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Is 100% occupancy on billboards a realistic expectation, or an impossible fantasy? Using the methods I am going to describe, you will find that 100% occupancy is a fully attainable goal and a minimum performance benchmark for the future.
I developed these techniques from trial and error on hundreds of billboards I rented over more than a decade. Once you have learned the technique, you can rapidly put the systems in place on every billboard in your inventory.
Basic Concept
The key to maintaining 100% occupancy on a billboard is to have multiple layers of advertisers in place for the billboard space.
First layer: Retail advertisers
The first layer is the regular, retail advertiser. This is your bread and butter, and there is no substitute for this advertiser. This is the one that pays the bills and makes the budgets work. However, try as hard as you will, this layer will always have some degree of vacancy. Every time the advertiser does not renew, there will normally be some time of lag time before you can find a replacement. That being said, you should normally start re-leasing a billboard sixty days before it becomes vacant, if the existing advertiser will give you that much lead time in the form of notice of non-renewal. Start pushing the advertiser to renew at least 60 days before lease expiration.
Second Layer: Reduced rate advertisers
The second layer is an advertiser who would like that advertising space, but does not want to pay the retail rate. He is happy to get some time on the sign at a reduced rate, even if it is only for a few months in between the retail advertiser. You will find this advertiser as a byproduct of looking for the retail advertiser. This person will tell you that they really like to sign, but cannot afford the price. So we ask them if they would like to be on the sign now and then for a cheap price. Often the price is only 50% of the retail rate. You print this ad on a sheet of vinyl, and have it at the ready to put up the minute the retail advertiser has expired. You send them a letter the day their ad goes up, and a letter the day it comes down, and bill them for the period at an already agreed to daily rate. Even at 50% of retail price, this advertiser offers needed cash flow to pay the ground rent when otherwise the sign would sit vacant.
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Author: Frank Rolfe
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