We get a lot of calls for billboards, mainly because we show up high on search engine rankings in the Tampa Bay area.
Most of those calls are from people who have never done billboard advertising and are looking to find out some of the basics – what do they cost, what’s the process, etc.
The first thing to know about billboards is they don’t work well by themselves. Why? By their nature they can’t get across a complete message.
Someone has to be able to grasp a billboard from a distance and very quickly. So the amount of material that can go on them is very limited. Traditionally, the rule is no more than 7 words and one image to a board. That’s enough to get across a tagline or slogan and maybe contact info.
So you can only use them as part of an advertising campaign. Essentially, they are a reminder or reinforcer of what you are pushing with the rest of your advertising. They can, however, work extremely well as part of a well thought-out campaign.
Choosing the right location or locations is critical. As with all advertising, you want as much as possible to reach your target market and no one else. You are paying for impressions (number of people who drive past the billboard) whether they are potential buyers or not.
We love boards visible to drivers stopped at traffic lights, where traffic jams at rush hour, or placed on a curve so visible to drivers looking straight ahead.
You have to drive the locations to see what the placement is really like. The photos provided by the billboard owners don’t always tell the tale. Maybe a tree grew out since they photographed the board and now half blocks the view (I didn’t just make that up. We’ve seen that exact scenario more than once).
One big plus of billboards is the repetition factor is built in. Most people who drive past a billboard today are going to drive past it tomorrow and the next day or next week, because they go past it every time they go to work, or shopping, or to church.
Pricing also varies widely, depending on the size, placement, amount of traffic, etc. A bulletin (the largest boards, usually 48 feet long), extremely well placed on a busy Interstate, could go for upwards of $10,000 per month. A smaller board in an out of the way location could be $300 a month. This category also includes bus kiosk and bus bench signage – which can be very inexpensive.
If you have print, TV and/or radio advertising that’s working, billboards can be a profitable addition to your marketing mix. It’s worth considering.