A sign of how not to do it

Sometimes showing some bad marketing can be a good way of illustrating how to improve. Driving to our office one day we were shocked at this piece of marketing which is a prime example of how not to do something (sorry for the bad photo taken from the car!)

The sign says “Opticians Now Open – FREE eye tests available.” Here’s how this piece of marketing fails:
1. There’s no call to action! We should point out this sign is one of a few dotted around, but is nowhere near where this opticians is. So we’ve seen the message, registered the information but now what? Drive round until we find them? Nobody is going to do that!

2. There’s no branding? Not only can we not see the opticians, there’s no way of knowing what the opticians is called, let alone its logo. Your logo is the face of your brand – get it out there so people begin to recognise it and remember it.

3. Cheap Design! It probably took all of 10 minutes to come up with that design. OK the bright orange is eye catching, but does it say “This is a nice opticians I would like to try?” Also do you think the opticians itself is bright orange? Probably not. With consistent design you build a much stronger, recognisable brand.

4. Ignoring the internet! What would have made this sign 10 times better would have been if they had included something that was mobile friendly. For example a web address that a passer by could remember or make note of. Perhaps that could have also linked to a dedicated landing page, which collects information in some way.

ACTION: So what can you do? Remember to always include calls to action in your marketing, and make sure that if you are running an offer, people know how to take advantage of it. Use every opportunity to get across your branding, so you stick in people’s mind, and when marketing out and about, think about mobile marketing. Everybody carries a mobile device in their pockets – take advantage of it!