The first ad is actually a Facebook ad for a digital billboard company. Here’s the ad (as you can see, I’ve blacked out the name and logo of the company):
Let’s look at a couple of problems with this type of advertising:
- The people that see this ad are supposedly thinking about driving while barreling down the road at 60 – 70 MPH (or more), right? Any passengers in the car are likely looking at their phones, reading, or napping (at least that’s the way it generally goes in my car). Therefore, I doubt you’re ever really getting anywhere near the exposure that is promised.
- It’s difficult to get enough information on a billboard that people can process in such a short amount of time. They’re not prepared to write down a phone number, website, etc. So it’s difficult to accomplish anything (except ONE thing… see below…).
You may be asking yourself why anyone in small business would invest in such a technique, especially in light of the limiting factors I just mentioned. In my opinion, you can answer that by noticing that most small business billboards have the owner’s face on them… hmm… vain, much?
Now let’s get to the second ad, which is also promoting outdoor advertising. It appears to be an ad affixed to the back of trash cans mounted on a sidewalk:
Notice the copy: “You just proved that these signs work.”
Really??? It “works” because I saw something???
Is that how your business makes money — by being noticed? That’s not how it works in my business!
In the video, I talk about the Awareness stage of the Customer Value Journey. One of the main points I cover is that the job of any advertising at the Awareness stage is to move someone along to the next stage; the Engagement stage.
Does this ad do that?
Of course not.
That’s what makes it a bad ad.
Don’t make the mistakes these people made — ironically, the people whose job it is to sell these ads.
