How much does it cost to advertise on a billboard?
In the UK, a typical billboard will set you back anything from £200 per week for smaller, regional billboards, all the way up to several thousand pounds per week for prime locations in cities like London.
While a digital billboard is likely to cost more upfront, it’s worth considering this format does give you the extra flexibility for dynamic, changing messages without the extra costs of papering it up all over again.
Overall, billboard advertising is said to be 80% cheaper than TV advertising spots and 50% cheaper than print advertising, potentially giving you the benefits of a large reach for less.
How much your billboard advert will cost also depends on:
- Location: Locations in major cities and near landmarks are premium for a reason.
- Type: Billboards are catching up in technology, but this comes at a cost.
- Size: The larger and more visible your billboard is, the more expensive it will be.
- Duration: The longer your contract, the more leeway you have to negotiate a better deal.
The different types of billboard advertising
While it was once thought that billboards would be replaced by online advertising, new technology has helped them adapt and opens up lots of possibilities for your campaign. Here are four types of billboard you can choose from:
1. Traditional billboards
This is your classic, large-scale printed format. Traditional billboards have been effective for millennia and are ideal for campaigns you want to run for an extended period, particularly when your objective is to achieve broad brand awareness.
2. Digital billboards
Dynamic and eye-catching, digital billboards offer rotating advertising slots, usually 8-10 seconds every minute. At their best, digital billboards allow you to easily change your advert to allow real-time messaging, even adapting to the weather or the time of day. Done well, digital billboards can increase your engagement by four times compared to traditional billboards.
3. Mobile billboards
Whether it’s taxi advertising or posters mounted on buses, mobile billboards can move your message through the neighbourhoods you want to target. This can help you reach a broader audience compared to a static billboard.
4. Street-level billboards
For a localised message, street-level billboards on bus stops, street kiosks or in shopping centres are great options for close engagement with your target audience. These are particularly helpful to increase footfall to your store, or for encouraging a call to action where a viewer has time to perform it, for example while waiting for their bus.