Walk into a town or city and really stop to look around; you are instantly ambushed by messages. These may come from shops trying to tempt you in with the idea of a special offer, events being advertised on flyers in shop windows, or companies simply advertising their brand.
The first couple of times that you see an advert, your subconscious may catch it but not register it fully. It could well take a few more times for you to really take notice and be able to recall seeing the advert or message within it.
The New York Times best seller, ‘The Audacity to Win’ by David Plouffe (Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager who ‘marketed’ Obama to the public for the presidential election) says “We live in a busy and fractured world in which people are bombarded with pleas for their attention. Given this, you have to try extra hard to reach them. You need to be everywhere. And for people you reach multiple times through different mediums, you need to make sure your message is consistent…”
Even when a consumer has fully engaged with your advert, having seen it several times, chances are they won’t need your service or product at that particular time. It is, therefore, crucial you keep your company or brand at the forefront of their mind for when such a time arises. If they only see your advert once or twice, this is not as likely to happen as if they saw your advert every other day of the week during their walk or drive to work, for example.
Now, think about what you would personally do when looking for a service or new product; would you go to a company who you’ve noticed once or are you more likely to go to a company you feel you ‘know’ a bit more?
This is where frequent advertising comes in… the more someone sees your advert, the more brand familiarity develops. It may take time, but once you’ve got a customer’s trust, you are onto a winner! With trust in the brand and company, the customer is more likely to recommend you to their friends or come back to you for further purchases in the future.
THE RULE OF 3: Effective Advertising & How Transport Advertising Ticks the Box
You may have heard of The Rule of 3 when advertising, also known as Effective Frequency. Business Dictionary defines this as “The advertising theory that a consumer has to be exposed to an ad at least three times within a purchasing cycle (time between two consecutive purchases) to buy that product.”
Some of us will, on our drive to work each day, have noticed a certain vehicle travelling the opposite way doing their own journey to work…The same time, each day. 
Now, picture your company’s advert on a route-specific vehicle that is noticed at the same time by the same consumer on an almost* daily basis; your company name and message is exposed to your target audience with timetabled frequency! Want to maximise the impact further and are lucky enough to have a more flexible budget? Take out more than one bus advert or tram advert and that same potential customer may see your message at the start of their journey on one vehicle, then again on another vehicle further into their journey. In an average working week, that’s 10 times your advert is seen by the same potential customer.
In advertising, it’s believed that the optimal frequency has many influences; the size of the market, the level of competition from other suppliers, name recognition of the brand in question, the overall aim of the marketing strategy including timeframe and, of course, the ever-important budget.
If you are thinking of outdoor advertising and are tempted by one higher-priced advert but could only realistically afford to run that campaign for 12 months, why not think about two smaller adverts which you could run for 24 months instead; double your exposure as well as gaining a longer-term advertising solution.
Is business running a little slow at the moment?
The worst thing to do would be to go all-out with a huge outdoor advertising campaign for a short burst with the aim of drumming up business, to then not be able to afford to keep it going. Sure, it’s a brilliant short-term solution, but what happens next time you suffer a quiet period? That’s right; you have to start over again! A ‘drip-drip’ campaign is a steadier marketing strategy that a lot of our clients find works really well for them as it is longer-term and more consistent.
Do you have an event to promote?
If you have a more date-sensitive message, a good option would be to take out a larger number of tram or bus adverts over a shorter duration to really maximise the exposure and repeat your message over and over again. We have several councils around the UK who use bus and tram advertising for just that reason.
TO RE-CAP
- DO take your time to think about what you want to achieve with your advertising campaign
- DO have a consistent message
- DO think long-term, not just short-term
- DON’T just go for the biggest, flashiest advert that your budget will afford; ensure it’s the right product for your needs
- DON’T just mirror what a competitor is doing. Be individual. BE YOU!
Why Choose Adverta Outdoor Advertising?
With over 20 years’ experience, we are a company who pride ourselves on our affordable, tailored advertising solutions. We don’t go after just the big bucks or the huge companies who have an unlimited budget. Whilst we do deal with large agencies that place national advertising campaigns, we are primarily a local advertising company for local businesses, working with your local transport operators.
We understand that money can be tight. We understand that you may be new to outdoor advertising and might need a little guidance. This is why we would much rather suggest a few cost-effective options that we envisage working best for you and your individual goals, even if that ends up being our smallest product.
We have an expert design team as part of our fully inclusive and affordable packages, so everything is done in-house under our full control.
Our satisfied clients have written some fantastic testimonials, like this from David Pemble of Oasis Hydroponics Ltd in Birmingham; “Having seen bus adverts running around my local area for a while, I’d never really thought about doing them myself… until Amy popped in one day to try and tempt me! Advertising on routes which I was able to specifically choose, my mix of streetliner and rear bus adverts are perfect for gaining exposure and raising awareness of the business, along with letting people know where they can find us. The adverts look fantastic and the process was incredibly easy. Best of all, the packages are affordable and people quite often mention they have seen our adverts on the buses. It’s so obvious that the adverts are working, I’ve already renewed campaigns which haven’t even expired yet!”
We are all about happy customers and, with an impressive 72% of our sales so far in 2017 having come from repeat business, we like to think we’re doing something right!
Contact us for a free, no obligation quote.