How Much Does It Cost To Buy A Billboard?
The short answer is: it depends. There are many reasons billboards cost what they do at Meadow Outdoor, but the main factors are location, contract length, and structural realities.
Location
A billboard's location matters a lot. How long can a driver see the billboard? If it’s only a few seconds before the billboard is hidden behind trees, that location will likely be cheaper because it is not as desirable. Is it positioned at an intersection with a stoplight? If so, the billboard would likely be very desirable and therefore more expensive.
Additionally, the location of the billboard determines how many people will see it. If a display is located on a major highway, the traffic count will be much higher. Meadow monitors the traffic counts of every billboard in our inventory and updates them as the Department of Transpiration in each state publishes them.
Length of Contract
At Meadow Outdoor, we charge more for shorter periods of advertising. This is because we have lots of rural inventory, so our crew has to travel long distances to change out vinyls, which becomes difficult when advertisers only want to be on a billboard for a few weeks.
Meadow will include a free vinyl and installation on any contract longer than 12 months; for anything shorter than 12 months, we don’t, and those charges would be added to the total cost. This, of course, does not apply to digital billboards, which allow for artwork to be uploaded remotely. So short-term contracts are typically best done on digital billboards rather than static ones.
Structural Factors
The actual structure of a billboard will sometimes affect the price. The size of the billboard plays a small role. For example, a 14x48ft size is our largest, which would likely be more expensive than a 10x12ft billboard. Additionally, if a billboard is not illuminated, it will likely be less expensive because fewer people will see the advertisement after dark.
To give some more concrete examples, let's see two Meadow ‘s billboards on either end of the spectrum of prices.
This billboard is located on I-84, the busiest road in the state of Oregon, with over 140,000 drivers on it per day. It is a large 14x48 display with illumination and no other obstructions around it. This display goes for well over $7,000 per month per face.
This billboard in La Grande is our least expensive billboard, going for less than $100 per month. It’s in a market with many billboards, and it’s not located on a very busy street, with fewer than 6,000 cars passing per day. This billboard is not illuminated, and the display is the leftmost panel, furthest from the street and therefore less likely to be noticed.
Overall, most billboards, at least in Meadow’s inventory, will vary in price between a few hundred dollars and several thousand dollars per month. If you are interested in buying space on a billboard, contact us for a more specific quote!
If you are interested in advertising on one of our billboards call us at 800-221-4114 or email us at meadow@meadowoutdoor.com!