From the first call to your ad on the board: how a billboard campaign comes together

A conversation, a choice of boards, a free design, your approval, then launch

A billboard campaign starts with a conversation about your goal, your customers and where they drive. I then pull the boards that fit and quote each one, you choose and sign the agreement, our designers build the ad free and send you proofs, you approve the final version and the ad goes up: installed on a static board, or loaded onto a digital board, where Lamar says an ad can be displayed within minutes. How long the whole process takes depends mostly on which boards are available and how quickly the design is settled.

This is the process I take owners through at Lamar's Dallas–Fort Worth Billboard Office in Arlington. Here is each step in detail, what you decide at each one and what we take care of, so nothing comes as a surprise.

What to have ready before we talk

You do not need much to start, and you do not need any artwork. But a few things make the first conversation far more productive and let me bring back better options.

• What you want to advertise: the business, a new location, an event, an offer or open positions
• Who your best customers are and where they live or work, even roughly by ZIP code
• Any dates that matter, such as an opening, an event or the start of your season
• Your logo, ideally as a vector file, plus any photos you would like to use
• A rough idea of what you want to invest and for how long
• What you already do in marketing, so outdoor fits around it

Step one: the first conversation

The first call or meeting is about your business, not about boards. I will ask what you want people to do after they see your ad, who those people are and where they drive. I will also ask what has and has not worked for you before, because that tells me a lot about which format and location will suit you.

By the end, we will usually have a working plan: the area to focus on, a likely format such as a static bulletin, a digital rotation or an airport display, and the dates. If outdoor is not a good fit for your goal, this is where I will tell you.

Bring the person who will make the decision, or at least loop them in early. A plan built with an office manager and then reviewed for the first time by an owner who sees the business differently often starts over. One conversation with everyone who matters saves a round of changes later, both in the board choice and in the design.

Step two: board options, quotes and the agreement

Next I pull the boards that match the plan from Lamar's inventory, which in the Metroplex sits almost entirely along high-traffic interstates and highways. Lamar's online Ad Marketplace also lets you search billboard, transit and airport locations yourself if you like to browse. For each board I show you where it is, which direction it faces, who passes it and what it costs, because every board is priced on its own. My guides on choosing a billboard location and on what a billboard costs and what drives the price explain how to compare them.

Once you choose, we put it in writing. Read the agreement for the essentials: which board or boards, the start and end dates, the format, whether production and installation are included for a static board, what design help is included and whether you can change the message during the run.

Step three: the design, done free

Lamar's Dallas office offers free design services, and our office has its own graphic design staff who build outdoor ads every day. You send your logo, photos and the message you have in mind, and the designer turns it into a billboard built to be read in seconds. If you already have artwork, we will check it and adapt it for outdoor, since layouts made for print or the web usually need simplifying.

Lamar's Design Gallery shows past campaigns if you want inspiration before we start. The most useful thing you can bring is clarity about the one idea you want drivers to remember; the rest is our job. My guide on designing a billboard people can read at highway speed explains the principles our designers follow, so you know why they may push back on adding a phone number.

Expect the designer to ask questions rather than simply take orders. What should a driver remember if they read only one word? Is the board near your location, so a direction such as the next exit makes sense? Will the message change during the run? The answers shape the layout, and a few minutes spent on them up front usually means fewer rounds of proofs later.

Step four: proofs, changes and your approval

You will see the design as a proof before anything is produced or loaded. Look at it the way a driver would: small on your screen, for five seconds, from across the room. Ask for changes if something is unclear, and check the details carefully, including the spelling of your name, the web address and any offer terms.

Two details often slow this step down. The first is the logo file: a small or blurry logo cannot be enlarged to billboard size cleanly, so send the best version you have, and if you are unsure, the guide on checking whether your logo file is ready for print explains what to look for. The second is content rules. Lamar has a published copy acceptance policy, and some professions, such as law and real estate, have their own advertising rules, so if your business is regulated, check your message early rather than at the last minute.

Step five: the board goes live

What happens next depends on the format. On a static bulletin, the approved ad is produced at full size and installed on the structure for the start of your run. If the design includes extensions or 3D elements, those are built as well, which is one more reason to settle the design early when you have a fixed start date; Lamar's bulletin page notes that an ad can extend an extra 5 feet at the top, 2 feet at the side and 1 foot at the bottom.

On a digital board, nothing has to be printed. According to Lamar, your ad can be displayed within minutes and then rotates with the other ads on the screen every 6 to 8 seconds. I will confirm the start of your run with you, and it is worth driving past your board yourself in the first days, ideally at the time your customers commute.

During the run: changes, check-ins and rotations

A campaign is not finished when the board goes up. On a digital board, you can change your message weekly, daily, hourly or in real time with no production cost, according to Lamar, so we can swap offers, run seasonal messages or refresh the ad as the campaign goes. On a rotary bulletin package, your ad moves between bulletin locations at stated intervals, usually every 60 to 90 days.

I also recommend agreeing on check-ins at the start. Before launch, record your baseline numbers, such as searches for your name, website visits, calls and new customers, and ask every new customer how they heard about you. At each check-in we look at the trend together and decide whether anything should change.

As the end date approaches, we talk again before anything comes down. If the numbers are moving, extending on the same board keeps the familiarity you have built. If awareness is growing but people are not acting, a new message may be the answer. If the board's audience turned out not to be your customers, we look at a different location. The decision is yours, and it should rest on the scorecard rather than on a feeling about the last few weeks.

Where first-time advertisers lose time

Almost all of the delays I see come from a few avoidable causes, and none of them has anything to do with the board itself. Name one person to approve the design and start early, and most of them disappear.

• Waiting until a week before an opening or event to start, when the boards they want are already booked
• Sending a low-resolution logo pulled from a website
• Adding more words to the design at each round of changes
• Several people approving the design, each with different ideas, and no one with the final say
• Leaving regulated wording or offer terms to be checked at the last minute
• Not deciding before launch how the result will be judged

Starting your campaign with me

If you are ready to start, reach out with the list above, even if some of it is rough. I will come back with the boards that fit, a quote for each and a clear picture of the steps and dates for your campaign. The design is free, so you can see what your board would look like before you commit to anything beyond the conversation.

If you are earlier in the decision, that is fine too. Bring your questions, and I will tell you honestly whether a board, a digital rotation, an airport display or nothing at all is the right next step for your business.

Questions people ask me