- Create a bright, vibrant space with games, prizes and competitions
- Hand out free samples, branded gifts, or run a product demonstration
- Run an influencer/doorstep campaign, with your vehicle at the heart of it
While it may sound counterintuitive to spend more on extras, these can actually make the experience more special, more attractive, and lead to better results.
Turbocharging your brand activation ensures guests will remember your event for years to come – and it’s the ideal setup for images and reels to share online.
Be smart about your venues
Getting the right location for your campaign is essential. The busier the venue, the more attention you’ll get and the more likely it is you’ll win customers. Think about:
- Who your audience is and where they’ll be, at what time
- What sort of mood they’ll be in, e.g. looking for a chilled treat in summer
- The sort of brands that frequent that particular venue
If a space books up quickly around July or December, then you know it’ll work for either summery brand activation or a festive vehicle campaign.
At Promohire, we’ve booked and managed venues for brands at all times of the year. So, if you need some help, just ask about our location planning and consultancy services.
Go bigger with your campaign, in less time
Making more of your event (with fewer activation days) is one of the best ways to maximise the return on investment.
SHEIN ran a promotional campaign in December, targeting different parts of the UK at the same time. With multiple double-deckers and smaller vehicles like the Piaggio Ape, they maximised engagement without spending on a longer brand activation. See SHEIN’s festive vehicle campaign here
Below: The brand maximised its investment by holding a live studio day.
Book your vehicle well in advance
At Promohire, we customise promotional vehicles of all kinds for big-name brands. But to do that, we need to know months in advance. While we may be able to send out a smaller vehicle with minor changes in a matter of weeks (on odd occasions), full fit-outs take much longer.
Booking your vehicle asap isn’t just about getting your commitment – it’s about securing your vehicle and giving us time to do the best we can for your budget.
The longer we have, the more easily we can source cost-effective materials that save you money. That’s why last-minute campaigns always cost more!
Get started with our free budget calculator
So how much does promotional vehicle hire cost anyway? With our budget calculator, you can get an estimate shown on screen in seconds. Just hit the button to get started. This is a great way to start planning your promotional campaign.
We also recommend visiting our helpful guide to costs and services to see how we charge for extra campaign support.
