Bathroom Advertising: 7 Benefits Clarksville Businesses Are Underestimating

Sure, it's odd to look.

As in, look in the direction of the person next to you when you're in a public restroom, taking care of nature.

And this article is here to share with you that too many businesses are OVERlooking an advertising resource that could genuinely help their local brand grow. 

I'll often use the term, "Sophisticated" to describe a particular category of business leaders. I'm not talking about the type who enjoys crumpets whist sipping tea (with their pinky finger out). 

The Sophisticated are the ones who have experienced and learned. And the wisdom coming from those hard lessons has moved into a different zone of reality.  Sophisticated people grasp the critical role of advertising. These businesses are operated by individuals who realize that every product around them came into existence through advertising. 

The coffee they're sipping.

The pen they're holding.

The computer, tablet or phone they're using to message colleagues or friends. 

Every product or service that brought them to where they are, went through a stage of boosted awareness—which led to that product's purchase, consumption and mass-adoption.  Advertising (aka, making one's product or service known to the masses and giving them a good reason to try it) is a journey. 

And it can be an uphill battle.

But it doesn't have to be. 

In my experience, the number one hurdle Clarksville local brands face is communication. 

More specifically, thoroughly communicating their value and uniqueness to their future customers. 

Many business owners become good communicators, but the limits of ad formats can make it hard for them to express important messages.

Often, their audience frequently ignores them, missing out on important messages that could inspire them to give them a chance.

Enter: Restroom Advertising

Advertising in public restrooms isn't a new thing. It's not a groundbreaking new tech fad. It's a classic, proven marketing method that's allowed businesses to communicate much more of the value they can deliver to their market. 

Why? 

We'll break down just 7 of the best, science-backed and research-based reasons why indoor advertising has been a strategy for brands both broad and local.

1. More is More.

Everyone's heard the "Less is More" mantra. That's nice and all, but let's face it: there are a lot of businesses out there that are in highly competitive markets. Are they unique? Sure. But how do they usually go about saying that? In my experience, it's the usual, "We're different" or "Our service is what puts us ahead of our competition." 

Okay. That's a start. But it's nowhere close to what you need to communicate. So after some soul-searching, high-competition businesses CAN INDEED put their finger on attributes about themselves that are unique and stand apart from their competitors.

And then the issue becomes, "Okay, so I need a little more time to say all that." 

Advertisements in public restrooms give the business a shot at communicating more because the audience isn't going to be giving their attention to much else.  Regardless, say only what's necessary to move them to the next step in the customer's journey. However, take a breath because you don't have to worry with crunching your value into the limiting few words or the several dozen characters that many other ad formats allow.

2. Ultra Demographic Targeting.

Indoor marketing, like restroom ads, allows a business to reach a highly targeted audience. That's because people using public restrooms are likely to live or work in the surrounding area. Not to mention the demographics of men vs. women.

Salons are always in a competitive landscape. An advertiser like that can focus all their resources to publishing their intriguing message strictly to ladies via women's restrooms—in the stalls or by the mirror (because everyone knows: ladies wash their hands).  Businesses who leverage this format of advertising campaign know they can get in front of the right audience and tell that consumer what they need to know to get them to give their business a shot.

3. Healthy Local Brand Growth.

"Brand awareness" has been quite the buzz word when it comes to growth hacking. Traditional forms of advertising is often mixed with digital for fast, mass local awareness. Restroom ads provide businesses with the opportunity to get their complete message across, filling in any gaps that they can't fit into their other ads and further enhancing their credibility and authority.  The end goal is easy and quick recognition.

4. So Unignorable, It's almost not fair.

When you're taking care of nature, you're not going to be looking too many places. Even the iPhone can't compete, especially when it comes to men relieving themselves while standing (a dude checking his phone while taking care of "number one" is even more odd than looking around). 

A lot of businesses have a great offer and a good idea for a great message. They can't be too clever—because clarity will always trump cleverness (take that to the bank). But they can at least test that clever message when it's baked into a flyer inches away from the eyeballs of their best prospects. 

Some tips here: Avoid taking advantage of that unignorable nature. If your message is too clever and takes some mental energy to "get," then keep working on it (or if it's published, don't hold high expectations that your campaign is going to do well).

5. Easy To Measure.

This one might take a little creativity but, no matter the business's marketing strategy, there's always a way to implement a system of tracking. For many restaurants, pubs, bars and eateries, it can be as simple as publishing a message like, "Snap a pic of this ad and bring it in for [insert compelling offer here]." 

Other well-thought out mechanisms can include

• invitations to visit an easy-to-remember URL (and/or scan a QR) to receive special offers by joining an email/sms marketing list. 
• Use an inexpensive phone number for call tracking
• Send onlookers to a special number, to text (and also join a marketing email/sms list to receive word on specials and exclusive offers) 

Quick Tip: For businesses using a QR code: ALWAYS publish the actual URL near the QR.  Avoid cleverness (e.g. "For a good time, scan me") and instead, communicate some real value that people can sink their teeth into (e.g. "Scan or visit: and take the 2 minute Fat Loss quiz" or "Scan or Visit the URL: and sign up to get 20% off your first order.")

6. A "Call to Action"

(that's Better Than Your Competitors')

If you're a business owner, reading this (and have gotten this far), that's great. Bring it in close… I have a little secret that's going to make you feel like you can really conquer the advertising game. 

Ready? 

(*whispers the secret*) All your competitors suck at creating a strong call to action.

Okay, forgive the informal-yet-direct tone. I'll rephrase that in a more respectful way: 

None of your competitors excel in the aspect of crafting a compelling call to action. 

That's good news. 

Because all you need to do is craft a great call to action and be sure to include it in your ads.  The "CTA" (Call to Action) is arguably THE most important part of the ad.

One could argue, "No, it's the show-stopping headline… it's the attention-grabbing image… it's the logo (joking. It's never the logo)." However, if there's not a CTA on your ad (and I'm talking about any and all of your ads), then there should not be any expectation of the campaign to succeed. 

Think of the coupons and offers (aka, the incentives your business uses in number 5 above) that drive sales and encourage customer loyalty. Think backward from the thing you're willing to give up, to incentivize the viewer. 

You're not necessarily always incentivizing a sale either (surprised?).  What we here at Whizz recommend (and even teach our official customers) is to invest some serious thought into the customer journey. Only think about the NEXT step the ad-viewer must take after experiencing your ad. Is it swipe their credit card? Chances are, it's not. 

It's more likely the most reasonable "next action" is something more like

• scan the QR
• Visit the URL
• Call the number
• Speak to a real human
• Get advice or feedback from that human
• Get an invitation to visit the location 
• Drive and park, and walk into the location 
• Learn more about x, y or z

There are lots more possible "next steps." I'm just trying to get you to think, "Hmm. It might just be flat-out unreasonable to expect my ad-viewer to see my message—no matter how awesome it is—and spend money as the next step. What do they normally do? What normally has to happen? What do they need to hear right at this moment (upon seeing my ad) in order to nudge them to take that next step and call/visit/talk to a human/etc."

7. Messages That Are Memorable

There are a few ways to grow your brand.  There's what I've often called the "POLE" ("Plaster Our Logo Everywhere") technique where a business is aiming to seem like they are everywhere their prospects are looking. 

There's the mantra where you're striving to desperately get your brand to be seen at least 7 times.  This little statistic was updated to about 14 times, and it's likely even higher than that, given our media-saturated culture we live in.  This goal is all about the frequency—the number of "touch points" a business is expecting to broadcast in order for the prospect to at least just take a more serious glimpse at them. 

This is difficult. 

And unpredictable. 

So there's a better way to optimize your "Rememberability." 

Solid, predictable advertising isn't about guessing; it's about a well-thought-out offer baked into a formula for communicating that message. When the package includes all the ingredients, a business doesn't have to try so hard (and spend so much cash) to be more memorable. They just have to stick to the formula.

Conclusion

In conclusion, restroom advertising, often overlooked but highly effective, offers Clarksville businesses a cost effective and unique opportunity to communicate their value and increase brand recognition. Restroom ads (aka "Indoor Billboards") let advertisers convey more information, target demographics with precision, and post unignorable messages.  Indoor billboards pave the way for healthy local brand growth.

Moreover, the ease of measuring campaign efficacy (and making tweaks to improve campaign performance), crafting compelling calls to action, and the extremely minimal competition provides businesses with a competitive edge.

By incorporating these science-backed benefits into their advertising strategies, Clarksville businesses can launch memorable and effective advertising campaigns that resonate with their local audience, leading to increased foot traffic, better customer engagement, and ultimately, business success.  So, don't underestimate the power of restroom advertising—it could be the missing piece to take your business to new heights in the local market.