by: Tim Lamm
Of the £16,777m spent on advertising last year in the UK, 5.05% was spent on outdoor advertising – almost £850m (Source : Advertising Association/WARC). That’s more than was spent on radio advertising (3.24%), consumer magazine advertising (4.88%), cinema advertising (0.95%), and internet advertising (3.56%). It’s therefore no secret that outdoor advertising works, but what relevance is that for the smaller business who doesn’t have the £14m outdoor advertising budget that mobile communications firm O2 spent in 2004?
Good advertising starts at home
Suppose you run a tile company in an industrial estate visible from a motorway or duel-carriageway on the outskirts of town. Every time someone drives past and sees the blank exterior wall of your unit you’ve missed a potential lead. People may momentarily wonder who you are and what you do, but few have the curiosity to further investigate. And when they finally do come to re-tile their kitchen and see your yellow pages ad, they may well think “hmmm, I drive past that industrial estate every day but I’ve never seen a tile company. God knows where it is; we’ll go to Topps Tiles instead’. Whoops, you’ve lost a sale.
The solution – yes, it’s obvious, but the amount of business lost through inadequate or non-existant outdoor advertising is staggering. The guy from the tile company need only spend a few hundred pounds on a pvc banner with the phrase ‘BUY TILES HERE’ and hang it on the outside of his building facing the traffic and, wow, look how passing trade increased. Even better, a full, vibrant, inviting mesh façade listing the company’s products and services and inviting the customer to come in and find out more – suddenly you’re no-longer Topps Tiles broke brother, rather a genuine and serious competitior, and the public will remember you for it. “Have you seen that new tile company on the outskirts of town?”
Help your potential customers and they’ll help you
Whether you a promoting a product, event or service, the opportunities for tasteful and cost-effective outdoor advertising are massive. Take the example of bars and nightclubs – how often have you been put off from paying to enter an establishment because you simply don’t know what to expect when you get inside…hard house, 60’s classics, foam party? It’s a lottery, and when you ask the door staff they helpfully instruct to step aside. Solution? A easily changeable banner over the door with ‘TONIGHT – FOAM PARTY!’ – cheap, easy, incredibly useful and generally overlooked.
Whatever field of business you are in the opportunities for helping your potential customer make informed decisions and spread awareness of your offerings through outdoor advertising is vast, and the options, from small PVC banners to mesh building wraps are all-encompassing – all it takes is a little thought about how to use your space to your advantage.