Messages In The Sky Don’t Last

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The key to achieving ROI in any advertising campaign is to create a constant flow of messaging.

Drip campaigns are designed to build frequency for the message.

A message without frequency is about as effective as skywriting.

It may be good while it’s there, but it disappears with the wind.

Many advertisers end their campaigns long before the message has worn out. Perhaps the advertiser gets tired of seeing his own message but the rule of frequency seems to hover around 23 exposures for a single message. Learning begins to occur at around twenty exposures.

Advertising should deliver “reason-why” messages. Brand exposure is necessary but not sufficient. If I learn something about your brand with every exposure…the advertising will probably draw me to the point of purchase.

Transit advertising provides advertisers a unique opportunity to combine branding, messaging and heavy frequency. Our moving messages deliver arresting images to capture the attention of thousands of motorists and pedestrians on a daily basis.

We also believe our unique delivery is catalyzed by the fact that our advertiser’s message is delivered out-of-home when customers are ready to buy.

Don’t send your ad dollars into the wind. The next exposure to your message is only minutes away.

Does Your Offer Move People?

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What matters most in creating consumer response to a marketing offer?

An argument can be made that the medium, timing, and message frequency are driving forces behind any marketing campaign. I have long argued that “words matter most.”

Not just any words will do. Copywriters must strive to find the correct combination of words that compel consumers to act.

It’s all about the offer.

“Buy one, get one free.”

“Buy a new lawn mower– get a weed-eater for half-price”

“Visit our store today and get a free Major League World Series Baseball”

The best offer is one that creates movement in a potential customer. Here’s a check-list for offer power:

  • Call me out—be as specific as possible about WHO will receive the offer. The more limited the audience the more likely a customer will move quickly. Make the customer feel special with a personal offer.
  • What’s-in-it-for-me?—Spell out the benefit of the offer in simple terms. If the offer requires an asterisk and fine print—please try again.
  • Remove all risk—Offer the best, no-questions-asked guarantee in the business and scream the guarantee in the message
    Keep it short and simple—If you can’t Tweet the offer, it’s probably too long.
  • Quick deadlines—The best offers don’t last long. (Keep new offers coming.) A business owner should continue to honor an offer after a deadline—but communicate deadlines to create urgency.

Don’t be afraid to make specific offers in transit advertising. In fact, expect your offers to perform better in transit due to the seemingly more urgent “moving message.”

Test your offers in social media, then let Transit Advertising move your message to create powerful reach with frequency.

Do Your Ads Break Through The Clutter?

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Out of Home Media

All the world may be a stage, but it’s a crowded stage…a cluttered stage.

It’s no secret that in-home advertising is difficult, at best. Interruption media is ignored, fast forwarded and in many cases never connects with a consumer at any level. Reaching consumers becomes harder with every new technological advance.

Just recently, Apple announced plans to make it easier for consumers to block ads during searches through Safari. Consumers do not want to be interrupted during their search for information or any other content.
Interruption leads to disruption and consumers avoid disruptive media.

So what’s different about out of home behavior?

Out of home advertising influences consumers on the path to purchase more than any other medium. Specifically, out of home outperforms traditional media in reaching consumers within the same half-hour they consider purchases, decide on purchases and make purchases. Even more precise is that transit advertising reaches consumers closest to the point of purchase. Due to clutter and message bombardment, sometimes a decision is not made until the purchase point. Minds are changed in a last-in, first out behavior.

EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

Brands connect to future buyers through the emotions. Yes, consumers will always want more information. But consumers prefer to PULL the information they want to read, rather than have endless words PUSHED in an interruptive manner.

The good news is, when a bus ad rolls past the eyes of a future buyer, an emotional connection can be made to influence a SEARCH on their mobile device. Out of home, media reaches almost 50 percent of online shoppers within 30 minutes of exposure to the message.

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Reach the heart first. It beats faster out of home.

Don’t Be Forgotten

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Why Frequency Matters

If you are a parent, you already know this answer.

I can still hear my mother bellow… “How many times do I have to tell you to take out the trash?” I believe every parent has asked the “how many times” question at least once along the way.

I also believe the question of “how many times” has been asked since the dawn of advertising. I hear the question every day.

How much frequency is enough?

My answer is not meant to be arrogant or snooty. But it’s the right answer:

Your message must be seen more times than any competing message…or until you have achieved dominance in market share.

As soon as your message is forgotten, your brand begins to fade in the mind of a customer. If a competitor is pounding messages with heavy frequency, and this is your month to not advertise, expect to see a deterioration in buying intentions and your market share.

Last in, First Out

Because of the clutter of messages, everywhere, about everything…advertising effectiveness depends heavily upon the recency of a message.

As the customer approaches a point of purchase, the last message into the mind of a customer, matters heavily. Certainly, brands accumulate preference and a tiny bit of loyalty, but the factors which build “intent to buy” are fleeting. Frequency is the best reminder.

Transit Builds Frequency and Recency

In most markets, and on most routes, an advertising message on one of our buses is seen thousands of times each day. We also like the fact that moving ads attract more attention.

Any attention near the cash register, is good attention! Keep your message moving and remember Mom.