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A Secret of Offline Advertisements

October 15, 2007 By Joe Rawlinson

Your advertisements will only be effective if they are targeted to the needs of those viewing them.

This past weekend we drove through the Hill Country here in central Texas out to a pumpkin patch. We took a small, two lane state road that had its fair share of curves and ups and downs. There wasn’t much traffic out on the road and we did see lots of motorcycles enjoying the ride and nice weather.

The drive was through some pretty remote country and we didn’t really see any development or billboard ads. However, when we approached the city of Marble Falls, there was a big billboard outside of town. It was the first one we had seen for miles. I thought it was kind of odd to be out there in the middle of nowhere. Then I saw what it was advertising.

The billboard was for motorcycle insurance. The billboard’s product may not have applied to my family cruising the Hill Country in our minivan but it was very applicable to all those motorcycle riders enjoying the same road we traveled.

It was not coincidence that the insurance company placed their billboard ad where they did.

Ad Placement

Seth Godin, in his book Purple Cow talks about the death of mass marketing and untargeted advertisements. Billboards could easily fall into the “mass marketing” category. Many companies fall into the trap of paying too much to reach too many people that are not potential customers. However, the example we saw out in the Hill Country was brilliantly positioned and it targeted exactly those people that would be riding by on motorcycles.

Laser-Guided Ads

Online advertisements are easily targeted to your audience. Keywords, search patterns, and user tracking information all allow advertisers to deliver ads with precision. How can you target your offline ads with similar efficiency?

Learn where your customers hang out. Find out what will catch their attention. Once you know, go make yourself visible in those same locations.

Spend Time with Customers

It wouldn’t surprise me if someone that worked for the insurance company was out on his Harley cruising the Hill Country and thought, “Hey, this would be a great place for a motorcycle insurance billboard.” How did he know that? Because he was out with the customers doing what they do and seeing the opportunities that other companies are missing.

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