How to Find Commercial Locations for Your Campaign Signs


You know your political campaign will get a great boost by incorporating campaign signs, but you may be wondering what steps you’ ll need to take to ensure that you have the best locations.  When laying the groundwork for your political campaign, you may find that the best information can be obtained through your local county clerk or assessor’ s office.

There are zoning laws and regulations that will apply to where you can place your election signs, so before you begin your campaign, you’ ll need to become familiar with applicable restrictions.  Once you have an understanding of where you can place your signs, you can beat your opposition by incorporating important public information into your yard sign strategy.

First, you may be interested in obtaining a road map of the area you intend to target.  This is a very important aspect of your campaign.  You can also obtain maps that will help you target the most populated regions or areas that receive the most traffic.  Your city or county public works or planning departments may have information available with respect to traffic counts and population density.  Maps available from election officials will break your district into voting wards or precincts.  Never be afraid to ask for help or more information from your local government offices.  The worst they can tell you is “ no” and you may find something that is extremely valuable to your yard sign program.

Again, you will need to make sure that you adhere to your local zoning laws regarding how close you can place your election campaign signs by roadways, highways, and interstates.

One way that you can ensure a maximum number of people see your campaign signs is to set up signs at commercial locations.  The best way to get clearance for this is to simply ask the business owners if you may put your signs up.  This may sound like a daunting task, but after you’ ve asked a few business/landowners, it gets much easier.

With the information obtained from your maps, you can then target local commercial locations that are in close proximity to the most trafficked areas.  If you have a certain restriction that you must follow regarding the location of your signs, you may find that placing your campaign signs at the nearest commercial location is the best way to ensure your signs are noticed.

Ask your key supporters to help you identify potential commercial locations for your campaign signs.  Your supporters undoubtedly have personal or business connections to the owners of key commercial properties.

Another great technique is to find a developer or real estate professional that owns numerous pieces of commercial land.  Schedule a meeting with him/her.  Introduce yourself (or have someone who knows them well introduce you) and let them get to know you, your politics and why you’ re running for public office.  Once you’ ve won them over, you can ask to put up signs on all of their properties.  You don’ t need to be “ sneaky” about it.  You won’ t be the first person to ask for this.  You’ re welcome to be upfront with them and let them know you’ re looking for sign locations but you don’ t expect to get them without meeting with them and letting them know they’ re doing the right thing.