Let’s assume a billboard costs $3,500 for a month. How many visitors to your store would you expect? And how many of these visitors (if any) would you expect to buy your product? How will you measure success?
When it comes to online marketing, the calculation becomes pretty simple. $3,500 will get you around 3,000 visitors (depending on industry) and if we assume a 1% conversion rate that’s 30 sales. Fully tracked through to revenue. End of story.
Billboards can create awareness about a brand but cannot be tracked and measured effectively like online marketing can be. Sure, a billboard may have a certain amount of “views” per day: For example a typical billboard on Ellerslie Panmure Highway has 18,714 “views” / day (OGGI, 2010). But it’s difficult to measure how many people actually look at the billboard and process the message.
The more important question is, how many people actually really end up purchasing a product as a result?
Consumer Behaviour Has Changed
The way we see it, traditional advertising such as billboard advertising is not an effective form of advertising in today’s society as it does not create the same impact with consumers it did 20 years ago.
Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically and different forms of advertising such as online marketing have more impact on consumers in contrast to traditional forms such as billboards.
Today, information is easily accessible, which makes consumers very aware and knowledgeable of products and services as information is right at their fingertips. Consumers today spend large amounts of time surfing the internet, researching product information and engaging in social media which leads them to be more aware of what is in the market.
So, how can you keep up with ever-changing consumer behaviour and needs?
Online marketing is what you need
One of the reasons why online advertising is more powerful than billboards is its ability to engage and build relationships with consumers, as well as effectively targeting specific consumers. Billboards, on the other hand, can only target a diverse group who may (or may not) be interested in the advertised product.
Engaging and building relationships with consumers is important as this leads the consumer to want to purchase the product, and it also builds trust with the brand which leads to customer loyalty. This is every brand’s end goal as it leads to repeat purchases. Thus, online marketing is more effective and generates sales at a better ROI than billboard advertising.
If you are considering billboard advertising but haven’t yet got your online marketing sorted, talk to us. We are experts in Performance Media Advertising and Google AdWords and can make a cost-effective difference to your business. Send us a message or give us a call at +64 9 9201740.
