If you drive across Interstate 90 in the Great Plains of the United States, you’ll probably notice something near the town of Wall, South Dakota. For about 20 miles in either direction, there are dozens of billboards for Wall Drug. These hand-painted signs—an estimated 300 in total—promise everything from cheap coffee and donuts to souvenirs to animatronic entertainment, and they’ve helped turn Wall Drug into a famous roadside staple of Americana tourist attractions.
If you run a small business, there’s a slim chance you’ll build a roadside billboard empire with hundreds of signs along a stretch of interstate, but Wall Drug’s success with billboards offers a few valuable lessons on physical advertising. Billboard advertising is all about location and simplicity. And since it’s a format that typically puts your message in a high traffic place it can yield a lot of impressions. But is it right for you? Let’s dig in.
Is billboard advertising actually worthwhile?
The estimated number of billboards in the United States is around 350,000. And though you may associate billboards with brick-and-mortar stores, big corporate brands, or personal injury attorneys, there are benefits for small businesses and ecommerce brands that have large outdoor advertising displays.
- High impressions: If you place your billboards in the right locations, a large number of people can see your billboard at all hours of the day—and sometimes even multiple times a day.
- Brand awareness: In heavy-traffic locations like major highways or urban areas with many pedestrians, a billboard can help promote brand awareness, particularly outside of your target audience. Unlike online ads, which deliver your message to a specific type of customer, billboards cast a wide net.
- Local relevance: If your small business is hosting an event, curating a pop-up store, or announcing an item in a nearby location, a billboard can increase the likelihood that the local population knows about it.
Types of billboard advertising
Billboard ads are a type of out-of-home advertising (or OOH advertising), meaning people see them out in the real world. Within that category, there are different types of outdoor advertising:
Static
Static billboards are large outdoor ads that show the same message 24/7. These traditional billboards are often in high-traffic areas like on the side of busy roads or highways. Modern signs are typically vinyl billboards (with billboard companies hanging large-form images printed on vinyl), but there are still retro hand-painted billboards and those that use neon lights.
Digital
The widespread availability of LED screens gave rise to digital billboards, which offer rotating advertising space, so multiple companies can run ads on a single board. Companies can use digital billboards to launch creative, eye-catching campaigns and draw maximum attention. For example, you might leverage LED screens to create three-dimensional billboards, like this 3D Nike ad in Japan.
Transit
Not all out-of-home advertising towers above roads. Your billboard advertising strategy can include multiple locations by placing ads on transit. Whether it’s placement on a bus station or train station, or inside the subway, this type of advertising gets your brand in front of people from all walks of life.
Mobile
A mobile billboard is an advertisement that can change locations, like a billboard on the side of a large truck. Mobile billboards are especially useful for reaching an audience in multiple areas with heavy foot traffic. For example, if there’s a comic convention with several venues, a mobile ad can reach attendees in different spots.
Wildposting
Wildposting involves placing posters in places of high visibility. This type of advertising is more DIY than a traditional billboard. These posters are like bulletins, typically wheatpasted to surfaces in urban environments at eye level.
5 factors that affect the cost of a billboard
There are many factors to consider when calculating billboard advertising costs, and your budget and campaign goals will determine what is possible for you.
1. Type of billboard
One of the biggest factors that affect cost is billboard type. According to OOH platform AdQuick, a single static billboard in the United States costs an average of $925 for a four-week campaign. A single digital billboard ad averages $417 for the same duration but can be more expensive if you update it in real time. A full wildposting ad campaign runs an average of $2,200 (which includes ads posted in several locations instead of just one billboard), and a full-fledged transit ad campaign averages $12,100 for a month.
2. Location
For a static billboard, finding the right location can make all the difference. A billboard in a high-volume market with many potential viewers will cost more than a billboard on a rural highway. Assess where your audience spends their time, and choose a location they often pass through.
3. Duration
The longer your billboard is up, the bigger your ad spend. Some billboards vary in cost depending on when you run the ad—for example, a billboard near a ski resort may be more expensive in winter.
4. Design
Billboard costs must also take design into account. To display attention-grabbing imagery, you may need to hire a photographer and graphic designer—and if you’re creating ads for a digital billboard, you might even need a team of videographers and editors.
5. Printing
If you decide to run a static billboard, you’ll likely hire a specialty printing company to create the vinyl that will hang on the billboard structure. Large scale vinyl printers may charge by the square foot, so you’ll need to take billboard size into account.
Tips for creating an effective billboard
A potential customer might see your billboard for only a few seconds, so your design must be clean, concise, and easy to understand. Here are a few tips for creating effective billboards:
Pick legible fonts and colors
Since your audience will see your billboard from afar, it’s important they can read it without trouble. Font choice, kerning, and color combinations can affect whether someone can read your billboard.
Opt for short and simple
Billboards should contain short, simple messages. Drivers, in particular, cannot read a block of text with too much information.
Lean into your brand’s tone
A billboard is a great opportunity to introduce your brand to new audiences. Ensure your billboard design matches your brand personality. For example, if your brand voice is playful or sarcastic, you’ll want your advertising to reflect that tone—and you might even choose bright colors and cheeky imagery to lean into the effect.
Set goals
As with other forms of advertising, goals guide your decision-making. For example, if a juice company wants to make its brand more recognizable to grocery shoppers, their billboard might display images of juice bottles rather than text. That way, customers are more likely to recognize your product on their next trip to the store.
Billboard advertising FAQ
How much does it cost to advertise on a billboard?
Billboard advertising costs vary depending on several factors, including the type of billboard you choose (static, digital, mobile, etc.), location, duration, and the design. On average, a static billboard costs around $1,000 per month.
Is advertising with billboards worth it?
It can be. Billboards are useful tools in advertisers’ arsenal. They can get your company’s message in front of a lot of people. Whether or not billboard advertising is worth the costs depends on your brand’s desired outcome, your ad budget, and whether you can reach the right audience.
What types of businesses should use billboard advertising?
Many different types of companies use billboards. From big corporations and chain restaurants to local shops and fashion brands, billboards’ strength is that they appear in front of a lot of people with a wide variety of interests and tastes.
