Your Google Ads rule book doesn’t apply to billboards.
Launch a campaign, wait two weeks, see no spike in website clicks, declare billboards “don’t work” for their business.
Spencer Cook has watched thousands of small businesses make this mistake time and time again. As Chief Architect at Blip, Spencer built the platform that made billboards accessible to anyone. No more traditional multi-month contracts; businesses can buy, set up, and launch all within minutes.
“For a lot of our users, this is their first foray into out-of-home marketing, and maybe even into marketing or advertising at all,” says Spencer.
Through onboarding countless SMBs to Blip’s platform, he discovered why most billboard campaigns fail—and how to build ones that succeed.
Many of these businesses often approach out-of-home advertising backwards. They expect immediate ROI like web advertising delivers, not understanding that billboards work fundamentally differently than digital channels. If you’re looking for instant gratification, let your search continue.
The businesses that succeed understand one critical truth: billboards build the awareness foundation that makes every other marketing channel more effective over time.
Commitment Over Clicks
Unlike digital advertising that can show results in days, billboard advertising follows a completely different timeline and measurement approach.
“I almost would never recommend anyone running a billboard campaign for less than 90 days,” Spencer explains. “It takes that long for people to see it enough in the wild to internalize it, think about it, and especially take action on it.”
This insight runs counter to how most small businesses think about advertising—and we can’t blame them. In a world shoving digital in our faces, SMBs (and their investors) are conditioned to expect trackable, immediate results. But billboards function as a foundational layer of marketing strategy, not as a standalone insta-conversion tool.
Spencer’s core thesis is this: Use low-CPM billboards to build a brand awareness foundation, then add trackable digital channels on top of that.
“Instead of spending $20 CPM to get your 7 touches, you’re gonna spend $5 CPM for your first 6 touches, and then you’re gonna only spend $20 for your next 1 or 2, when they’re actually more likely to take action.”
This tiny change-up is simple to execute, but it requires patience and fortitude to see the results.
In 90 days, you can build the brand recognition that makes every dollar you spend after work 4x harder. Ready to lock in?
The 90-Day Billboard Blueprint
Define Your Geographic DNA (Days 1-7)
While many small businesses approach billboard advertising in terms of budget first, Spencer flips that line of thinking. Start with location selection before budget planning.
“We have to remember that the strategy’s root has to be geo-based, because billboards only reach people who pass by them,” Spencer explains.
This geographic certainty is actually billboard advertising’s superpower, compared to digital channels where you’re never quite sure where your ads will appear. Instead of an ad showing up on a webpage for someone across the country who can’t immediately take action, billboards create hyperlocal presence where it matters most.
Map out exactly where your customers travel daily—not just where they live. Then choose 3-5 strategic billboard locations along common commute routes. You have to understand customer behavior patterns, not just their demographic data, in order to get this step right.
Calculate Your Frequency Formula (Days 8-14)
Spencer’s framework prioritizes frequency over reach for small business budgets.
“Once you’ve dialed in on the reach of where you want to be, your next spend should focus on increasing frequency,” Spencer advises. “The name of the game is getting repeat impressions on the same person.”
Think of your budget as an output rather than an input. Start with reach and frequency and let that equation tell you how much you need to spend, then adjust accordingly. If the budget output is too much, for example, play around with the other pieces of the puzzle until you’re happy with all the numbers.
“Take the example of a plumber,” says Spencer. “You pass multiple billboards about this guy day after day—so that when all of a sudden you need a plumber, who are you gonna think of first? The face you saw for the last 3 weeks, right?”
To build trust, people need to see your brand multiple times in multiple places. It’s just how our brains work. And since billboards can’t move around like people do (that would be horrifying), you have to make sure they’re strategically positioned to catch those same eyes repeatedly.
Install Your Measurement Infrastructure (Days 15-21)
Your campaign is useless if you can’t measure the metrics. Before launch, Spencer swears by the following:
- Create a website
- Install Google Analytics (don’t worry, it’s free)
- Establish baseline website metrics 2 weeks prior to launch
It seems like common sense, but many small businesses skip this part, leaving them unable to determine whether their billboard campaign worked.
“If you haven’t established a baseline before you start advertising out of home, then you can’t tell if there’s a bump there,” says Spencer.
We get it, the measurement challenge is real—there’s no click-through rate with billboards. But indirect measurement through website traffic, social engagement, and business inquiries can still reveal a campaign’s impact over time.
Execute the 90-Day Commitment (Days 22-90+)
Okay, here we go. It’s launch time.
Launch your campaign and maintain consistent presence without changing creative or locations while awareness compounds over three months.
Yup. Leave it alone. No touchy.
“It’s gonna be day 60 to 90 when you really start feeling more engagement on your socials, your website, or your walk-ins,” Spencer says. End the campaign too early, and you’ll have spent all your time setting up your experiment, and not enough time gathering data from it.
And while Spencer understands how difficult it is to not tweak, tinker, and fret, he stresses how important it is to maintain consistent presence during this period.
He also suggests trying creative ways to amplify billboard presence through social media (for example, “If you see my billboard and send me a picture, I’ll give you a free soda”) to create network effects and social proof.
After day 30, start layering in your trackable digital campaigns. Now those expensive Google Ads and Facebook campaigns will perform better, because people have already seen your name.
You’re no longer introducing yourself—you’re closing a conversation you started on the highway.
Once Invisible, Now Invincible
Spencer’s 90-day approach turns market mayflies into local powerhouses, delivering a bounty of outcomes for small businesses to leave their mark.
Instant credibility – “It legitimizes me as a business to show up on a billboard,” Spencer notes. “It used to only be big companies that could afford that. But now, even small businesses can be on a billboard to show that they are real and a big deal.” Your local pizza shop suddenly looks like it belongs in the same conversation as national chains.
Maximum reach, minimum spend – Reach thousands of potential customers for $20-50/day versus hundreds with the same digital budget. Spencer has found this model works across all business sizes—from mom-and-pop shops spending $20/day to enterprise campaigns spending thousands.
Built for business speed – With digital billboards, you can launch campaigns in minutes instead of the weeks it can take for traditional billboard contracts. Ads can appear within 24-48 hours of submission, giving small businesses the agility to respond to market opportunities faster than their larger competitors.
Making a 90-day commitment to OOH testing can fundamentally change how your business competes. Instead of fighting for expensive last-click conversions, you’re building the brand awareness foundation that makes every marketing dollar more effective.
Spencer’s framework is a masterclass in patience and consistency. With it, small businesses go from invisible players into invincible local brands.
