Traditional Advertising in the Digital Age: Signs Didn't Die, They Just Learned How to Message!
Hello, I am Burak, the founder, designer, and sometimes content writer of SignsAtelier. Lately, I have been striving for my business to establish a presence on social media. In this process, I realized that there is actually no difference between the sign in front of my shop and a social media post!.
We all see digital advertising rapidly advancing, and it seems as if traditional advertising (i.e., signs, posters) has been left behind. Actually, what is lagging is not traditional advertising itself, but the way you do your advertising.
A piece of metal or a stylish sign standing idly in front of your shop will not bring you customers. What draws the customer inside is your message. Just like an empty post on social media fails to get engagement.
So, what did we learn from the digital revolution? The answer is one word: “Hook”.
As people’s attention spans shorten, attracting interest becomes harder. A “Hook” means delivering your most compelling message to the viewer within the first 3 seconds to get a person hooked. Let’s see how we can hang these hooks on signs.
Section 1: Old School vs. New School Advertising
Previously, simply putting your logo on a huge billboard was enough. But now, the situation has changed.
1. Old School (Logo Only)
- Visual Description (Example 1): Imagine a stylish sidewalk sign in your hand. This sign consists only of a large, centered “ALLURE” logo on a white background.
- Analysis: Although this sign is visually stylish, it remains weak in communication. It is difficult to understand what the sign is about (is it cosmetics, a café?) just by looking at the logo. The sign has neither a message nor an offer. What many businesses overlook is customer communication.
2. New School (Hook and Message)
New school advertising uses a more aggressive mechanism of curiosity to stop people while they are preoccupied with their phones and flashy videos. We can take the hooks that work in the digital realm and transfer them to your sign.
Section 2: Hanging Digital Hooks on Signs
By adapting proven hook strategies from social media to traditional signs, we can make them easy to read and attention-grabbing:
Hook Type A: Arousing Curiosity and Testing
People love learning secrets and seeing results. These hooks “open a loop” in the viewer’s mind and force them to keep reading to close it.
- Application Examples: A sign can announce a test result to prove the effectiveness of a product (“We Tested All Aloha Bars in the Store. The Results Will Shock You!”). Or you can pique curiosity with the promise of exposing a secret (Exposing the Truth): “That Single Drink Experts Never Reveal… Inside!”.
Hook Type B: Calling Out the Target Audience (Demographic Hook)
This simple technique ensures your target audience qualifies themselves by calling them out directly. This allows you to attract the right attention by filtering out the wrong customers (e.g., those looking at watermelon explosion for a skincare brand).
- Application Example: Instead of just writing “Toy Store” on a toy shop sign, writing: “For Christian Parents Looking for Fun…” guarantees the right customer. This is a simple technique, but it always works.
Hook Type C: Feel-Good and Call to Action (The Revelation)
People do not want to be sold something; they want to find a piece of themselves, a solution, or an inspiration.
- Visual Description (Example 2 – Allure Sign Improvement): The logo and slogan of the Allure cosmetics company are downsized and elegantly moved to the top part of the sign. Our critical message is positioned right in the center of the sign using large type and an elegant font.
- Critical Message (Hook): “DISCOVER YOUR RADIANCE, STEP INSIDE.”.
- Analysis: This new design is an emotional, inspiring, and personal marketing message that, instead of just saying “Come and buy something,” says, “Come, find the best version of yourself, and let us guide you on this journey”. Furthermore, we use the words “Step Inside” as the physical equivalent of the “call to action” expression found in digital advertisements.
Section 3: Building Digital Bridges
To prevent traditional advertising from completely fading away in the digital age, adding a website address to the bottom line of the sign is beneficial. This allows people who do not have time to enter immediately to virtually tour the store via the website.
Conclusion: The Only Thing That Was Old Was Your Mindset
Traditional advertising (signs, posters) has not died; it has merely started a new life by utilizing the psychological methods of the digital realm.
The equivalent of a visual that “stops the scroll” on social media is a striking visual that “stops the walk” on the street. Whether it is on a cell phone or the top of a building, the fundamental rule of advertising has never changed: You must capture people’s attention, offer them something relevant to themselves, and invite them inside. Only our technique has changed.
