How to Advertise on a Billboard

Billboard advertising is a high-impact way of getting your advertising message across. It's also one of the most cost-effective ways to make sure everyone knows you mean business.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Consider carefully whether this will be money well spent. The initial cash outlay for outdoor advertising varies according to the market, but is more expensive than many other advertising methods. However, given the fact that thousands of people per day may be exposed to your message, billboards are very cost-effective.
2. Decide who you want to reach with your advertising message and select the appropriate size billboard. Take into consideration the cost of various sizes of billboards. If your company has a physical location, use a smaller sign to direct traffic to your place of business.
3. Check out billboard sizes: Typical billboards are 14 by 48 feet, 12 by 24 feet (30-sheet) and 5 by 11 feet (8-sheet). The largest sign is the one you most often notice along the freeway. With this sign you get the maximum exposure. Because of the different placement requirements for smaller signs, as the sign decreases in size, the market exposed to the message becomes smaller and more centralized.
4. Find someone to design your billboard. Most advertising agencies have a department that handles outdoor advertising, and the billboard companies themselves have in-house designers to assist you with your ad.
5. Stay involved during the entire process. Don't let yourself get pushed aside in the design phase, and speak up if you feel that the placement of your billboards is not adequate.
6. Physically monitor the rotation and placement of your signs. Notify the company immediately if you discover your ads are not being placed as agreed.

Tips & Warnings

• You can have any ad agency design your billboard, but it's more cost-effective to let the billboard company design your advertising.
• Remember your billboard is not supposed to go into great detail. The function of billboard advertising is primarily to reinforce advertising messages that you've been putting out using other media. Your audience is on the move, so make your message brief and eye-catching.