By Neil Bell, New South Outdoor
How does your outdoor business attract new business? If you are like me, you focus on calling prospects and putting “Available” on your unrented displays. Do you ever wish there was another channel or medium that produced noticeable and repeatable results? I sure have. I also wish this was the article that had all the answers but, unfortunately, it is not.
I have tried direct mail with tepid results. Tons of those mailers get returned to me. If even 1% of the recipients would call, I guess I would call it a success.
Paid search doesn’t generate enough reach to make any amount of measurable difference. Heck, I can’t even spend 1/10th of the budget I set because the search volume isn’t there – we just don’t get enough clicks.
Other mass mediums like TV and Radio are not an option for promoting outdoor because they primarily reach the general public. It is not our goal to reach the general public. Our real target is the marketing decision makers, the business owners or the person that signs the checks. (FYI…I reluctantly did a trade deal for radio time once – what a waste.)
We have to find a way to reach this small group of decision makers. My experience has shown a couple of avenues that can bear some fruit: email marketing (generate leads) and proper web presence (capture leads).
Email can target the right folks who make the buying decisions. There are lists you can buy or you can build your own list made up of old leads and past customers. The trick to getting a response is to send them something worth their time. Think package offers or bonus opportunities to help stoke demand and move the needle.
Burkhart Advertising does a good job of sending out attractive offers at the right times throughout the year. I’m sure this will get the phone to ring.
Proper web presence is probably the most economical way to help capture leads. How does a prospect find you when they are looking for outdoor in the markets you serve? The phonebook is long gone and search dominates now.
Are you on the first page when you do a Google search for “billboards in… [YOUR MARKET]”? If you are not, I would recommend spending the money to get your website in order. I would suggest adding pages for each market and each display, if possible.
Once prospects are on your website, hold them there! Relevant content, good pictures, and a video of the signs go a long way in keeping your prospect interested once they have found you. Also, make sure that it is easy for them to contact you through the site.
To date, I have not found that one medium or channel that has proven to create immediately measurable and consistent results, but using email and having a good website seem to be the best value for my marketing dollar.
Anyone out there have a foolproof way to get the phone to ring for an outdoor advertising company? Let Insider know using the form below. We’ll do a followup post.
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