Nine Years is a Long Time in This Business

How about a quick history lesson?

Quiz: What Year Was It?

President Reagan passed away. Facebook made its debut. Shrek 2 was tops at the box office. Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunctioned. A gallon of gas only cost $2.00. And the Red Sox ended the Curse of the Bambino.

As billboard operators convert static faces to digital, a key question is often how best to optimize to the perfect number of advertiser "slots." For someone new to digital billboards, the ideal rotation — six to eight advertiser slots with hold times ranging from five to 10 seconds before advancing to the next slot in the rotation — may be a typical starting point.

In the past few months we’ve talked with independent operators about sales calls they’ve made on small, local advertisers. To no one’s surprise, many business owners have said they are holding tight to their surplus cash. If they do decide to invest that cash in advertising, it will have to be in a medium that has shown a proven return. Of course, because digital billboards are the new kid on the block, most local advertisers have yet to try us, and don’t have experience to fall back on. Instead of a roadblock, we view this as an opportunity.

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.

This an excerpt from one of my recent blog posts at Digital Signage Today. I think this is an important topic because digital billboard operators who set their rates based on their static boards or on gut instinct could miss out on a significant revenue opportunity.

Operators around the country have shown concern about overbuilding or saturating their markets with digital units. The question that gets posed to me is, “How many is enough for my market?” This is tough to answer, but I know one thing for sure—the number is almost always more than most would have initially thought.

Over the past year I've talked with operators around the country who are actively developing digital billboards. Nationwide, a frequent topic of conversation revolves around setting rates. Those new to digital outdoor, whether they have experience with static billboard faces or not, seem to struggle with how to price their digital space.