By Steve Garrou, Creative Director
When National Billboard Day was celebrated on June 1, we originally thought it would be a great post on EPIC’s social channels. Then we got into concepting, trying to figure out the “why” behind the post. I admittedly complicated it by proclaiming that the concept of a billboard is essentially the driving force behind all marketing these days. This blog is the result of that complication.
This is also a better place for it—it’s a fascinating thought, the more it rattles around in my head. EVERYTHING IS A BILLBOARD. Bold thought, right? But the more I think about it, not really.
Hollywood has it figured out
It’s a Saturday, the weather is so-so, and you decide to take your spouse to a matinee of this summer’s hottest blockbuster. The one you’ve been tracking since the 60-second teaser you first saw months ago. The one you keep bringing up, and your wife says, “That’s nice, let me know when it’s in theaters.” When the full 2(ish)-minute trailer came out, you watched it at least a dozen times and followed YouTube nerds (like yourself) as they made 45-minute videos dissecting second-by-second. (Wait, is this just me … ?)
Those trailers were crafted to break through and make you act.
Those trailers were enough to get you to the theater and spend $43.50 on two tickets, popcorn, a hot dog, and nachos. To take time out of your day to spend a ridiculous amount of money on the 2(ish) hours you’d been waiting for since February.
Those trailers were crafted to break through and make you act.
More importantly, at least one of the 5 – 8 trailers you watched before that movie convinced you to spend the next 6 months repeating the same cycle that culminates in spending 4,350 cents … again.
Conceptually, movie trailers are billboards. They deliver a clear, memorable message to a large audience without spoiling the whole story, all to bring them back for another feature-length experience.
Once again, everything is a billboard.
The 6-second rule
With an average read time for a billboard being 6 seconds, the general rules of thumb for traditional out-of-home billboard creative are to:
- Make it clean and impactful
- Keep it under seven words
- Include only one call to action
A billboard has to be good enough to get a (potentially) 70-mph passerby to notice it and remember the ONE thing they need to do—in this day and age, it’s probably visiting a website. A reminder: 6 seconds.
With the ever-shrinking attention spans brought on by the digital age, clarity in messaging is a non-negotiable. Studies indicate that the average attention span is down to 8 seconds. (Thanks for reading this far… you have a great attention span!)
According to some cursory Google searching, these are the average attention spans for most marketing-related efforts:
- Website homepage: 8 seconds
- Meta (Facebook, Instagram + Threads): 1.7 seconds (desktop slightly longer)
- TikTok: 1-2 seconds
- YouTube pre-roll: 5 seconds
- Standard display ad: .5-1.5 seconds (if not completely ignored)
- High-impact/rich media: 3-5 seconds
While the stats may vary depending on the individual, the product, or the media presented, the big takeaway is that they are all very short. The lesson here for marketing professionals is: not only is everything a billboard, but everything has to be one.
Wrap It up, steve
The first rented billboard went up over 150 years ago. As trains gave way to cars, more and more billboards popped up. Today’s billboards are not just roadside, but also on the devices in our pockets and on our desks.
When your target audience is constantly overstimulated by the media that they consume, it’s critical to find ways to break through. That means: leaning on audience research to speak to your audience strategically. And understanding the platform that your content will live on. It also means distilling your value proposition down into the clearest, most concise delivery. On top of all of that, you have to show up in the market with kickass, meaningful visuals as the vehicle.
You know what we do really well? All of that. Shameless plug, sure—but breakthrough marketing is effectively the heartbeat of EPIC Creative. So, in a world where everything is conceptually a billboard (hopefully my argument is convincing enough), how are you breaking through? If you need help, reach out today, and we’ll give you a hand.
