Okay, just be honest with yourself here: when was the last time you actually looked at an ad on social media? Yeah, sure, you see them all the time, but like, when was the last time you stopped midscroll and actually paid attention? Like you didn’t just half-glance before jumping to the next video, but genuinely stopped and thought, “Huh, that’s cool.” Can’t remember, yeah, exactly.
Chances are right, it’s been a while, right? Well, most of the time, ads just blur together. Oftentimes, it’s the same font, same promises, same influencer trying to sell you “the one thing that’ll change your life”, and to “run, don’t walk to buy this viral TikTok item that they’re literally obsessed with,” or whatever else they say (it’s all a script anyway).
How about those big billboards on the side of the highway? Eventually, they get to the point where they’re completely invisible, too. You’ve seen them so many times that your brain’s deleted them from memory. You could drive past one a hundred times and still have no idea what it says. So, this is all about ad blindness, and all businesses are dealing with this, but if you want better results, well, you’ll have to fight back. Okay, but how?
Grab Attention the Way People Actually Live
You probably relate to this bit too; people are bored with being sold online. Like, totally and completely fed up with it. Basically, scrolling through ads sandwiched between dog videos and memes isn’t exciting anymore. Like that whole novelty just wore out, but catch someone off guard in the real world, and you’ve got their attention. Basically, that’s what works now, no, not another digital pop-up in someone’s feed, that seriously ain’t going to cut it.
Instead, it massively helps your brand to just focus on something real, something unexpected. But yeah, to a degree that can be a bit tough, right? One thing a lot of businesses are doing is looking into outdoor media advertising companies. So why this? Well, there are growing numbers of people who are sick of being glued to their phone, they’re sick of being sold to online, and sick of AI slop ads too.
More people are “touching grass,” as it’s called, stepping into the real world, hanging out there, doing things there (and people still commute to work, obviously). So yeah, just focusing more on the real world is probably the best choice.
Movement will Always Win
There’s a reason people notice motion; we’re built for it. It’s the same instinct that made our ancestors look up when something moved in the bushes (you know, just in case it was a tiger). Well, today, the only thing jumping out at us is a truck with a glowing screen, but the reaction’s the same. So, yeah, that’s why ads that move, flash, or shift get remembered. Honestly, Times Square is a pretty good example, people actually do look up at those moving billboards.
Real Life Always Wins
Again, more people are “touching grass” as it’s called, as in, they’re focusing more on living in the moment, going out, using their phone less, just living life how it used to be before screen time got so heavily pressed on (maybe prior to COVID). So, more people will be using screens less, so outsmarting ad blindness means that you won’t be shouting louder; instead, it’s showing up somewhere people aren’t expecting you.
