Those people and businesses who run ads on Facebook using images  seemingly unrelated to their business and sometimes downright weird may be on to something.

Traditionally marketers have marketed with words pertaining to their product or services and, well, pictures of them. Don’t get me wrong, some products are visually intriguing and bear looking at, even if it is over and over again. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways to position a hamburger. And in today’s advertising, whether online or in magazines or newspapers, the art or graphic may be the only thing that attracts and holds the reader and if reader is attracted and held because they are thinking, “Well what does that picture have to do with anything?”, maybe that’s a good thing.

That’s where creative – you might say – misdirection comes in handy. Instead of running yet another ad for your annual back sale with yet another picture of baked goods, why not run it with only one photo – the photo that’s a great shot of the mural by the park your bake sale will be at.  Or the people who we’ll be donating their time to sale the baked goods.

For a real life example, I was able to enjoy yet another great event – two actually – at a local bookstore. I have shots of the bookstore exterior. Lots of people do. So I used these shots  instead on Facebook to express my gratitude for the events and have used this technique for my clients.

So the next time a client ask you once again to run an add for an instore special, promotion, event, or giveaway, look for a new visual subject to attract the readers attention and possibly more and new customers.