How to effectively place elevator advertisements? 90% of people may make a mistake at the first step

When you see your neighbors discussing the newly opened restaurant at the entrance of the community in the elevator, or hear your colleagues talking about the interesting product they saw on the elevator advertisement last night, have you ever thought: "Can my business also break through by using elevator advertisements?" This idea is great because it touches the core of community marketing - establishing brand awareness in the last 100 meters of consumers' lives.
However, from the initial thought of "I want to advertise on elevator ads" to successfully publishing and achieving results, there lies a whole set of professional decision-making and execution processes. For beginners, the question of "how to place elevator ads" is like facing an unfamiliar instrument, with no idea where to start. Don't worry, this article will simplify the complexity and present you with a clear and actionable "five-step placement method", guiding you from scratch to completion.
一、Step 1: Goals and Budget - Plan Your "Battle Map"
Any action without a clear goal is akin to blind investment. Before reaching out to any advertising agency, please sit down and clarify two things:
1. Clarify your marketing objectives
Ask yourself: What is my primary goal for this deployment?
Brand awareness: Let the surrounding community residents know that your brand/store exists.
Product promotion: Highlight a popular product or new service.
Event attraction: Attracting foot traffic for store openings, store celebrations, and promotional events.
Word-of-mouth building: Establish a professional and reliable brand image.
Different goals will lead to different choices in the future.
2. Determine your budget range
Elevator advertisements are usually quoted on a "per elevator, per month, per advertising space" basis. Your total budget determines how many elevators you can cover and for how long.
Trial budget: 10,000-20,000 yuan. Consider launching a trial campaign in core areas by selecting 10-20 elevators for 1-2 months.
Regular budget: 30,000 to 100,000 yuan, which can cover a small to medium-sized community or area systematically.
Remember: Elevator advertisements usually require at least 1-3 months to form effective memory, so it is not recommended to invest for only 1 month.

二、 Step 2: Strategy and Location Selection - Locking Your "Target Position"
With goals and budget in place, the next step is to decide "where to invest".
1. Draw your "customer map"
Where do your ideal customers live? Where do they work?
If you are a maternity and baby brand, focus on selecting high-end residential areas with a high concentration of young families.
If you are a business service company, focus on office buildings in core business districts.
If you are a local restaurant, the community within a 3-kilometer radius of your store is a prime area.
2. Learn to evaluate "elevator value"
Not all elevators are the same. Please request and pay attention to the following information from media companies:
Property grade and housing price: Communities with high overall quality attract stronger consumer spending power.
Occupancy rate and elevator-to-unit ratio: Buildings with high occupancy rates, taller structures, and fewer elevators experience greater daily foot traffic and are therefore of higher value.
Demographics: It is best to understand the approximate composition of residents in the community (age, occupation, etc.).
3. Choose advertising format
Frame poster: A classic static advertisement with relatively low cost, suitable for conveying core brand information and promotional information.
Elevator door sticker: Located on both the inside and outside of the elevator door, it receives high attention.
LCD video screen: dynamic display, combining sound and image, strong attraction, with a cost about 2-3 times that of frame advertising.
It is recommended that novices start with cost-effective framework advertisements.
三、 Step 3: Creativity and Design - Crafting Your "Eye-catching Weapon"
In a closed elevator, creativity is the only weapon to capture attention. Please be sure to adhere to the following "Elevator Creativity Iron Law":
1. Main visual: It must be comprehensible within 3 seconds
Use high-definition images with strong color contrast. The main subject, whether it's a product or a person, should be prominent. Avoid using complex background images.
2. Headline: Clarify core interests in one sentence
The font must be large and bold! The number of characters should ideally be within 8. For example: "Professional formaldehyde removal, move in within 7 days" or "XX barbecue, 50% off for late-night snacks".
3. Brand information: clear and accurate
The logo, brand name, and featured product image should be placed in a prominent position.
4. Action instruction: Provide the next step
This is the key to enhancing the effect! It is essential to clearly inform the audience of what to do next.
Scan to follow: Place a prominent WeChat official account or mini program QR code.
Make a call: Zoom in on the contact number.
Guidance to the store: Write down the store address and a brief route.
Remember the mnemonic: one picture, one sentence, one phone call/QR code.
四、Step 4: Execution and Publication - Achieving Your "Precise Implementation"
After selecting a media company and confirming the plan, the execution phase begins.
1. Confirm the detailed contract for deployment
The contract must include a detailed "List of Advertising Locations" in the appendix, specifying the names of specific residential areas, building numbers, advertising space numbers, unit prices, and total prices. This is the core document that safeguards your rights and interests.
2. Monitoring and publication confirmation
After the installation of advertising displays, media companies are required to provide "on-publication photos" as proof of execution. You should also conduct random inspections yourself to check on-site whether the advertising displays are flat, clean, and in the correct position.
3. Clarify post-service
Confirm the time frame within which the media party is responsible for repairing any damages or detachment of the advertising display (usually 24-72 hours).

五、 Step 5: Monitoring and Optimization - Verify Your "Delivery Results"
Launching is not the end; reviewing the results is where growth begins.
How to measure effectiveness?
Direct feedback: During the advertising campaign, track the number of consultation calls received through the advertisement, the increase in WeChat friends, and the number of customers who mentioned seeing your advertisement in the elevator.
Promotion correlation: If an advertisement promotes a promotional activity, track the usage of the coupon or secret code during the activity period.
Store customer flow: Compare the natural customer flow of the store before and after the launch to see if there is a perceptible improvement.
Long-term brand equity: After continuous investment, you will find that the natural recognition and trust of customers in the surrounding community towards your brand have increased.
Sixth, four major "pitfalls" that novices must avoid
Penny-wise, pound-foolish: Choosing a package with an extremely low price but located in a remote or outdated residential area, resulting in almost no one seeing it.
"Pit without a clear goal": Launching without a clear understanding of what is needed, leading to incorrect creative concepts and site selection.
Designing a self-entertaining pitfall: The advertising image contains too much information and the font is too small, resembling a product manual, which no one would bother to read.
No monitoring pit: After launching, just wait for customers to come, without any tracking methods in place. The final effectiveness is entirely based on intuition, with no room for optimization.
六、Conclusion
The answer to "How to place elevator advertisements" is now clearly before you. It's not a mysterious black box, but a standardized process that can be mastered through learning: set goals → choose the right location → create effective content → execute rigorously → evaluate the results.
The core charm of elevator advertising lies in its ability to penetrate brands into the real-life scenarios of target customers at an affordable cost, achieving high-frequency and compulsory friendly communication.