There’s no doubt about it; online advertising really works. You can target specific types of customers or retarget others to remind them to come back and buy that item they looked at, and if it wasn’t for the cost, it would probably be the perfect way for your small business to find customers.
The problem with even the most targeted online advertising is that you don’t know how interested your target happens to be at any particular time, or even if online advertisers are still showing ads to people who have already bought what you have to offer, which is just money down the drain.
Out Of Home (OOH) alternatives to online ads
There are, of course, other old-school alternatives like leaflets and posters, and more recently, the benefits of mobile billboards have become more apparent, as they attract the wandering attention of those on the commute or stuck in traffic, and typically are cheaper per impression than online ads (although they are little harder to turn off).
Example one – ad hoc delivery driver
As you might already know, many people either supplement their income or have a small business delivering items on an ad hoc basis. Unlike their counterparts who work as multidrop delivery drivers, they are in control of how much they work and which jobs they take by selecting the majority of their load board work from a load board posted on a delivery companies website, and they are at liberty to pick which jobs they want. In addition to this, they can also advertise using OOH boards to pick up extra work, again at their discretion as to which ones they take, as an alternative to online advertising.
Example two – local web services company
If you’re about to start your own web services company, you probably already know that this is a very congested area for online advertising, even if you are only targeting potential clients locally. OOH, advertising can target those same local customers, who are likely to prefer somebody they know is just along the street and in the same time zone as them. Even though the means you can choose globally, there are many reasons why local businesses prefer to do business with other local businesses.
Example three – eCommerce business
Even if you do most of your business online, you should not overlook the local customer base for the reasons already explained above. Using OOH advertising to gain followers on social media and build a relationship with potential customers who align with your company ethos has a much stronger bond if the events and locations they see in posts are ones they are already familiar with because they see them every day.
To wrap things up
Online advertising can be very expensive, and there can be more cost-effective ways to trigger that initial visit to your social media pages or website. However, whether it is to supplement a delivery driver’s income, or you are a local business targeting other local businesses or clients, it would be foolish to overlook the offline options available.
