The Billboard Test and Beyond

Does you domain name pass the billboard test?

When we first started designing billboards for airshows and other events, we quickly became aware of getting the message across in the most effective way possible.  The billboard methodology can be applied to almost any form of traditional advertising. 

My personal belief is that all your traditional advertising should take a web-centric emphasis.  If you can get people to visit your web site, you can pass along far more information for less money.

Keep in mind most people won't remember specific details of your billboard the first time.  I'm a firm believer in "the Magical Number Seven." In short, you can only remember small bits of information upon your first exposure.  This has little to do with intelligence.  It is a cognitive limitation of the human brain.  In most cases we can only remember 7, plus or minus two bits of information.  As a result, keep your messaging simple.

The limitations of the human brain and driving 55+ MPH makes it increasingly more difficult to remember small details.  When advertising for your company, service, or event: keep the domain name prominent, your message short, and make sure it is easy to remember.  You might want to consider dropping the "www." from the domain name.  In a recent survey of some magazines advertising I noticed more than 65% of companies dropped the "www."  Make sure your hosting company supports no "www." with your domain.  Here are some domain name guidelines for ensuring your billboard passes the billboard test.

There are far too many billboards that clutter their message with useless information.  People won't always have traffic to carefully study your billboard.  If they remember anything from your billboard or another piece of advertising, make sure it is your domain name.

Additional Resources:
Marketing via Voicemail