Advertising Articles |
|
The Skinny on Billboards
Several years back the billboard people put a big picture of "Sharlene Wells, Miss America" on billboards all over town. She was everywhere. The clever use of the girl had two purposes; the first was to cover up all the unsold boards. The second was to show the effectiveness of billboard advertising. Surveys were conducted before and after the one month showing of Sharlene's pretty mug. Before, only 1.5% of people surveyed could recall her name when asked "Who is Miss America". After, the number jumped to an amazing 12%. The billboard people pointed to this example as proof of the power of outdoor advertising. It gave them the open door to pitch hundreds of potential new customers. If you bought 50 billboards in your town and used the Miss America approach, people would surely know your name, too. Here's the skinny on outdoor advertising; billboards. You MUST Plan Ahead First, outdoor is not a "quick fix". If sales are down, you can't quickly put up a few boards to boost the numbers. You must plan ahead. Lead time is not short when using outdoor. The best use of boards is for image building and brand awareness. They are not cost effective for one time only sales or non-repeating special events. Billboards are image builders. Using billboards is akin to TV, it can mean you have "arrived" as a formidable business. Most are sold for a minimum of one month. You pay twice. First for the board location and second for the media used to put your ad on the board, paint, paper or plastic. Paints Painted billboards are the oldest form of outdoor advertising. They are painted with special outdoor paint that is weather resistant. Some outdoor paints are specially formulated to resist fading. Painted billboards are also known as "painted bulletins" but most commonly as "paints". Papers Poster Boards may be the best known. We have all seen the billboard guy hanging off the ladder with the swirling wallpaper-like panels being pushed into place with the big glue broom. Poster Boards are printed on 8 to 30 sheets of heavy paper, depending on the size. Posters with 8 sheets (6 x 12 feet) are called juniors. Regular boards use 30 sheets and make a 12 x 25 foot sign, counting the heavy metal frame. They are called 30-sheets. Some old timers refer to poster boards as "papers" and "paper bulletins". Papers look good for about a month, depending on the weather. Nothing looks worse than an old paper board, unattended for long periods where the wind and weather has ripped and torn the panels torn away revealing layers of old signs. Plastic All the rage now is the use of vinyl on boards. This allows for better color, longer life and very fine graphics. If vinyl boards had been available when they did the Miss America test, people would still be in love with the lady on the board. Vinyls are printed with a special printer, not unlike your computer printer. Once sprayed with the ultra-violet finish coat, vinyls can last for years. Vinyls are easy to spot. They look brighter and better than traditional paper boards, Wind has a tendency to get under them can make them ripple, as they are normally not glued to the surface, but attached at the edges. These are called "flex vinyls" and can be moved from board to board without damage. Some vinyls are slipped over old paper boards like a sack and you can see the outline of the paper board's metal boarder under the vinyl. Bulletins are the giant boards you often see along Interstates. They can be as big as 20 x 60 feet or as small as 10 1/2 x 36 feet. Many of these large boards are supported by one huge metal pipe in the middle. Rotary bulletins are the same as bulletins but are moved every 60 days (hence the term rotary).Some bulletins are painted, most use plastic. Showings Boards have ratings like TV shows, called Gross Rating Points (GRP). Each board has a traffic count, and when divided by the population, the result is a GRP. Billboard sales are usually made in GRPs. Meaning you buy a 25 showing or a 50 or 75 or 100 showing. A 25 showing would mean that at least 25% of the population would see one of your boards at least once a day. A 25 showing could take one board, three or many, depending on the traffic count and the population. It is possible to buy only one board, but not cost effective. After you decide to use outdoor, you have to pay for printing the paper or vinyls and they usually come in units of 10. The best goal is to get a 100 showing. Studies have shown that in a 100 showing, advertisers can reach 88% of the adults 28 times a month. In a 50 showing, advertisers can reach 83% of adults 15 times a month. Cost For example, a recent 50 showing in Salt lake City included 84 boards and cost $22,512 for one month (the 1- Month Rate). Buying that many boards brought the cost per board to under $275. Don't expect a rate this low for smaller markets or a one or two board buy. In most cities the average billboard costs $400 to $600 a month. Some board locations are stacked. Opinions vary as to whether top or bottom position is better. Some boards are "tri-vision" mechanically turning small panels to reveal 3 different ads every 30 seconds. There are other forms of outdoor. The giant single pole super boards along the Interstates are best used for spur of the moment sales "next exit" and "clean restrooms". Small 4x8 painted boards stuck on a post in a farmer's yard must be fixed and redone by you regularly. Let it sag or fall over just once and you image can go with it. Here are BIG Mike's Tips for Better Billboard Advertising. + Buy at least a 50 showing and do it every other month. Many times if the board is not sold after your time runs out,it will remain up for free until replaced. + Be sure some if not most are lighted locations. + Choose stand alone rather than stacked if you have a choice. + Don't let the board salesperson select the locations for you. + Buy vinyls instead of paper or paint and bleed the graphic off the edge (so it wraps around the back of the board). Makes you ad look even bigger + Keep the concept short and clever. Offer a solution to their problem, entice them with something new. Avoid same ol' same ol'. + Use the rule of never more than 8 words and one picture. Remember, most readers will be zooming by in a car or truck. + Don't put your picture on the board. Remember the cardinal rule of sales. It's not all about YOU,it's all about THEM. + Make outdoor a budget item and plan in advance. Spend most of your time working on the concept and design, 'cause once it's up there, it can't be changed and will been seen by everybody. Final Thought FYI - Miss America 2004 is Ericka Dunlap. For more about advertising, get my article "What the Newspaper Won't Tell You" MailTo:[email protected] �2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved [email protected] BIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and Small Business Consultant with over 30 years experience, http://BIGIdeasGroup.com Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:[email protected]
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Does Your Brochure Pass the Test - Or is It Headed for the Trash? Part One The decision on whether or not someone will read your brochure is usually decided in the first 5 seconds they look at it. What kind of message are you communicating in that five seconds? Will you make a favorable impression with your prospect? Will you move your prospect closer to the sale? Advertising Primer for Fast Learners Advertising, when done well is a very effective way to increase your customer base and ultimately grow your bottom line. Understanding The Basics Of Advertising I get the L.A. Times delivered to my door every day, but I don't read it for the articles. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, but the articles just don't interest me. Unlike most people, I read the paper for the advertisements because there is a lot to learn from them. Cable Ads 5 Bucks! Cable has grown from 13 houses connected together in 1948 to coverage of nearly 70% of all households in the U.S. With dozens, even hundreds of channels, Cable is now a major player for local advertising dollars, some for less than 5 bucks. Promote yourself on radio for free Unless you have become extremely popular in your personal or business name, you likely need all of the marketing and promotion you can get. Now, you may say, of course, I'm aware of this, but who has the money? This a good and fair question. It may surprise you, though, when I say, you don't need money for some of the most valuable marketing available -- radio advertising. Small Cards, Big Ideas: Alternative Uses for Business Cards Aggressive business card marketing isn't about handing your business cards out to everyone you see. Three Keys to Crafting Successful Print Ads Want to create print ads that get results? Below are three keys to get you started. Using Flyers to Advertise Your Online Business Using flyers is one commonly overlooked method of advertising offline. Flyers are extremely easy to create. They also allow you to exhibit some of your creative side, making it just that much more fun to make money. Moving Message Board Moving message boards are used in the areas where continuous announcements, or other information are need to be displayed in to either indoor or outdoor. Used most widely in churches, schools, airports, other transport stations, banks, production and administration department of organization as marquee information billboards. 10 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Custom Invitations I am always amazed when I hear about companies who spend tens of thousands of dollars organizing a make-it-or-break-it company event designed to celebrate a company milestone and/or impress prospective customers. Sometimes these events have big contracts or sales at stake! Yet, often planners will fall short on the most critical aspect of planning the event-the invitations! After all, before a client steps foot into your venue, or even confirms attendance, the invitation sets the tone and leaves the first and most important (and lasting!) impression! Testimonials Convert Prospects Into Buyers Big businesses get instant credibility with their well-known company name or brand name. But small companies have to create their own credibility. One of most powerful tools you can use for this is customer testimonials. Creativity and Getting Outside of the Box Sitting in front of a blank piece of paper? Wondering where in the world to start? I have a suggestion. Turn the page upside down. Or better yet flip it over onto it's backside. Let it know who's boss. If your first idea is terrible, write it down anyway. If the next one is silly, redundant or stupid, write it down. Who knows, it may end up being a comedy direction and that first terrible line may end up being the punch line. You never know. You are jumping off a precipice into the unknown world of creativity and you need to be a leaf at the mercy of the wind or you will come crashing down with your fears in a ball flames every time. Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks The big news on Wall Street last year was the initial public offering of Internet search engine Google. If you were a visitor from another planet, you might be asking yourself, What big, sophisticated, high-technology company is behind the success of Google? Could it be IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Dell, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Philips or Siemens? Of course not. The brains behind Google are two Stanford students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who launched the Web site in 1998. Some six years later, the two founders are worth billions. When Advertising Wears Out One of the challenges facing marketers is determining the most effective level of advertising exposure for a brand, while maintaining a given budget. Conceptually, the media planner could choose continuous advertising (even exposures spread over a period of time) or follow a strategy of pulsing ("on" for some months and "off" for others). The decision is important because the wrong one will considerably affect customer response. When advertisements are run at a low frequency (very few times), they run a risk of going unnoticed. The first time customers view an advertisement, a majority of the time, the message doesn't even process in their minds. On the other hand, when an advertisement is run at a high frequency, advertising wearout may occur. Therefore, the task at hand is finding just the right frequency for a positive response. Advertising Basics for Beginners So many of us who have decided to do business online have no background in marketing or advertising. It can be so frustrating without any kind of guide. In Advertising Bigger isn?t Always Better If you have been following the recent advertising news you will notice that more and more major advertisers are looking to smaller ad agencies to handle their campaigns. Dont Put All Your Eggs in The Same Basket Solution: You can protect yourself by partnering with other lead sources because it is unlikely that they will all have a problem or technical issue at the same time. Electronic Display Signs Electronic display signs are used nowadays in great extent to display important information instantly all over the world, which uses LED technology, which stands for light- emitting diodes. These are widely used in the worlds of commerce, government and even non-profit organizations. The Motivational Triggers That Make People Buy In order to sell more products and service, you need master customers' mind. Put youself into customers' shoes and think what customers want. You will make more profit by master these skills. How To Create Instantly Compelling Ads Every Time Use This Quick 3-Question Evaluation Process, So You Can Be Sure Your Message Will Sell! |
home | site map |
© 2005 |