HostGator Billboards?
Alligator escapes from Atlanta Zoo?
HostGator’s September 09 Newsletter says the company currently has billboards “posted in 10 major U.S. cities and that number will be increasing soon.” I’ve been noticing HostGator billboard ads in the Atlanta area since September. I’ve seen web hosting billboards fragvertised before. And, I’m accustomed to seeing the blue and yellow HostGator mascot “Snappy” online, but on the way to work? On the way to dinner? While running errands? I’m going to have to adjust to that.
HostGator is not a host I’d call modest when it comes to advertising, whether online or offline. Their bite into advertising can sometimes annoy loyal web affiliate advertisers who receive 400k in payouts per month (apparently this figure does not include Commission Junction, where the affiliate ads on Clickfire come from). Consider this. If I’m on my way to get a cheeseburger after work, am I going to see the HostGator billboard, pull over, and order hosting for that new Web site I’ve been wanting to build? No, but here’s the scenario that affiliates may fear the most: I am going to either write it down or force myself to remember the name in the largest lettering: Hostgator.com. When home, I Google “HostGator” and click the number one listing (Google displays the brand site first in organic search). Unless I decide to do some research or comparisons, I’ve just bypassed affiliates and gone straight to the source to purchase my web hosting.
Do billboard ads “take” sales from online publishers? Will HostGator billboard advertising even work? How about we have some fun with HostGator’s latest campaign. Let’s do a crude test. Let’s take the three HostGator billboards in my neighborhood and see how long they stay up, the assumption being that no company would continue an unprofitable ad campaign.
Estimated start: Sept 09. Status: still live. See you later alligator? Not yet. It’s still there right next to the KFC on Cobb Pkwy, Marietta. Dude, get some chicken and stop standing there like a nerd.
Estimated start: Sept 09. Status: removed. This reptile at Roswell Rd and W Wieuca went into hibernation by November. I think a whiskey ad appears now.
Estimated start: Sept 09. Status: still live. This one took me by surprise because of it’s remote location on Upper Roswell in Marietta.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am
It’s definitely tacky, and I just wonder about the whole campaign – after all, when I decided I wanted a host for my blog, not only did I shop around and read reviews but I asked people actually running sites what they used and whether they had any problems or not.
Those billboards tell nothing – not that they’re supposed to – and they scream a name that makes no sense to me. There’s no branding other than “we exist, use us.”
November 19th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
In my opinion, it is a waste of money for the company. Seriously, they should use this money for online advertising instead of bilboard ads…
These billboard are useless for an online company such as HostGator.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
No, I wouldn’t be too worried as an affiliate marketer. Yes, Hostgator will get more people to sign up, but the people who sign up based on a billboard weren’t my target audience more than likely anyway. I advertise online, so I’m targeting people who search online… not on roadsides!
In other words, I don’t think lost sales will be meaningful.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Have you seen your affiliate sales decline? Are all of the last remaining billboards still up?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Darvin, I haven’t seen much change to date. 2 out of 3 of the billboards are still up. I’ll keep an eye on them and post back.
December 16th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I do think the billboard advertising would be useful for brand building. I live up in Canada and I have never seen web hosting advertised offline before. I definitely think it would grab peoples attention here. However, I don’t think a single person would use the promo code.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Not sure if it’s the right thing to do or not but one thing I have noticed is all the empty billboards that I see around now days. Not sure if they are the best place to put your advertising money at this time.
April 12th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
[...] corridors in the city, is just one of an ongoing nation-wide billboard campaign for the company. That campaign started mid-to-late last year with billboards launched in ten major cities and has been spreading [...]
April 20th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Sometimes ads like those work, but it depends on what kind of people will be attracted to it; Techie people and people who wants to start an online business for example.