Demand Curve - Growth Newsletter #212

The Growth Newsletter #212

A cautionary advertising tale (with lessons)

Today, I cover a failed marketing campaign.

There will be takeaway lessons and an example of how they could have executed it much better.

Also, greetings from LA!

Let's dive in 🦣

– Neal

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A cautionary advertising tale (with lessons)

Insight inspired by Yuriy Zaremba.

This is a funny cautionary tale.

In most of the US, you’re likely to see accident lawyers, churches, McDonald’s, and realtors plastered on the countless billboards that fill major cities and highways.

In San Francisco, however, it’s almost all startups selling to other startups.

This is a funny, cautionary tale of one of those campaigns, with a few actionable nuggets—including an example of how they could have done it so much better.

Here’s the billboard in question: 

Say you drove past and saw this.

(Although tbh, I don’t think it’s particularly noticeable)

What would you likely remember to google when you get to your destination?

For many, it’s likely “ai sdr.”

Which, funny enough, is the name of one of the advertiser’s direct competitors.

The advertiser is called Qualified. And Piper is the product.

AiSDR got an uptick in traffic and closed at least 2 deals from their competitor’s ad, as reported by the CEO on LinkedIn.

Below are three actionable takeaways.

The third is an example of a far better-executed ad in this space.

#1. Consider being clever or descriptive with naming:

Choosing a name and/or domain that matches the keyword most people will search can pay dividends.

This reminds me of this famous Thai restaurant in New York:

#2. Use Google Ads to target essential keywords

If you are running ads where it’s likely people won’t act on it immediately (billboards, radio, podcasts, TV, or print), make sure you use Google Ads to bid on the keywords they’ll likely use to find it later.

For example, they probably won’t google “Qualified Piper AI SDR."

Instead, they’re likely to google “ai sdr.”

People are remarkably good at forgetting everything but essential details.

And you don’t want a competitor with better SEO to get it instead.

#3. Make an ad that people can act on immediately

This ad is a FAR better version:

• It communicates so much in just six words
• People can immediately act (call the number)
• It’s incredibly intriguing to try out
• It leverages a familiar interface (iOS call notification) to shortcut understanding
• The phone number is simple to type in
• People can try the product within seconds of seeing the ad
• It’s absurdly simple and noticeable, with a ton of whitespace.

Here's why it's so good:

Here’s a snippet from Lenny’s Newsletter where he compiled a quote about this billboard:

I bet that’s infinitely more benefit than Qualified got from theirs.

Particularly since Qualified’s version increased the visibility of their competitor.

Stay creative folks.

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Thanks, everyone!

Neal O'Grady

Justin Setzer

Nick Costelloe