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Like many of haunt managers, I'm always trying to figure out what forms of marketing are the best investment for getting the word out about our haunt. Throwing money at radio and TV can be a total waste if you don't pick the right stations, as well as the best time slots for your audience. (And it may not be worthwhile at all if there are too many stations in your area carrying the same type of programing.) Likewise, Billboards can be a waste if they are in the wrong place or can't be seen.
This town has very strict billboard rules, and only allows about 200 or so billboards for all 300,000+ residents. I decided to invest in a billboard if I knew it would be seen by our college audience. They sent me a map with pictures showing the signs and the stats of what they claimed were the demographics and average number of daily views. I picked one that was close to the stores where students bought beer from. (After all, what other places could be you CERTAIN they would frequent, even more than the library?) It looked like a good deal. The sign was close to the road and lit at night, so people would see it the same time we were open. Time was short, so I signed the contract and they promised to have it ready w/in a week...
BIG MISTAKE... I trusted the pictures and didn't go see the spot in person before signing the contract. When I went by and actually saw the billboard, I discovered the photograph was several years old, and in that time, tree limbs had grown way, way out in the road and blocked the view of the sign for all but a few seconds as you actually passed it. In other words, few if any drivers would see it, and only the passengers on the right side of the car would notice it at all if they were looking to the right when they passed it. Distraught, I emailed my rep and asked if they could trim the trees ASAP. She promised she'd get right on it... Unfortunately, a few days later, I heard back that the tree was not on the same lot as the sign, so they had no right to cut it. So tough toe nails.
I wrote back and asked if they could ask the owner of the lot permission to cut the trees. The response was, they really had no incentives for anyone to give permission, so it was basically hopeless, but I was free to ask them if I wanted.
Of course, they were right. Why would anyone let a third party cut the bottom portion of their trees back just so others could view a sign that the home owner received no benefit from whatsoever? In fact, it probably caused light pollution and was a nuisance. If anything, the limbs helped block the glaring lights at night.
Still, I wanted to give it a try. I liked our sign and wanted students to see the darn thing. How could I test its effectiveness if only a fraction of the drive by traffic could physically see it? It turned out the house was a rented duplex, and the owner didn't actually live there, he rented it out. The money went to a management company, and they didn't want to give me the owner's name, but would convey a message to him or her if I wanted. I wanted. But again, I didn't know how I was going to convince this person to help me out. It wasn't like I had extra money to pay them to trim the trees. Just paying the tree trimmer was going to double my investment as it was. Oh, and one other thing-- the big football game was coming up so I was in a hurry to beat the weekend, as half the traffic to the stadium went by on this road.
The very next day I received a call from my landlord (the one renting me the building for the haunt). He said he would be glad to cut the trees for me, any way I would like. I appreciated his sentiments, but getting help cutting the trees wasn't the issue (I had already found a tree service for that). What I needed was PERMISSION from the owner of the duplex to allow the service to cut them. And by the way, how did he know I was trying to cut those trees anyway, 'coz I never bothered telling him about it... That's when I heard got the big shocker: It turns out he was ALSO the owner of the duplex.
Now I'm no math genius, but what are the odds that the same person who rents you your business building also happens to own the very duplex, nearly a mile away, that has an overgrown tree blocking your sign for his building? (In a town of this size, I believe that comes out to 1 in 300,000.) Long and short of it is: it was trimmed, the sign was seen, and we won that football game that weekend and every one since (currently rated #1.)
So the moral of the story is, 1. always check the billboard location BEFORE you rent it and, 2. even if the experts tell you it's hopeless to try, it never hurts to try anyway!
Billboard2013web.jpg
This town has very strict billboard rules, and only allows about 200 or so billboards for all 300,000+ residents. I decided to invest in a billboard if I knew it would be seen by our college audience. They sent me a map with pictures showing the signs and the stats of what they claimed were the demographics and average number of daily views. I picked one that was close to the stores where students bought beer from. (After all, what other places could be you CERTAIN they would frequent, even more than the library?) It looked like a good deal. The sign was close to the road and lit at night, so people would see it the same time we were open. Time was short, so I signed the contract and they promised to have it ready w/in a week...
BIG MISTAKE... I trusted the pictures and didn't go see the spot in person before signing the contract. When I went by and actually saw the billboard, I discovered the photograph was several years old, and in that time, tree limbs had grown way, way out in the road and blocked the view of the sign for all but a few seconds as you actually passed it. In other words, few if any drivers would see it, and only the passengers on the right side of the car would notice it at all if they were looking to the right when they passed it. Distraught, I emailed my rep and asked if they could trim the trees ASAP. She promised she'd get right on it... Unfortunately, a few days later, I heard back that the tree was not on the same lot as the sign, so they had no right to cut it. So tough toe nails.
I wrote back and asked if they could ask the owner of the lot permission to cut the trees. The response was, they really had no incentives for anyone to give permission, so it was basically hopeless, but I was free to ask them if I wanted.
Of course, they were right. Why would anyone let a third party cut the bottom portion of their trees back just so others could view a sign that the home owner received no benefit from whatsoever? In fact, it probably caused light pollution and was a nuisance. If anything, the limbs helped block the glaring lights at night.
Still, I wanted to give it a try. I liked our sign and wanted students to see the darn thing. How could I test its effectiveness if only a fraction of the drive by traffic could physically see it? It turned out the house was a rented duplex, and the owner didn't actually live there, he rented it out. The money went to a management company, and they didn't want to give me the owner's name, but would convey a message to him or her if I wanted. I wanted. But again, I didn't know how I was going to convince this person to help me out. It wasn't like I had extra money to pay them to trim the trees. Just paying the tree trimmer was going to double my investment as it was. Oh, and one other thing-- the big football game was coming up so I was in a hurry to beat the weekend, as half the traffic to the stadium went by on this road.
The very next day I received a call from my landlord (the one renting me the building for the haunt). He said he would be glad to cut the trees for me, any way I would like. I appreciated his sentiments, but getting help cutting the trees wasn't the issue (I had already found a tree service for that). What I needed was PERMISSION from the owner of the duplex to allow the service to cut them. And by the way, how did he know I was trying to cut those trees anyway, 'coz I never bothered telling him about it... That's when I heard got the big shocker: It turns out he was ALSO the owner of the duplex.
Now I'm no math genius, but what are the odds that the same person who rents you your business building also happens to own the very duplex, nearly a mile away, that has an overgrown tree blocking your sign for his building? (In a town of this size, I believe that comes out to 1 in 300,000.) Long and short of it is: it was trimmed, the sign was seen, and we won that football game that weekend and every one since (currently rated #1.)
So the moral of the story is, 1. always check the billboard location BEFORE you rent it and, 2. even if the experts tell you it's hopeless to try, it never hurts to try anyway!
Billboard2013web.jpg
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