These Businesses Love Billboards
If you sell billboard advertising, you’ve probably noticed that certain types of businesses seem to understand OOH almost immediately.
They don’t need a 30-minute explanation of why people seeing their name repeatedly might be valuable. They already get it.
You see them on billboards year after year:
Attorneys. Car dealerships. Restaurants. Home service companies. Banks. Hospitals. Entertainment venues. Real estate companies. Casinos. Colleges. Retailers.
What do these businesses have in common?
They all have business models that can make massive local visibility incredibly valuable.
That’s something billboard companies should pay attention to when prospecting.
Instead of randomly calling every business in town, look for businesses whose needs naturally line up with what billboards do best.
What Makes a “Billboard Business”?
There isn’t one magic formula, but billboard-loving businesses tend to have several things in common.
They’re Local or Regional
A business that serves a specific geographic area is a natural OOH prospect.
A local restaurant doesn’t need customers from 500 miles away.
A plumber doesn’t need leads from another state.
A local attorney may only practice in a handful of counties.
A car dealership wants people from its surrounding market.
A billboard lets these businesses concentrate their advertising where their customers actually live, work, and drive.
They Need to Be Remembered. Top of Mind.
Some businesses sell products people buy every week.
Others sell something people may only need once every few years.
That’s where billboards can really shine.
Think about an HVAC company.
Most people aren’t thinking about their HVAC company on Tuesday afternoon.
But when the air conditioner stops working in July, suddenly they need one.
If they’ve been seeing the same HVAC company on a billboard for months, that company may already be familiar to them.
They don’t necessarily need you to buy today. They need you to remember them when the need arrives.
They Have a Large Potential Customer Base
Billboards are a mass-reach medium.
That makes them particularly interesting to businesses that can potentially sell to a large portion of the local population.
Car dealerships are a great example. So are restaurants, grocery stores, entertainment venues, apartment communities, and major retailers.
If a business has thousands of potential customers driving past a billboard every day, the medium deserves a look.
They Have a Strong Customer Value
The customer can be worth a lot.
A personal injury case could be worth far more to a law firm than the cost of a billboard campaign.
A new HVAC installation can be worth thousands of dollars.
A new homebuyer can be extremely valuable to a real estate company.
A new car customer is worth considerably more than a single fast-food purchase.
When one customer has significant value, spending money to create awareness among thousands of potential customers can make sense.
That’s a conversation worth having with prospects.
The Businesses That “Get” Billboards
Here are some of the categories billboard companies should always have on their prospecting radar.
Attorneys
Yep, lawyers are on the list for a reason.
Legal services are local, competitive, and often require consumers to remember a name when a need suddenly arises.
That’s practically a billboard’s job description.
Attorneys can also benefit from simple, highly recognizable creative featuring their name, face, specialty, and contact information.
And because law firms often have significant customer value, they can have room in their marketing budgets for ongoing campaigns.
Car Dealerships
Car dealerships are almost tailor-made for billboards.
They have large geographic markets, constantly changing inventory and a constant need to generate awareness.
And they have plenty of things to advertise.
New models.
Used inventory.
Sales events.
Financing.
Trade-in offers.
Holiday promotions.
Service departments.
A dealership can keep a billboard campaign fresh without changing the overall brand message.
Home Service Companies
This category is very large…
- HVAC
- Roofing
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Landscaping
- Remodeling
- Pest control
- Restoration
- Garage doors
- Windows and doors
These companies often serve a defined geographic area and depend heavily on people knowing their name before they need them.
A billboard can turn an unfamiliar company into a familiar one. And when the roof starts leaking at 2 a.m., familiarity suddenly matters.
Restaurants
Restaurants have a different billboard advantage.
They’re often competing for a customer’s attention right now.
Someone is driving down the road wondering where to eat.
A billboard says: EAT HERE. (As seen below)
Entertainment Venues
Concerts, theaters, fairs, festivals, sporting events, casinos, and attractions all have something powerful going for them:
They have a reason to advertise right now.
A digital billboard can promote an upcoming event and then change the message as the event gets closer.
This also creates an opportunity for billboard companies to sell short-term campaigns that can turn into recurring business.
Real Estate
Real estate companies and agents need to stay visible in the communities they serve. Many markets are saturated with agents.
Billboards can help establish a name as a recognizable local brand.
They’re particularly useful for agents, brokers, and developers who want to promote themselves rather than just a single property.
Banks and Credit Unions
Financial institutions are another strong billboard category because they’re selling something that takes time to build:
Trust and familiarity.
People aren’t necessarily going to switch banks because of one billboard.
But repeated exposure can help establish a financial institution as a recognizable part of the community.
Billboards can also support specific products such as mortgages, business banking, auto loans, and new branches.
Colleges and Universities
Schools have large geographic recruiting areas and lots of things to promote.
Enrollment.
Open houses.
New programs.
Sports.
Scholarships.
Campus events.
Billboards can help colleges stay visible among students and parents throughout the year.
Retailers
Big-box retailers, furniture stores, clothing stores, grocery stores, and specialty retailers can all benefit from being top-of-mind.
Especially when the billboard is close to the store.
The message doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated.
Sometimes it’s simply:
BIG BRAND + BIG PRODUCT + WHERE TO FIND US
That’s enough.
Look for the Pattern
Once you start looking at these categories, a pattern becomes pretty obvious.
The businesses that tend to love billboards often have some combination of:
Local customers + high customer value + strong competition + a need for awareness + repeat exposure.
That’s a pretty powerful combination. And it gives billboard rep a better way to prospect.
Instead of asking: “Who should I call?”
Ask: “Which businesses in my market have a business model that naturally benefits from mass local visibility?”
Your Best Prospects May Be Right in Front of You
Here’s another trick.
Look at the businesses that are already buying billboards in your market.
If three attorneys are advertising, there are probably other attorneys worth talking to.
If two HVAC companies are advertising, find the others.
If every major car dealership is on your boards except one, put that dealership on your prospecting list.
Your existing advertisers are telling you something.
They’re showing you which industries already see value in the medium.
Pay attention to that.
And Don’t Forget the Businesses That Already Love You
Some of your easiest sales opportunities may not be new prospects at all.
They’re your current advertisers.
If a business already believes in billboards, you don’t have to sell them on the medium.
You just have to find another opportunity.
More faces.
More locations.
More weeks.
More creative.
More impressions.
More campaigns.
An attorney might want to add another board.
A restaurant might want a second location.
A dealership might want a holiday campaign.
An HVAC company might want to run a seasonal message.
An entertainment venue might need a two-week event push.
The first sale proves they believe in OOH.
The next sale is about helping them use it even more effectively.
Happy Selling!
