What a useful billboard listing should tell an advertiser
Published
By Baash Ashraf, Founder of Adboards
A billboard listing should help someone decide what to ask next. A photograph alone cannot explain whether a location suits a message, what creative it needs or which details are still awaiting confirmation.
The following framework describes what a useful listing ought to clarify. It is a design perspective, not a claim about Adboards inventory or the performance of a particular billboard.
Describe the location accurately
A listing should identify where the display is and what its photographs show. The viewing direction and surrounding context can matter as much as the address. Images should distinguish the actual location from illustrative material.
A busy-looking photograph is not an audience measurement. If a listing includes audience estimates, it should explain their source, date and limitations. Without that evidence, the listing should leave the figure out.
Explain the format
An advertiser needs to know whether the placement is printed or digital and which dimensions and file requirements apply. For a digital screen, the listing should explain any relevant duration and scheduling constraints. For a printed placement, it should explain production requirements that affect preparation.
Those details should be supplied for the actual placement. A general platform description cannot substitute for its specifications.
Separate interest from confirmed availability
An open date picker is not necessarily a reserved placement. The listing should explain when availability is checked, what a request means and which confirmation makes a booking binding.
If a date is awaiting confirmation, say so. Clear status language helps prevent an advertiser from treating an inquiry as a completed commitment.
Make the cost understandable
The information should explain what the stated price covers and identify any additional production or service charges before commitment. If a final quote is required, the listing should say that directly rather than presenting an indicative amount as a guaranteed total.
Show the next step
The advertiser should know which action follows: request information, supply creative, review a quote or confirm a booking. Any review requirement should be stated before that action.
Good information does not require pretending every uncertainty has been resolved. It requires making the unresolved parts visible.
How this relates to Adboards
Adboards is a pre-launch venture developing an outdoor advertising platform. This framework describes a standard for clear information as the project develops. Adboards has not started its billboard business or sold billboard campaigns.
Baash Ashraf is the Founder of Adboards and Co-founder of Travold.