Properly signing-off your advertising deserves more attention than the after-thought it appears to be given by most new stores.
Signing-off your new store’s advertising with a phone number, web address, and a social icon or two or ten has almost become a given in practically every form of advertising today.
Below are my thoughts on its expansion of use and where I advise proper application within your new store’s various media options.
TV
In the past, you’d come to the end of a new store’s TV spot and most often times you’d see a tasteful logo and maybe a tagline. That’s great, because it’s about all your viewer is going to remember in the approximately three seconds it appears at the end of a 30 second TV spot. As originally intended, it serves to reinforce the brand name and reminds the viewer who sponsored the message they’ve just taken in. However, through the years this space has become more and more populated with things like phone numbers, web addresses and social media icons.
My advice is, if your strategy is to make your new store’s phone ring, increase website hits or drive massive social media traffic, that’s what the spot should focus on. You truly shouldn’t expect to see significant increases in any of these due to the mere inclusion of these sign-offs as a second, third or even fourth piece of information contained within this final three-second timeframe. If you are still not convinced there isn’t a tangible benefit, I would at least advise just choosing one.
Radio
It’s a well-known fact people listen to the radio primarily when they are in the car. So, how many times have you been driving or riding around in traffic and heard a new store’s radio spot with a phone number or a website address as a sign-off? Unless it’s one of those obnoxious spots that repeats the phone number 10–12 times in 60 seconds or a product/service you truly had an interest with a very simple and memorable website address, you’ve probably never responded. Radio is a great vehicle for effectively branding or getting your new store’s main message out there loud and clear in a unique fashion. Unless the main premise of your new store’s radio is to solely drive phone, web or social traffic, it won’t be effective simply as a sign-off to your spot.
Ahhh yes, I can put it ALL in print! And unfortunately most do. Sure, there’s normally available space for a logo, tagline, address, phone number, web address and 5–10 social icons in most any print ad, direct mail or collateral you produce. I look at most print advertising and see, beyond the logo/tagline, where one of these additional sign-offs usually make the most sense. I know it’s too easy to include them all within all that pesky white space, but it’s far more effective to determine the most relevant compliment to the message your advertising is conveying.
Outdoor
As mentioned previously with radio, how many of you out there drive around with a pen and paper at the ready just in case you see an outdoor board with a phone number or web address you’re going to want to jot down? If this were the case, driving and texting would probably be much less troublesome in comparison. Yet, how many outdoor boards do you see with phone numbers and/or web addresses? A compelling and memorable message will do far more than a phone number or web address ever could. Come up with a great idea for the medium and the customer will look up your new store’s number or search you on the web.
Social
I won’t dwell on this one too much. New stores utilizing social media seem to know what they’re doing. I rarely see phone numbers signing-off a post. If you feel even a slight need to go there, you probably should just stay away and avoid looking foolish.
When creating your new store’s advertising, use a little common sense when it comes to the way you sign-off your ads. Think about what you currently see and hear, what you normally respond to or look for as an ad signs-off. Then, give the way you sign-off your new store’s ads more attention than the after-thought most do.
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