5 mistakes to avoid in your outdoor advertising campaign
How to get the best results from your outdoor advertising campaign
Have you ever heard comments like these: “I ran an ad but it didn’t have satisfactory effectiveness”, “I did this and that but nothing worked”? Each advertisement or communication channel has its own set of characteristics that should be considered when planning your ad. It is a good idea to set your goals and expectations with the advertising agency as well as to coordinate all details regarding the technical implementation of the print ad with the printing company experts, in case you are the person responsible for contact with this unit.
What are the most common mistakes in an outdoor advertising campaign?
Underestimating scroller advertising
Frequently, customers who have decided to include outdoor ads in their communication mix face with the choice between billboards and scrollers and they tend to prefer static billboards. The pro arguments include longer visibility of advertising message and presumed greater impact. However, that can sometimes be very deceiving. Have you noticed how quickly you get used to the setting when it does not change and remains still? The human eye and human brain quickly adapt to unchanging objects, stop noticing and giving them priority. We get so used to them that they practically become invisible. Of course, as an advertising campaign usually lasts for a two-week period, this risk is much smaller because the time for getting used is also short. However, the risk still exists, especially if part of the passenger flow is regular, passing the same route and seeing the same billboard every day during these two weeks. The risk increases if you choose to keep the same campaign for a longer period of time.
What are the smart solutions in such cases?
If you prefer a longer campaign (for example two or three bi-weekly campaigns) and you use Pisa billboards, change billboard ad positions for each campaign. Do not rent the same facilities for two consecutive advertising periods. If you decide to keep the same positions, change the ad vision.
Incorporating ads in scrollers increases their visibility. The scroller movement and the rotation of images attract the eyes of passers-by, just like our eyes get attracted to TV screen motion pictures, even if we are not interested in the content.
Too much text in your ad
Keep in mind that outdoor advertising is brand promotion ad, image ad. The desired end effect is getting customers to remember your brand so when they see it on the shelf or plan a more complex purchase, it is familiar to them and they add it to their options. Outdoor advertising is not about overwhelming customers with as much information as possible about the products or services you offer. Be brief, clear, yet memorable in your message. Use up to 6 – 8 words as a general principle. If users have difficulties finding you online by brand name alone, try to include a contact that will be easy to remember – a website or any other simple way to be found. Phone numbers are useless in this case unless they are short national numbers.
Unreadable text on billboard
Are you sure that the text size will be easily and quickly read? What you see on the screen is not what is seen on the printed billboard from a distance. If you have any doubts, share them with the graphic designer working on your project.
Blocked view of chosen positions
Frequently, particularly along highways, there are trees near advertising facilities, which, with the onset of spring-summer season, appear to obstruct the advertising billboard visibility. New branches will grow, old branches will keep growing, trees will leaf out and the facility that had perfect visibility earlier will be partially blocked just a few months later. When choosing advertising locations, get yourself informed on the current state of the surrounding greenery.
Insufficient ad campaign duration
Do not expect a quick effect from the advertising campaign.
In advertising, as in other areas, there are methods with a quick but short-term effect; there are also methods where the effect occurs slowly, overlapping, however long-lasting. Outdoor advertising belongs to the second group. If you have rented ad spots and have planned a two-week campaign, do not hold out much hope that people will remember and identify with your brand for this short period of time.
What should you do to optimize your outdoor advertising for better performance and gain maximum results?
You need to be more consistent. Plan at least several campaigns depending on the seasonality of your product and user activity.
Run your outdoor advertising campaign jointly with other advertising and communication channels so that the message can reach your potential customers from several spots. According to studies, in order to remember a brand a person needs to receive at least 10 cues from several places.
Do not underestimate the significance of vision and text. Mediocre things rarely get noticed. In such cases the role of the design team, the copywriter and the marketer is of particular importance.
Should you have any questions or a specific case, please make an inquiry with our specialists.