Thanks to everyone who submitted their toughest out of home sales questions. Last week I discussed why one location costs more than another and whether there’s a minimum effective ad spend. Today I discuss whether a short term out of home ad campaign makes sense.
“Is a short term out of home campaign ever worth it?”
NO! Gephart OOH Sales Rule #37: “No Small Sale Goes Unpunished!”
There are two main reasons advertisers want to buy a short-term out-of-home campaign:
1) They’re too small to afford anything else. If so, move them far down on your Strategic Prospect Management System priority or remove them from your prospect list altogether. Focus your limited time on a prospect of more value.
Small advertisers can become big advertisers; however, reps wrongfully believe if they work them when they’re small, they can profit when the advertiser grows. Often it isn’t worth it. They likely will take up too much of your precious time/resources until they grow. By using a Strategic Prospect Management System, you can maintain influence with them over the long term as they grow and prevent them from distracting you in the short term. If you’d like a copy of my Strategic Prospecting Management System, email me at: KevinJGephart@gmail.com.
2) Advertisers are trying to “test the waters.” The truth is that out-of-home has been tested for over 2000 years, and it works just fine. You recognize these advertisers because they say things like “if this works, we’ll do more.” It begs the observation, “oh, really I thought if it worked you might cancel!!???” Absurd! Don’t fall for the empty promise.
Dollar for dollar, time for time, out-of-home works equal to or better than any other medium. It’s proven by the growth of the OOH industry. The OAAA just released (March 17, 2026) the 2025 OOH sales growth scorecard showing OOH posted it’s 19 straight quarter of sales growth, nearly 5 straight years. No other traditional media can come even close to that growth record!!!…proof that OOH works!!!! The advertising market is showing their preference and voting with their dollars.
Add to that extremely strong rates of renewals among current OOH advertisers (insert the actual percentage for your company).
When a prospect says, “I tried out-of-home and it didn’t work,” you know a previous out-of-home rep sold them a small campaign for a short duration that had little chance of working. When a campaign doesn’t achieve the desired results, it leaves the advertiser with the wrong impression of your media. For the advertiser’s future prosperity and yours, you need the courage to, very professionally, walk away from short-term purchases. Explain you can’t, in good conscience, take their money for a program that has little chance of working. Position yourself as a trusted business advisor and not a product peddler.
Next time I’ll answer: “Should I bundle ad design, production and installation or charge for it separately.”
You can learn more about how I can help you sell more faster at: OOHSalesFaster.com.
Contact me at KevinJGephart@gmail.com
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