Digital Billboard Advertising: Tips for Long-Term Sales Success

The first six to twelve months after your digital billboard went live were great. The newness of the location helped create buzz and advertising sales were strong. But as those first long-term contracts begin to expire, there may be a few advertisers who pull back on their budget and don’t renew at the same level.

Attrition happens in every business. Advertisers will come and go, and a smart operator knows the importance of an ongoing sales effort that encourages new business.

When a digital billboard first goes up, the addition of a new location can be a big attraction for advertisers. But as time goes on, the sales effort must transition from selling the location to selling the medium. To do that, you have to make your case against the efficiency, cost and effectiveness of other advertising mediums.

Here are some tips that will help your sales staff transition to selling the medium and earn a position in the budget.

1. Ask The Questions: When on a sales call, I like to ask my prospect questions about their current marketing efforts.  What mediums are they using, what do they like about it, and what do they not like about it. Often times I hear that they like the features of broadcast and print. The great news about this is that outdoor can now offer many of those features thanks to digital. Be sure to ask enough questions to discover their perceived weaknesses of those mediums and then show how digital outdoor can solve those problems.
    
2. Show The Features: Many prospects that use other traditional media outlets aren’t always aware of the powerful technology of digital outdoor. Showing them all of the scheduling, dynamic content and conditional content options can be a great way to get them on board. Getting the right message out at the right time to the right people makes for effective advertising.
    
3. Do The Math: Other mediums have their own specific benefits, but a majority of the time, their cost relative to their reach is much higher than it is with digital outdoor. Sell on the low cost per thousand (CPM) of digital outdoor. Learn to calculate CPM so that you can give a real comparison to your prospects current advertising efforts. Network television, magazines and newspaper are often the most expensive CPM of the media options, which makes it easier to make a good case against them.