A More Balanced view about billboards and print media advertising.
How she says that and stands by it is by painting the typically negative picture in the reader's mind of:
- Billboard messages have little staying power
- Billboards are an expensive commitment
- Billboard ads have less impact
- No niche marketing
- Extensive regulations
- Print media, not so much.
Billboard messages: Little staying power over print media advertising?
Quoting from a source that has no direct correlation to her article, Ms. Bruce cites that the average driver will only "see a billboard for 2-3 seconds" and unless the image and wording is kept to a minimum, the effect is lost, she goes on to say. (ibid)
In Paul Suggett's article dated February 13, 2017, "10 Steps To Making a Great Billboard Ad ", the average viewing time on a billboard nationally is six (6) seconds. (Source)
Suggett goes on to say that in that six seconds, the message has to be short and sweet in order to be effective.
It's much like the headline on a newspaper or email or print advertising article. It's got to grab your attention in just a few seconds or you'll pass over the article and miss the rest of the article, or offering if you please.
Most print ads come in your mail once a month, right?
What happens to them when you see them; what do most of you do?
File 13, am I right?
But, you see this billboard above everyday when you drive to work, twenty times a month for 12 months! That's not to mention taxiing your family to games and church and shopping as well, okay?!
240-300 impressions, conservatively speaking, versus 12 (if you can afford to send your print advertising in the mail once a month AND the recipient opens it up and digs through them all!)
Next point.
Billboards are an expensive commitment - Compared to what?!!
To say that billboards are an expensive commitment, the reader has to ASS-U-ME she's referring to the "relatively low cost" of print ads.
In this point the author clearly alludes to the fact that she's selling newspaper ads and that a change in an ad on Friday can be seen as early as the Sunday paper for people to read and clip and redeem. Right!
How many of my readers read the Sunday newspaper from cover to cover?
How many still get a subscription?
Why would anyone get a subscription when they can read all they want online?
According to this site, the average newspaper reader/subscriber is the older generation with some level of affluence and higher income level.
The same website mentioned in the above sentence has another article illustrating how billboard advertising pans out, though their bias is pointed toward digital advertising, or online ads, versus print or billboard.
In the quote below, the author of the second article tells the advantage of advertising on digital billboards, the preferred advertising in Atlanta where over 6 million impressions in a month require only $4200 investment. (ibid)
- More dynamic – With digital ads, you can have a moving image. This works to capture pedestrians attention far more than a standard billboard.
- More targeted – By showing different ads during specific times of day, you can target people on their lunch break or during the after work commute, and adjust your message accordingly.
- More flexible – You can make changes to your creative at no additional cost. You can also stream live data and user-generated content from your website/social media in real time. (Source)
Next point:
"No niche marketing"
The traffic that passes this sign are either headed home or to the gym.
There are 7 gyms in a radius of 10 miles of this billboard.
The small nutrition business had 7 people walk in their door within 90 minutes of this billboard being installed at just 4 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon.
These guys are rock stars now!
Everywhere they go around Woodstock, people say, "hey you're the guys on the billboard!"
The next 2 points kind of run together:
"Extensive regulations and print media, not so much"
Here the author clearly talks through her proverbial hat as she tries to say that various regulations prohibit advertisers from promoting their ad on billboards whereas print media has more latitude.
Whatever!
Granted we can't have sexually explicit messages on billboards or invitations to drink alcohol or gamble where it's not allowed, but there's a fine line on free speech that allows major alcohol brands to put their bottles of booze or beer or casino ads to be displayed with hopes of driving business to out-of-state venues.
Summary: Can billboard advertising rank equal or better than print advertising today?
You obviously can't put a coupon on a billboard and expect someone to drag one into a store to redeem.
On the other hand, a carefully worded print ad can be like turning a faucet on full blast when made available in large quantities to a college town, like what happened in Lubbock Texas using a register tape ad.
I had sold an ad on a register tape for a popular grocery store chain in West Texas back in 2005 to a brand new Moe's franchisee. It read, "Buy one burrito, get one free!"
In less than a month, the owner was crying to me that he needed to change the offer quickly!
"Too many coupons were coming in," he cried!
He had 2 months left on his initial agreement.
Lastly, put up the right message and get it in front of enough people who can act on that message and you will come out a winner.
Leave room, Ms. Bruce, for billboards and let the two ways to advertise complement each other. We all win when the customer wins!