Booking billboard advertising is often much simpler than people expect.
You don’t need to contact multiple media owners, negotiate separate contracts or understand the differences between every billboard format. Whether you’re planning a single billboard in your local area or a nationwide campaign across hundreds of locations, an experienced out-of-home (OOH) advertising agency can manage the entire process on your behalf.
You don’t need to know which media owner operates a particular billboard or negotiate with multiple suppliers either. We’ll compare the available options, secure the most suitable locations for your campaign and manage the entire booking process on your behalf.
In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how to book billboard advertising, what information you’ll need before getting started and what happens from your initial enquiry through to your campaign going live.
How Does Billboard Advertising Booking Work?
Most businesses don’t book billboards directly with individual media owners.
Instead, they work with an independent OOH agency that has access to thousands of billboard locations across multiple media owners through a single point of contact.
A typical billboard advertising campaign follows these seven steps:
Define your campaign objectives.
Receive billboard recommendations.
Review availability and pricing.
Approve your media plan.
Supply or create your artwork.
Production and campaign launch.
Receive campaign reporting and proof of posting.
Working this way saves time, provides access to more inventory and ensures you’re not limited to the locations offered by a single media owner.
Step 1: Define Your Campaign Objectives
Before recommending billboard locations, we’ll want to understand what you’re trying to achieve.
Some common objectives include:
- Building brand awareness
- Launching a new product
- Driving website traffic
- Increasing store visits
- Promoting an event
- Supporting a national marketing campaign
- Recruiting new employees
We’ll also discuss:
- Your target audience
- Preferred locations
- Campaign dates
- Budget
- Campaign duration
The more information you can provide at this stage, the better your recommendations will be.
Step 2: Choose the Right Billboard Locations
One of the biggest advantages of working with an independent agency is access to a huge range of billboard locations.
Rather than recommending one media owner’s inventory, we compare options across the UK’s leading outdoor advertising networks to find the best fit for your objectives.
For example:
Brand Awareness
Large roadside billboards, digital spectaculars and city centre locations.
Retail Campaigns
Billboards close to stores, shopping centres and retail parks.
Commuter Audiences
Busy arterial roads, transport hubs and city centre locations.
Local Campaigns
High-frequency sites close to your business or service area.
The best campaign isn’t always the one with the most billboards. It’s the one that reaches the right audience in the right places.
Step 3: Select Your Billboard Format
Billboards come in many different formats, each offering different advantages.
Some of the most popular include:
- Digital billboards
- Classic roadside billboards
- 48 Sheet billboards
- 96 Sheet billboards
- Premium digital roadside screens
- Retail park billboards
- Large-format spectaculars
If you’re unsure which format is right for your campaign, we’ll recommend the options that best suit your objectives and budget.
Step 4: Check Availability
Unlike digital advertising platforms, billboard locations have limited availability.
Once a campaign has been booked, that site isn’t available to anyone else for the same period.
Some of the UK’s most popular locations can sell out several months in advance, particularly during:
- Christmas
- Black Friday
- Summer
- Major sporting events
- Product launch periods
If your campaign has fixed launch dates or requires specific billboard locations, it’s always worth planning as early as possible.
If your preferred billboard isn’t available, we’ll usually recommend similar nearby locations with comparable audience reach.
Step 5: Approve Your Media Plan
Once we’ve identified the best locations, we’ll prepare a media plan for your approval.
This typically includes:
- Billboard locations
- Campaign dates
- Billboard formats
- Estimated audience reach
- Costs
- Production requirements
- Campaign timings
Nothing is booked until you’re happy to proceed.
We’ll happily revise recommendations until they meet your objectives.
Step 6: Supply Your Artwork
Once your campaign has been booked, it’s time to prepare your artwork.
If you’ve already created your creative, we’ll check that it meets the required artwork specifications for each billboard format before submitting it to the relevant media owners.
If you haven’t yet designed your campaign, we can recommend experienced creative partners who specialise in outdoor advertising artwork.
Before your campaign can go live, the artwork may also need to be approved by the relevant media owner. As part of this process, they’ll check that it complies with their technical specifications and advertising policies.
Depending on the campaign and location, artwork may also need to comply with:
- The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (CAP Code), enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
- Media owner creative guidelines
- Local authority advertising restrictions
- Sector-specific advertising regulations, where applicable
- Additional policies for certain environments, such as Transport for London’s Advertising Policy
If any amendments are required, we’ll coordinate these with you before launch to help keep your campaign on schedule.
Step 7: Production and Campaign Launch
What happens next depends on the type of billboard you’ve booked.
Printed Billboards
Your artwork is printed before being professionally installed onto the billboard.
Digital Billboards
Your artwork is uploaded remotely and scheduled to play throughout your campaign.
Before launch, we’ll confirm everything has been successfully scheduled and provide confirmation of your campaign start date.
What Happens Once Your Billboard Campaign Goes Live?
Once your campaign is live, your advertising will begin reaching your target audience immediately.
Depending on the campaign and media owner, we can also provide:
- Proof of posting
- Campaign photography
- Independent verification
- Campaign reporting
- Ongoing campaign support
Our aim is to make the entire process as straightforward and transparent as possible.
Why Use an Independent Billboard Advertising Agency?
While you can approach some media owners directly, doing so only gives you access to their own inventory.
Working with an independent agency like Excite OOH gives you access to multiple media owners through one point of contact.
That means we can:
- Compare availability across different networks
- Recommend the most suitable locations
- Secure competitive rates
- Manage artwork and production
- Coordinate your campaign from start to finish
Most importantly, our recommendations are based on what’s best for your campaign—not what’s available from a single supplier.
