Does Billboard Advertising Work?
- 30 Comments
- By Zac Johnson on November 2nd, 2009
On my way to New York City a few times, I would drive by and see one of Gary Vaynerchuk’s billboards for his Wine Library TV web site. The first time I saw it, I was pretty amazed. I then saw the ad a few more times in different spot over the next few months.
Last Friday I went to a New Jersey Nets vs. Orlando Magic Basketball game, and as we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a huge billboard for Gary’s new book, “Crush It“. I couldn’t beleive he had another billboard… and even more on the odds of seeing it at the stadium parking lot.
I’ve always wondered how well billboard advertising works. In most cases, you really can’t track the conversions, actually impressions and the ROI, unless you setup a separate url or phone number to take orders. What’s really dumb, is on the way home we saw a billboard with a URL on it, then I looked it up… and it went to a dead site with a script error.
In Gary’s ad specifically, some questions to ponder are… how many people know Gary Vaynerchuk, how many will visit the site, and actually go on to order the book?
In an upcoming post, I will interview Gary Vaynerchuk about all of these questions, and how much he actually pays to place these billboards in high traffic locations… and most importantly, IF THEY REALLY WORK!
- Posted in Blogging
"With great power comes great responsibility".... my Uncle Ben told me that. Haha, just kidding! I'm Zac Johnson and I've been making money online for over 10 years now. In short, I started making money online while I was in high school... but my passion for marketing and making money goes back way earlier than that. I created ZacJohnson.com to help motivate you to start making money online, and live the life the you always dreamed of.
I think that Billboard ads do work, as long as they are effective, and if anything it just raises a brand’s awareness.
Till then,
Jean
ReplyI think for many online businesses, billboard advertising would not be worthwhile. I think it would only work if you have a very brandable domain name. It is unlikely that you will get enough direct sales to pay off that kind of expense.
ReplyI’m always curious when I see URL’s on billboards, especially when they’re bif and bolded.
ReplyI’ll be curious if the billboard does actually have good ROI. I would bet that it wouldn’t since it has always carried the burden of not being able to really target the right audience. Would love to be proved wrong on this though…such a catchy billboard ad!
ReplyI share the same questions you do. Does this really work. I guess the billboard could help if people start to search for the author name or book name in the search engines. I am thinking he is trying to market himself by branding.
ReplyI agree with Jean, billboard ads can definitely increase a brand’s awareness, especially the more creative ones. I’m curious to find out how much web traffic a billboard generates.
Looking forward to the upcoming post, Zac!
ReplyGary is simply doing this so that he can talk about it and the media can talk about it. He is quite unlikely to make his money back from such a billboard. If enough people talk about it, I guess it is worthwhile for him.
ReplyIt is all something to create buzz in the media. No way will enough people buy his book based on such billboards.
ReplyI think billboards do left impression on ppls minds…
ReplyYeah, you can’t track conversions and ROI with that kind of advertising. But maybe it’ll attract traffic but then it’s limited to the locality instead of having it seen on the whole world through the internet.
Reply@Laptop Carrying Case:
Great point, if we are talking about websites being advertised on billboards they really have to be easy to remember, otherwise people will just not even bother going to them or remembering them, lol.
Till then,
Jean
ReplyOff-line advertising is a great way to get your message and URL out the general public, especially in the early stages of your online marketing efforts, when your traffic is quite low. The beauty in billboards is that you can target them at specific locations where you have a fair idea of what audience to expect.
On another level we’ve had great success promoting websites via real estate style advertising boards. It is amazing how many respond to signs they saw out of their motor cars.
ReplyI can’t imagine myself see one of my websites on a billboard on my country. That would be a very very great experience.
ReplyDang…each one of those billboards could cost about 10-20,000 a month
-Mike
ReplyI have no intention of trying billboard advertising anytime soon. I’d rather stick to online advertising where the results can be tracked much easier.
ReplyThere was a time when traditional companies didn’t advertising on the internet. Then traditional companies started advertising on the internet. It’s interesting now to see internet-based companies advertising with traditional mediums.
Reply@Danial Farooque:
ReplyYeah you are right
Looking forward to your interview with Gary!
ReplyWhen used for a long time, I think they should work, but would like to hear from Gary.
ReplyBillboard advertising are going to die. Internet Advertising WAY to go!
ReplyI’m not actually sold on Billboard advertising either.
First of all, no one really looks at that, second, they might not remember that domain name by time they get home. Lastly, it seems like it’d be really untargeted traffic. That is, unless it’s in the car niche.
P.S: I accidentally posted twice in your coupon codes post. that was a result of me not looking where I’m posting and not knowing that you actually moderate the comments that are falsely positived by Akismet. (so many other places don’t).
ReplyNice Content. Great idea to promote your product or services is to use customized gifts such as Custom T-Shirts, customized sanitizers and many more.
Replyhmm. i think it doesn’t work.
ReplyI think internet advertising will replace it soon.
Replyits works in building brands and generally successful for Home products..
Replyif i were him, i would never use billboard ads anymore. it’s just wasting money. cmiiw.
ReplyBillboards make work locally, but if you get a script error on the url, then I hope you don’t have to pay for the whole billboard contract.
ReplyIt is all something to create buzz in the media. No way will enough people buy his book based on such billboards.
ReplyI think it works for the image of the company, as an campaign for a product i don`t think it works that good, anyway didn`t tried it yet ….
Reply[...] offline world of marketing? While pulling into the parking lot for a basketball game, Zac noticed Gary Vaynerchuk’s billboard advertising his book, Crush It! Do billboards still work or do most of us turn a blind eye to those [...]