The Ultimate Guide to Creating Spec Art for Potential Billboard Advertisers
Creating spec art for potential billboard advertisers gives you a huge advantage when it comes to sales and prospecting. Many of the top OOH sales professionals use spec art as their daily tool for making a great first impression with their advertisers.
Why should you use spec art as a billboard sales tool?
- It shows the potential advertiser that you’ve done your homework.
- It gives the potential advertiser ideas as to what they could advertise.
- It can be printed and left with the potential advertiser or emailed to them.
- It makes it easier to get them started once they are signed..
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We’ve been making spec art for over a decade, and have compiled a guide to help you create the best spec art you can.
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STEP 1 – RESEARCH
Like many things, starting with a solid foundation is key to success. Research can be done online simply by googling your potential advertiser. Check out their website, social media profiles, google business listing, etc…
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STEP 2 – GATHERING INFORMATION
This is where you will take your research and organize it to create your billboard spec art. Did you find their logo? Save it to your desktop for use in the next step.
Things to look for:
• Did anything stand out while doing your research? Maybe they are having a promotion, special, or offering a discount. At least one of your spec ads should feature one of the potential advertiser’s products or services.
• Are they hiring? All companies will be hiring at some point. Billboards are a great way to find potential employees. See related post: The art of using billboards to attract job candidates.
• Do they have photos of their employees on their website? Showcase them on their billboard ads!
• Location – Do you have a billboard that would make a good directional to their business?
• Is a holiday approaching? Create a “Happy Thanksgiving” billboard ad for them. Or whatever holiday is closest.
• Check their Facebook page for customer testimonials.
• For a full list of ideas see related post: 100 Billboard Ad Ideas
STEP 3 – CREATING THE SPEC ART
You’ve done your research and now it’s time to make some great-looking billboard ads. Spec art can be created using your in-house designer or with billboard design software like Tasty Ad.
• As a rule of thumb, we recommend creating 3-5 pieces of spec art for your potential advertiser.
• Make sure your ads use the potential advertiser’s branding/color scheme. (Note: Tasty Ad software does this for you)
• Make sure all of your ads include the advertiser’s logo and a point of contact. Either their phone number, address, or website.
• Present your spec art on billboard background mockups so your advertiser can see exactly what their ads will look like.
EXAMPLES OF BILLBOARD SPEC ART
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STEP 4 – CHECK YOUR WORK
This step is as important as the first. It’s very important that you check your spelling. Grammar errors can be a huge turn-off to your potential advertiser. Did you use the correct phone number, website address, and physical address? Are you using their correct logo? If everything is correct, they won’t notice. But if something is wrong… they will for sure notice.
