Campaigns flush from last-minute fundraising deluges can expect some outreach from out-of-home vendors looking to get placements up before the end of October. But for those getting back into the billboard game after not buying one since 2020, practitioners have a warning: prices have gone up.
The pandemic cycle was, in a way, the halcyon days of OOH advertising as traffic and crowds dropped considerably during lockdown and then were slow to recover. Prices dipped considerably as a result. Now, like virtually every other good or service in the United States, they’re more expensive. Still, Debra Cleaver, CEO of nonprofit VoteAmerica, believes that based on current CPMs, billboards remain a cost-effective use of donors’ money.
“Although billboards are more expensive than they were when we first started running billboard campaigns [in 2017], and more expensive than they were during 2020, the CPMs are still reasonable,” Cleaver told C&E. “We consider CPMs when designing campaigns, and the increase in price for OOH is so much more reasonable than the increase in CPMs for digital ads.”
She noted how Facebook’s CPMs have gone up “exponentially since 2020,” which means campaigns are paying more for the same ads, albeit with less targeting features.
“So out of home (OOH) remains a no-brainer for us: the CPMs are reasonable and people actually ‘notice’ billboards,” she said. “Can’t really say that about digital ads or broadcast TV.”
Now, even the presidential are investing in OOH down the stretch. Drive through Reno, Nev., for instance, this week and you’ll likely see billboards featuring large photos of Kamala Harris paid for by her campaign. That’s because research has found that these types of placements over index with Hispanic and Asian voters, and some formats over index with Black voters — as well as adults ages 18-34.
Nearly half of likely voters told Morning Consult’s pollsters in February that “OOH political advertising helps inform them about political candidates (45%) and policy issues (44%).”
Moreover, likely voters told surveyors, who were commissioned by the trade group Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), that they find OOH political ads appealing “because the ads: don’t interrupt their listening, reading or viewing experience like most other political ads (34%); are readily visible (28%); are easily shared on social media (25%); and are short form (24%).”
