• Tractor Media Holdings is turning its #SMEHeroes campaign into an ongoing initative.
• The SME Launchpad will give small business access to Tractor’s vast OOH advertising network for free.
• Businesses can create their own campaigns and even monitor said campaigns for free on the platform.

The pandemic was tough for businesses and loadshedding has proven to be a challenge that many SMEs can’t navigate.

In a bid to assist SMEs, Tractor Media Holdings has established the SME Launchpad platform, which utilises its out-of-home (OOH) network. This platform will give small businesses marketing exposure through Tractor’s roadside digitals and Digilite networks in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

The platform is inspired by Tractor’s 2020/21 campaign #SMEHeroes.

“Our #SMEHeroes campaign intended to support those businesses that were hardest hit by the pandemic, through tapping into the greatest resource at our disposal – our network of outdoor inventory. Qualifying businesses were given an extensive media package that would help increase top-of-mind awareness, with a total media value of around R8 million,” explains commercial director at Tractor Media Holdings, Remi Du Preez.

Now Tractor has announced that this #SMEHeroes campaign will become a ongoing initiative. The goal here is to give SMEs a boost to their marketing efforts.

“To apply, a business owner or representative needs to visit our website and create a profile, where they will be asked to provide details about their business. They are then directed to a dashboard where they can upload their creative (which needs to be supplied according to predefined specifications) and select the region where they would like the campaign to flight,” the commercial director explains.

SMEs can then follow the campaign along via a dashboard. Business owners will also receive an end-of-campaign. All creative that is uploaded is vetted by Tractor and should your artwork be rejected, a reason will be supplied so that if you submit again, you don’t include the offending elements. You can read more about Tractor’s dimensions as well as where its billboards are located.

This sort of initiative is great and if you’re an SME looking to get additional eyes on your business head to this URL and register for the SME Launchpad.

While billboards may seem old and outdated, as an advertising medium the still appear to be rather effective. According to data from BrandMapp, 19 percent of people younger than 25 are more likely to remember a digital billboard. This is compared to 9 percent of people aged over 65.