The Secrets of Winning Outdoor Billboard Artwork
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By Frank Rolfe
Great outdoor billboard artwork is a combination of simple concepts steeped in decades of research. As long as you follow these basic, time-proven steps, you will always deliver your client an outdoor billboard that is attractive and effective. And if you fail to utilize this outdoor billboard advertising information, your client’s billboard may be illegible and ineffective.
Keep It Simple
You should not put more than a few words on a billboard. Why? Two reasons. First, you can’t grasp more than a few words while reading and driving at 55 mph. Secondly, the size of the words is very important – you want to keep the main copy at approximately 36” character height – so the fewer the words, the larger the type and the better the visibility. To make this happen, you have to distill the advertiser’s message down to its simplest form. This is one of your key goals in creating great artwork – what is the key message and how can you express it in the fewest possible words?
Legible Typestyles
There are a lot of typestyles out there – and most of them should never be used on a billboard. The typestyles you use must be easy to read. Those include simple styles such as times roman and universe. Always use styles that have very bold, thick strokes – they are easier to read at far distances. Most of the highly stylized typestyles that are popular in print advertising are completely inappropriate in billboards, although many graphic designers refuse to acknowledge this. If the viewer can’t read your copy, what it the point of the billboard?
High Contrast
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America in 1928, published their findings of exhaustive research into what color combinations are the most legible on a billboard. The best colors, in order of success, more maximum contrast are
- Black on yellow
- Black on white
- Yellow on black
- White on black
- Blue on white
- White on blue
- White on green
- Green on white
- Red on white
10. White on red
When the words and background on a billboard have little contrast, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to read the message. And it you cannot read the message, the ad is a total waste.
Graphic Must Convey
If you are going to put a picture in the ad, make sure that it compliments and helps tell the story. For example, a restaurant might want to show a plate of appetizing food as the graphic. The graphic should help sell the product or service, and make the ad memorable enough that you can remember the name of the company.
Test and Re-test
Once you have a design that meets these criteria, you have to test it on some sample consumers to see if it works. These may be, in the simplest form, some of your co-workers. Tape the finished artwork to a distant wall, and then have the guinea pig walk toward the wall and tell you when they can see it clearly and what it means (try as best as you can to replicate the distance and size that the billboard will be seen). Be sure to use color artwork, so you don’t cheat with the simple, high-contrast black and white version. A winning piece of art will have good visibility at a distance so far that most of the copy is illegible – yet just the headline grabs the viewer’s attention and makes them want to read the balance of the ad.
Conclusion
There is no magic to producing great billboard ad copy. In fact, when you get away from the simple, time-proven roots of great copy is when you fail in your mission. You may be tempted to stray from these logical benchmarks to create “breakthrough” advertising – but instead all you will create is an embarrassment. Due to the difficulty in reading an ad at 55 mph from 1,000’, a lot of the creative things that work in print ads just don’t apply here.
So if you want to be known for having happy customers with ads that really sell, you need to stick to the points outlined above.
About Frank Rolfe
Frank Rolfe became the one of the largest private billboard operators in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He eventually sold his billboard empire to a public company 14 years later. Rolfe is sharing his expertise to anyone interested in getting involved with outdoor billboards. He is the author of the book, “Big Bucks from Big Signs”, which teaches you the secrets of outdoor billboard advertising and how to build a successful billboard business.
Outdoor Billboard Advertising Basics
Home > Outdoor Billboard Articles > Outdoor Billboard Advertising
By Frank Rolfe
With little starting capital, investors and entrepreneurs can make thousands with billboard advertising
Flipping single family homes is a thing of the past, and it’s time to examine other real-estate oriented options for more fertile territory. One area that is often overlooked is outdoor billboard advertising—basically big signs that advertise located on highways and roads. These old, giant players in the advertising world are suddenly becoming the darlings of media buyers the world over and creating some exciting opportunities for aggressive individuals who are willing to play.
Getting Licenses
To enter the billboard business, you only need a few pieces of equipment, and they are all relatively inexpensive. The first is a license from the state or city you are going to look for locations in. Many states and cities do not require such licenses. In those that do, the cost is nominal, maybe $200 per year. You can find out if the state you are in requires such a license by contacting the department of transportation or by inquiring at city hall. Normally, the requirements for a license are not difficult—there is no testing. You may need a bond, but that is readily attainable from your insurance company, and the face value is marginal.
The Tools of the Trade
The other pieces of equipment you will need are the sign ordinance, the zoning maps, a tape measure and a “roller wheel” measuring device that allows you to measure long distances on foot. All of these parts together should cost under $100, and will last for years. Of course, you will also need a car to get around town.
Finding Sites
The business revolves around finding billboard sites and getting groundleases and permits for them. You literally have to start on each road or highway at one end of the city limits and go to the other end, carefully scanning your zoning maps for tracts of land that have the allowable zoning and spacing between signs. The Highway Beautification Act of the 1970s established minimum distances between signs, so you need to consult your particular state and city for those guidelines.
One of the best places for a new entrant to look for locations is on the fringes of town. As you get farther out of town, the competition for locations declines, and you can often find new locations out on this periphery. Of course, they will not rent for as much as the signs in town, but remember that, as the city grows, one day you will be in town, too.
Flipping Ground Leases
When you are first starting out, one of the best ways to create value is to “flip” your groundleases and permits. Basically, you take the location you have put together and sell it to an established competitor. How much will you get? Prices range from $5,000 to $200,000 or more, based on the value of the sign location. You can use this capital to later fund your first billboard that you keep, or you may elect to remain a sign locator who just sells off his inventory to bigger competitors.
If you elect to keep the billboard site, you can obtain financing from banks, but they are often reluctant to make loans to someone who has no existing experience. A better bet is to obtain funds from a outdoor leasing company. These companies understand the collateral and are more apt to bet on a newbie. You can find these lenders on the internet.
If you keep the billboard, you should be able to pay it off within 7 to 10 years, and then keep the cash-flow for the life of the sign.
The Bottom Line
With an up-front, out-of-pocket investment of a few hundred dollars, and the ability to make thousands in profits—even hundreds of thousands—it is hard to beat the billboard business. And with two of the Forbes 400 billboard billionaires (John Kluge and Arturo Moreno) and a host of famous folks who got their start in the industry (think Ted Turner), shouldn’t you give it some thought?
About Frank Rolfe
Frank Rolfe became the one of the largest private billboard operators in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He eventually sold his billboard empire to a public company 14 years later. Rolfe is sharing his expertise to anyone interested in getting involved with outdoor billboards. He is the author of the book, “Big Bucks from Big Signs”, which contains everything you need to know in order to get started.
