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How many ads would you say you look at a day? Five? Ten?

If you believe this article by Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/08/25/finding-brand-success-in-the-digital-world/#50607548626e the average is actually between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day.

Billboards are part of the ad marketing mix in most states. An OOH (Out of Home) marketing tactic, billboards have been around for decades—and yes, they’re still effective. They can help cut through the clutter of the thousands of ads people see in a day—and reach your intended audience.

But they’re not for everyone. Here are some questions to consider when deciding whether to invest in a billboard ad.

How local is your market? Billboards are generally positioned to catch attention on a highway or foot traffic area. While you can definitely decide to advertise in a place that’s more tourist-heavy or frequented by locals if you want, the people seeing your ad will be largely local in most areas.

The question is whether that’s a good thing for your business. Many insurance agents work with local markets—so the local nature of billboards is a point in their favor here.

How broad is your market? One drawback of billboards is that they don’t target their recipients. Everyone who happens to be in the area will see the board.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you sell the kind of insurance everyone is going to need eventually. And you can definitely run your audience numbers to determine which neighborhoods in your area are full of your target audience—for instance, if you’re selling homeowners’ insurance, you might want to buy billboard space in a neighborhood with more owners than renters.

But even so, your audience with a billboard isn’t as targeted as, say, an email marketing campaign.

How big is your budget? Depending on the size of your message and the billboard’s location, billboard placement can cost thousands of dollars. Question is, can you afford it?

There are loads of marketing tactics these days that can get you in front of eyeballs just as effectively, but with better targeting. If you don’t have a big enough marketing budget to make buying space on a billboard comfortable, you might want to focus your efforts on more cost-effective measures.

How big is your social media platform? Park a billboard in front of a busy highway, and thousands of people will drive past it in a day. How likely are you to get that kind of traffic on your social media, website and other platforms?

If you already rank high in search and have a strong social media following, other methods of promotion that are cheaper and better targeted may make sense to you. But if you’re still building your name (and have the money to spend), a billboard can help you build name recognition in the area.

Billboards aren’t for everyone. They’re not flexible, and it can be difficult to see who you’ve reached or plan an outcome. However, they can be quite effective in some situations. Depending on your situation and needs, they may be worth a try.