Have you ever been driving down the highway and noticed a billboard…but once you drive by it you don’t remember what it said?
That’s not uncommon. Billboard advertising is tough. It’s very visual and you only have a few seconds at most to communicate.
It’s easy to pick on billboards and other advertising because it’s challenging, but it provides good context for the importance of getting the visual aspects of marketing correct.
So let’s look at some of the biggest and most common mistakes made with visuals when it comes to marketing.
1. Poor Quality Photos
There is nothing that stands out more with marketing materials than a photo or image that isn’t the right quality. And by quality I mean a photo that is slightly out of focus or that has been taken at an awkward angle. It could be the result of having someone take the photo that wasn’t skilled in photography. Smartphones have been great, but professional photographers are still very valuable.
It could also be the result of not having the photo or image touched up properly. Designers skilled in photography can make slight changes to photos and graphics to make sure that little imperfections are removed so they don’t distract from the main focus of the marketing piece.
And that’s really the point. You want a photo to be part of the message and part of it in a way that communicates what you want to communicate. You don’t want someone to see your ad and get distracted by a small detail on the photo to the point where they don’t realize what they should be doing with the information.
2. Too Many Visual Elements
The next common mistake is having too many visual elements on a marketing piece. This could even be on your business website. I see that happen all the time where I visit a homepage and my eyes are darting back and forth across the page looking at a photo, a graphic, a button, social media icons and on and on and on.
It’s a challenge because you don’t want to leave anything out when it comes to your website or your advertisement, but having a narrow focus really is the best way to achieve what you want to with your marketing items.
For each single item whether it’s an online ad or a billboard or a page on your website you want to have one primary goal. All visual elements should work one at a time to communicate with the target person and keep them moving down the sales funnel.
You can have secondary items, but they should be secondary or not noticeable unless the person is looking for them. An example of that would be social media buttons on your website.
3. No Context
Have you ever looked at a marketing image like an ad or something and just thought, “Huh?”
Confusion is a killer in marketing. The goal is obviously not to confuse the target customer, but it happens. Marketing isn’t always easy.
I was driving the other day on the interstate and I saw a billboard that had a photo of a couple sitting in chairs looking at the horizon.
That’s it.
There was some small text or a logo in the lower corner with maybe a phone number or something, but I was confused.
Was this for a prescription drug?
Was it for a vacation destination?
Was it for a beer or wine?
I don’t know. I still don’t know.
When you’re involved in the business something visual might make 100% sense to you, but it’s always good to test the photo or image to make sure it instantly makes sense to your target audience.
4. Hidden Call-To-Action
The other thing with that billboard that had the photo of the couple was the call-to-action. I think it had one in the lower corner, but I wasn’t fully sure and I definitely didn’t remember it enough to take action.
Sometimes you can get wrapped up in the ad or marketing piece so much that by the time you get to the call-to-action you just find an area where it will fit and you throw it in there. But the call-to-action is very important…obviously. That’s how the potential customer will move toward making a purchase.
I see this with those car wraps that local business owners put on their cars. They have great visuals showing their logos and things like that, but when I see that I’m not always sure what to do.
There are some good car wraps that have big phone numbers that say “Call Us Today” or they have wording that says “Visit us on Main Street”.
Make sure people can quickly determine what their next step should be when they see your marketing piece.
5. Small Font
This kind of builds on the last one and it’s the idea of small font. We’ll focus on the headings on a visual marketing piece.
That billboard that I saw the other day with the image of the couple could have made complete sense if it had a heading at the top.
There’s a well known brewery in my area called Leinenkugel’s. They have billboards all over the state that have images of the Wisconsin outdoors with the phrase “Join Us Out Here”.
Those images present a way of life with a headline that is easily visible on most of their billboards. After seeing a billboard one time you instantly get the message. You want to sit on a dock with friends and enjoy a Summer Shandy.
Conclusion
Small issues with the visuals on your marketing pieces can lead to lost sales. It’s not easy to get everything right with your marketing, but some small changes can really make sure that you’re communicating the message you want to communicate and it also ensures that your target customers know what action they should take. Use the tips above and go over your marketing pieces and it should help you get some more sales.
