Page 185 - Duct Tape Marketing

169Chapter 11: Creating Print Ads

The most frequently used form of out-of-home advertising involves bill-
boards. Nearly every town (except those in billboard-free Alaska, Hawaii,
Maine, and Vermont) has one or two companies that own most of the boards.
Contact them to find out about available locations, costs, and contracts. Or,
when you see a billboard in a desirable location, look along the bottom of the
sign for the owner’s name and then call for availability and cost information.

In scheduling billboard ads, a few key terms apply:

ߜ Circulation is measured by the number of people who have a reasonable
opportunity to see your billboard or sign message.

ߜ A full showing or #100 showing describes the number of boards neces-
sary to reach 100 percent of the mobile population in a market at least
once during a 30-day period. A half showing (or #50 showing) reaches
50 percent of the mobile population. Anything less than a #25 showing
is not considered adequate frequency for an advertising campaign,
although the placement of one or two boards may be useful as direc-
tional signage.

In placing and creating billboards, two truths prevail:

ߜ Location is everything. When you make an outdoor ad buy, you will
receive a map or list of locations. Drive by the sites to be sure that they
are in areas that reach your prospects and enhance your image. (While
you’re at it, check how well the sign is lit for nighttime visibility.)

ߜ Ads must pass the at-a-glance test. Most viewers look at a billboard for
five seconds, read seven words, and take away two ideas — your name
and the reason to buy your product. Use large, legible type with ade-
quate spacing between letters, words, and lines, strong color contrasts,
and graphics that can be seen and understood in a flash.

Yellow Pages and Directory Ads

If consumers are apt to start a search for a business like yours with a phone
call, you need to be in the Yellow Pages — in print and online. Even if cus-
tomers reach your business through personal referrals, you’ll still want a list-
ing (though not necessarily an ad) to help them find your address or phone
number.

Research conducted for the Yellow Pages Publishers Association finds that:

ߜ Nearly half of those looking up a business in the Yellow Pages are trying
to contact a specific establishment.

ߜ Six out of ten consumers turned to the Yellow Pages to solve a need with
no particular business preference.