How much does a billboard cost?

Billboard pricing factors to keep in mind

Have you ever wondered, how much does a billboard cost?

If so, you wont be surprised to know that, as is the case with all ad units and media types, several factors determine billboard advertising costs. The first challenge is finding an advertising company that works for your budget. Big companies like Lamar or Clear Channel are expensive, but small business owners can also find advertisement space through local businesses such as newspapers or through sponsoring local events.

Contacting a nearby billboard company is the best way to find a good deal, but there are many other ideas to consider. Factors include location, format, circulation, impressions, demographics, design, and installation.

Let's take a moment to break these down quickly:

Location

As a general rule of thumb: the larger the market, the pricier the ad space. For example, OOH placements in major cities with high traffic like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago command higher asking prices than markets in low-traffic, rural areas.

From a pricing standpoint, real estate (read: market) plays one of the biggest roles in determining the cost of billboards. But another aspect to consider involves the location of that OOH unit within a given market.

In other words: does that ad unit suffer from any blind spots or obstructed views?

Do highway billboards command people's attention, or are they too busy driving? Does competing outdoor advertising keep people from giving your billboard advertisement the attention it deserves? Is the advertising space obstructed by trees, construction, or city landscapes?

You get the point.

Format

Similar to digital ads, there are many standard billboard sizes for brands to choose from. Billboard campaigns range from small, junior posters to the enormous digital billboards that adorn New York City.

But OOH advertising is no longer just about traditional billboards. There are bus wraps, digital in-store, mobile billboards, wheat pastings, transit shelters, scooter decals, wallscapes, and the list goes on.

The truth is, practically any inanimate object these days can turn into an OOH ad unit. Generally speaking, the larger the format, the more costly it is to purchase and produce. The only exception to this rule is digital OOH ad units, which depend on platforms, production labor, and recurring campaign costs.

Circulation

Circulation is the estimated number of people who will potentially see your OOH ad – or, in other words, the traffic your ad unit can get. When it comes to outdoor advertising, you can find data on high-traffic areas from local transportation or law enforcement authorities.

This is, by no means, a guarantee that this number of people will actually see the ad. It's just an estimate as to how many eyeballs may land on a billboard rental at a given time.

Impressions

"Impressions" are a direct offshoot and measure of location, format, and circulation – and the easiest way to quantify (read: justify) billboard advertising cost.

Whereas circulation takes into account overall potential viewership, impressions determine the likely viewership — both reach and frequency — of your OOH ad unit.

Impressions are primarily affected by the location and size of your OOH ad unit, but we can't forget that strategic advertisement placements influence impressions. For instance, a small billboard placed near a stoplight will likely cost more than a large billboard placed on a busy street with faster speeds.

Impression analytics are measured via CPM (cost per mile) and they're often compiled by companies like Geopath

The projected ad cost will be $5 CPM, and the billboard will earn a total of 100,000 impressions.

Now, let’s do the math: [100,000/1,000] x $5 = $500.

It's really just as easy as that! Just remember that if you're hoping to own a billboard on the Sunset Strip, the price is much higher.

Demographics

It's one thing to get your ad message in front of a lot of eyeballs. It's another thing to get it in front of the right viewers. This is where demographics come into play.

Thanks to enhanced OOH analytics and the rise of programmatic for digital OOH, advertisers today have more opportunities to ensure that their ad buys reach their target demographics: gender, age, income, education level, and so on.

And as you may have guessed, placing an OOH ad in a more affluent neighborhood — one where consumers potentially have higher disposable income — will raise the overall billboard advertising cost.

After all, there's a direct correlation between getting your brand in front of consumers who can buy what you're selling and getting them to act on a call-to-action.

Design

While demographics directly relate to the media placement, design costs ultimately come down to your brand awareness, how well you communicate your vision coming to life and the quality of graphic designers.

For larger billboards, complicated street furniture placements, or immersive digital OOH ads, you may need to hire designers that specialize in those formats. Specialty designs always cost more, but with the right experience, graphic designers are worth every dollar.

Production costs are one of the many reasons why big brands either hire agencies or build in-house agencies of their own. Creative projects can require costly revisions and if youre working with a graphic that youd like to update, finding a new designer with the same software or templates is very difficult.

Installation

Installation cost also depends on the type of advertising space purchased and how you bring the ad to life. In other words, installing a standard vinyl billboard wont cost the same as a mobile billboard or running a digital OOH campaign on Google or social media.

Vinyl billboards tend to charge per square foot, while social media campaigns depend on ads and influencer talents. Google advertisements are probably the most accessible format to attain, but neither Google or Instagram can grab the type of OOH marketing you want.

The moral of the story: Understand the total cost of your OOH media — including design, production, installation — before committing to your ad buy. Otherwise, you could run into some surprises in the 11th hour (and no one ever likes those, especially of the budgetary sort!)

It's not too late to consider OOH advertising once again

The moral of this story should be reasonably clear:

There's a tremendous amount of value you can gain by weaving OOH advertising into your overall marketing mix.

When thinking about OOH, it's easy to get stuck in the trap of believing that the OOH units that matter most are those within broader, expensive media markets.

And while those markets are undoubtedly important, many of your target consumers don't necessarily live in those markets.

So, consider branching out, and if you're still somewhat skeptical about the impact that OOH media can make on your business, test the waters by launching OOH campaigns in smaller, less saturated, and less expensive media markets.

It's an excellent way for you to test creative, pinpoint specific target audiences, trial various OOH ad formats, and a lot more before spending your valuable ad budgets in broader, more expensive media markets.

Of course, as the team that's working hard to democratize OOH advertising, we are here to help you along this OOH journey.

Because as relevant as understanding billboard advertising cost might be, what's really at stake here is getting your brand and message in front of consumers who will act on it.