The expenses of truckside advertising in California, and a guide on understanding the business before partnering up
Mobile advertising is a viable marketing strategy that allures the eye of people and can’t be ignored through an ad-blocker or by clicking a skip button.
The industry allows for companies of any size to advertise without fighting for billboard space; you can keep track of which areas the ad travels to, and compared to traditional billboards, mobile ads reach a lot more people since it reaches more ground.
Let’s think about the big question: How much does it all cost?
The Expense of truckside Billboards
Like when it comes to buying a house, the moving billboard search depends on multiple factors. You have to consider the size of the truck, city its located in, and who you’re buying from, etc. With these factors in mind, there is no straightforward answer, but there is an approximate range of how much renting a truckside ad can cost.
In the state of California, truckside ads are expected to cost between $1500- 50,000. The expenses all depend on how long your custom plan is and where the truck travels. Like when it comes to buying a house, the moving billboard search depends on multiple factors. You have to consider the size of the truck, city its located in, and who you’re buying from, etc. With these factors in mind, there is no straightforward answer, but there is an approximate range of how much renting a truckside ad can cost.
According to the mobile ads listings on this website, renting out a moving ad can range around these prices in these specific cities:
FRESNO ($1350- 2750)
LONG BEACH ($1199- 2350)
LOS ANGELES ($749- 3500)
SACRAMENTO ($1000-2000)
SAN FRANCISCO ($1450- 2260)
The listed ranges above are from multiple companies that offer their services as early as April 2019.
Things You have to Understand Before Making a Custom Plan
When looking at billboard postings or even talking to a mobile ads company, they will inform you about things such as the circulation of the vehicle, its visibility, view, etc. I will further explain what these terms mean.
Circulation:
Circulation is the total estimate of traffic that passes by the ad. This term does not take into account whether the passersby see your advertisement or not; it just determines how many people can see your ad.
An easy way of imagining it is this picture that there a food ad on the street. There are great fries dressed in sea salt only to compliment the main attraction, the new burger that’s in town for a limited time only. You might look up at it thinking, wow what a good looking burger! But the person next to you might be looking down on their phone and is oblivious to their surroundings. Although that person beside you didn’t see their ad, they are still added to the circulation total because they were around the area.
Visibility:
Answers you might get when looking at this section are “All directions!” or “North, South, West, East.” It may sound like some GPS you have to follow but rest assured, it is nothing like that. These directions are a way to describe which truck areas the ad covers.
In simpler terms, if a truck has a visibility description of only West and East, it means that the wrapped areas are the sides of the vehicle whereas the front and back of the truck are empty. Think about how much ad coverage you want before purchasing. Preferably it’s best to rent out a truck that’s wrapped all over, that way you can maximize ad exposure.
View:
This term is similar to visibility. Some people can say that the ad is visible “360 degrees” or maybe list directions such as “North, South, West, East” to describe this section. The view entails which direction a person must stand in to see the ad.
In simpler terms, if an ad on a truck is visible at North end, it merely means that a person who is standing north of, or in front of the vehicle can see the ad. If a car is covered 360 degrees, it means that at any angle, a person can see the truckside ad.
Where Can I Rent a Mobile Ad?
There are truckside ad services available on an ad company website. Usually, you can see which locations they extend, what type of ad campaigns they ran with previous clients, and their success or customer satisfaction. I’ll list a few examples of notable mobile ad companies below:
1. Rolling Adz
Rolling Adz is an advertisement company in Oregon that specializes in a mobile billboard advertisement. This company has a mission to expand any business with the use of their OOH marketing and seems to be one of the biggest truckside ad corporations in the US.
Area Coverage: This company has a wide range of campaign areas that cover the continental US. In California alone, Rolling Adz runs campaigns over 50 cities.
Types of Projects Done: This company has done a wide variety of projects. They partnered up with companies that deal with food, fitness, furniture stores, etc. The ones that caught my eye were the notable brands and chains such as Tim Hortons, Home Depot, 24 Hour Fitness. They also have experience doing campaigns for political figures like Kathaleen Wall, and Trump.
Client Satisfaction: On their online website, they feature quotes from their past clients. Most of their quotes are from the business owners, and almost all the reviews gave five stars. Even on a third party website, there seems to be a five-star review for their services, and the person ‘highly recommends’ them as well.
2. TSN, Truck Signage Network
TSN’s branding focuses on their customers getting more advertisement exposure than ever before, for an affordable price. Their signature service is truck wraps, but they offer truckside ad services as well.
Area Coverage: This company solely focuses its advertisement campaigns in certain cities. The places they mainly focus on are New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and San Francisco. Although they are stronger situated in these cities, it looks like it’s possible to advertise in other states as well.
Types of Projects Done: TSN has launched about 144 Campaigns. Their primary clients are alcoholic beverage companies and some services in the food industry. Some of their clients are prominent companies like Samsung, Blue Apron, Corona, etc.
Client Satisfaction: There aren’t any client reviews on their company website, but from an employee standpoint, it was a positive outlook and a place someone would recommend working at.
3.Connect Media Innovations Inc.
Connect Media Innovations looks at moving billboards as a new, dynamic way of marketing. They express their thoughts on how mobile ads can’t be ignored easily in comparison to online ads. This company’s primary focus is working with LED billboards. If requested, the LED ad can be a playable video.
Area Coverage: Connect Media Innovations is well established in California. They campaign in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. Outside of California, they run services in Las Vegas and New York. They are open to working in areas outside of their range and try to service any customer to the best of their abilities.
Types of Projects Done: Connect Media Innovation has worked with well-known companies before. They mainly have partnerships with food companies like McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, and Subway Sandwiches. Outside of food, they have history with brands like Levis and Emporio Armani.
Client Satisfaction: They are very open about their success and list their stats on their about page. Eighty-two percent of their customers return to them on their services, and ninety-four percent are satisfied with the results.
Outside of company websites, there are also some websites that work like Kijiji or Craigslist, where there are multiple truckside renting services from different companies that are all in one site. A popular site that functions like this is outdoorbillboarding.com.
Which company you choose to partner up with is up to you. Just know that company websites usually have more information about their services.
What to Look for on a Company Website
If you want to research your own, feel free to do so. Try not to fall for the first ad company website you see. There are some web pages you need to look at before deciding on doing mobile ad partnership. The worst-case scenario is for your moving ad not to be moving at all! Avoid having your ad stuck in an empty parking lot. Understand what information to be aware of when viewing websites of mobile ad businesses.
What to Look for in the Clients Page
If there is a client page, that reveals information about past campaigns, make sure to check out who they worked with and how much a company is willing to reveal to you. At the very least, a truckside ad company will show logos of the companies they previously partnered up with. Good indicators that they are trustworthy are when the company has direct quotes from their past partners, or has additional information of the type of campaigns they did. Some client pages can include videos of their previous truck ads in action so you have an image of how your campaign will function.
Find Customer Satisfaction or Feedback on Their Services
Sometimes you can find reviews from past clients, or you can try to find reviews from previous employees on outside sources. If there are negative reviews from people who worked at that ad company, why should you partner up with them when they can’t satisfy their employees? Find a place that functions well inside and out. Look for statistics on the effectiveness of their moving ads or their success rates. When looking at an ad company website, they usually have stats on how well mobile ads are in marketing. A good company will put up their success rates to convince you to trust them.
Whether you contacted a company directly through their website or contacted them through a third-party site, you will most likely talk to a representative to set up your ad campaign. Sometimes the phone number will be listed on the company’s contact page for you to call whereas other websites have you fill out an online contact sheet for the company to contact you later.
If you’re making the call or waiting for it, don’t be afraid. Setting up a mobile ad plan is typically initiated through a phone call because it’s a quick way for both sides to ask questions and fully explain everything. To do a bit of prepping, here’s a list of general questions that you can expect to hear or should consider asking:
Some Questions You Might Be Asked:
What type of company are you?
Which cities do you want your ad to travel to?
Is there a certain number of trucks you want to rent out?
Can you explain what goals you want to accomplish with us for this ad campaign?
What is the demographic of your audience?
Some Questions to Consider Asking:
How long can the ad campaign last?
How long do your ads normally run?
How many impressions are in this specific area?
Where would my vehicle be during rush hour?
How many hours a day do the trucks run?
Can you give me some background on the types of projects you did and how successful they were in its first week?
Can you explain how I can track which areas my ad traveled to?
Be free to come up with more questions. Also, consider some reviews from past clients that worked with a particular company to decide which one to trust. Overall, I hope your advertising journey goes well!
Key Words: Understanding truck ads, California truck ads, truckside advertisement
References:
https://www.forbes.com/
https://www.outdoorbillboard.com/
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-much-does-billboard-advertising-cost/
http://connectmediainnovations.com/
https://www.glassdoor.ca/index.htm
