So you’re thinking about putting up your first billboard. Maybe a spot opened up on a road you drive every day, or you’ve just decided it’s time to get your name out where people can see it.
Either way, if you’ve never done this before, it’s normal to have a bunch of questions and nobody obvious to ask. That’s what this article is for. Here are the things most first-timers want to know before they commit, answered in plain language.
What does a billboard cost?
The honest answer is that it depends, and I am not dodging that question. A billboard’s price moves with a handful of things, and where it sits matters most of all.
A board on a busy highway into town costs more than one on a quiet back road, for the simple reason that far more people drive past it. Size plays a part too, and so does how long you want it up.
Here’s roughly what boards run across the country, month to month.
- A small board on a quiet rural road often runs a few hundred dollars a month, somewhere in the $250 to $1,500 range.
- A static board in a small or mid-size city usually lands between $1,500 and $5,000 a month.
- In a major metro, the best spots start around $14,000 a month and climb from there.
- The marquee locations, like Times Square, run $50,000 to $100,000 and up.
- A digital board often runs $3,000 to $10,000 a month locally, and tends to cost more than a comparable static board, since you can change the message any time.
- Printing and hanging new vinyl for a static board adds about $300 to $800 each time you swap the artwork.
Keep in mind those are rough national averages, not a quote. What you’ll actually pay comes down to the boards available near you, and that’s a big part of what a good outdoor advertising company helps you sort out.
Should you go digital or printed?
Both work. But the right pick comes down to what you’re trying to do.
A printed board, the classic kind, keeps your message up around the clock. It’s a strong choice when you want a steady presence in one spot for a good long while.
A digital board shares its screen with other advertisers on a rotation, and it lets you swap your message whenever you want. Run a weekend sale, then put up your fall menu come Monday. Trade a grand opening message for a now hiring notice the week after. The board stays put. Only the message changes.
If you’re not sure which way to go, that’s fine. A quick chat with someone who knows the local inventory sorts it out.
What makes a billboard actually work?
New advertisers almost always say too much. Keep it short.
A driver has a few seconds at most to take in your board, so a wall of text is wasted effort. The boards that land keep the word count low and the idea simple, printed big enough to read at a glance.
Say who you are and what you want people to do, then stop. If a passenger has to squint to keep up, you’ve already lost them.
How long should you keep it up?
Longer than you’d think. A billboard works by repetition.
The same person drives past it day after day, your name slowly turns familiar, and then one day they need what you sell and you’re the first place that comes to mind.
A single week rarely gives that time to build. Most first-timers get far more out of committing to a decent stretch so the message has room to sink in.
How will you know it’s working?
It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is that billboards are tougher to track than an online ad. Nobody clicks a billboard.
There are good signs to watch, though. Ask new customers how they heard about you. Keep an eye on whether your calls or foot traffic pick up after the board goes live.
You can even point it at a web page or a phone number you use nowhere else, so you know exactly where the response came from. It won’t be a tidy dashboard, but you’ll get a real feel for the payoff.
Do you have to design it yourself?
Good news here. No.
Most people don’t have a designer on staff, and nobody expects you to. A solid outdoor advertising company will help shape your message and handle the artwork so it reads well from the road, which is a craft all its own.
You bring the idea and what you want to say. They make sure it holds up once it’s forty feet wide.
That last point is the theme running through all of this. None of it is as complicated as it looks from the outside, as long as you’ve got someone in your corner who does this for a living.
And that’s where we come in. Our advertising professionals have decades of combined experience, and we’re happy to walk you through every one of these questions, from picking the right spot to getting your message looking sharp.
If you’re thinking about your first billboard and you’re ready to get started, just give us a call at 404-671-9490.