Realtor Billboard Advertising: Does It Work?
The short answer is yes. Realtor billboard advertising works.
However, it isn’t as simple as finding a spot and placing your phone number and photo on a board. With careful thought into the design, location, and the latest billboard technology, you can make this an effective advertising channel.
Even with the emphasis on using social media and online tactics for lead generation, billboards are a traditional advertising tool that real estate agents shouldn’t dismiss.
Here are some tips for creating billboards that convert.
Do Real Estate Billboards Work?
You don’t need to have a Times Square ad budget for your billboard to produce results—if you plan correctly. Your billboard can look spectacular and designed by a skilled artist but there are a few questions to ask yourself first.
Does it speak to your audience? Can someone see it from far? And what about the location? Is it in a prime spot?
We share some pointers to help guide your real estate billboard strategy.
10 Tips for Creating Effective Real Estate Billboards
1. Make Font Easy to Read
Sitting behind the wheel requires a driver to dedicate their attention to the road. When looking at road signs, a driver does not need to slow down or stop in order to read it. That’s because the sign is clear with an easy-to-read font. Your billboard should do the same. The driver (and passengers!) will only have a few seconds to glance at your billboard, so make sure the font is large enough too.
2. Include Contact Information
What do you want someone to do when they see your billboard? If your goal is for the viewer to contact you for their real estate needs, don’t forget to provide a way for them to reach you. When it comes to putting a phone number, it may be difficult for someone passing by to remember a string of numbers. Instead, you can consider getting a vanity phone number, which spells out, for example, 1-800-REALTORS. Or you could include an easy-to-remember social media handle.
3. Keep It Simple
As great as you think your billboard may be, no one is going to stop their car to read every detail and fine print you may be thinking about putting in the ad. Keep it simple. You may feel you need to put all of your information and accomplishments on there, but too much clutter will be confusing, especially with such a small amount of space. Pick a few key points, like your tagline and contact information.
4. Keep It on Brand
To stay top of mind with your real estate clients, you likely already send your past and current clients updates via email newsletters, or mail. You probably send your online or physical mail with your logo and color scheme used on all of your marketing material. The billboard should be no different. Stay on brand by using the same colors and overall feel when designing your billboard.
5. Highlight Important Points
What do you want your billboard to say about you? Are you trying to attract a person to contact you if they are looking to purchase a home? Or maybe you want them to list their home with you for sale? Come up with a message that targets your customer and make sure to limit the number of words and highlight the important points, like your contact information. Just make sure your message isn’t confusing or too smart. Put it to the test by getting feedback from friends and family to make sure they understand it.
6. Add Creativity
Create traction and buzz with a creative billboard that could even prompt someone who isn’t even looking to buy or sell their home to pay attention. Plus, you never know—they can be an advocate for you to get more buyer and seller referrals. Maybe you’ve noticed all billboards in your target area tend to use the same color schemes. Add different colors to create attention. Or see if you can incorporate 3D elements or technology.
7. Timing
Pay attention to the time of year so you can properly allocate your marketing budget. Maybe a road that you want to have the billboard on isn’t very busy in the summer when people tend to walk outside more on a different route instead of driving. You can pause from putting your billboard up and use the dollars for more social media ads during that time.
8. Volume
One metric to measure the success of online ads is impressions (the number of times your ad is shown). The same can apply to billboards. It may take several reps of exposure to one of your ads before someone will take action and convert. Having your billboard placed in multiple locations may serve as a few of those touchpoints.
9. Placement
This leads us to placement. You’ll want to place your billboard in not just heavily trafficked areas, but places where you wish to be known as the local real estate agent. Think about where the people that you want to see your ads are driving or walking around. They could be homeowners looking for a real estate agent to sell their homes for them.
10. Stay Within Advertising Ethics
Whether or not you’re a part of the National Associaton of REALTORs® (NAR), make sure to check out their Code of Ethics. Pay close attention to Article 12, which lists that Realtors “shall be honest and truthful in their real estate communications and shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing, and other representations.” You’ll also want to pay attention to your state’s Consumer Protection laws in addition to federal laws under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Bottom line is to keep your real estate marketing legal and avoid any potential problems.
Real Estate Agent Advertising: The Guidance Home Services Advantage
Remember, a billboard is not the be-all, end-all. Putting up your sign may not be the only thing you need to do to get a consistent stream of leads to work with. So treat it as one part of your overall real estate marketing strategy and see which platforms work best for your audience.
Effective real estate marketing takes various forms. There’s social media and other online mediums and traditional direct mail and flyers.
Then there are real estate referral networks. Our sister company, Guidance Home Services, connects real estate agents with new pre-approved homebuyers in your area. There are no sign-up or annual fees and you get the support of a concierge team to follow the progress.
Join the Guidance Home Services network today.
