Roast my site, Vintage Ads, a Collection of Useful Ads from the 50s to the 90s, and what you can learn from them

by Moyo

Hey Guys i just launched Vintage Ads
A Massive Collection of Useful Ads from the 50s to the 90s and what you can learn from them.

There are a lot of core concepts these old ads have that you can steal and apply to your next campaign (you can even outright copy some of the ads)

It explains what you can learn from each ad, so you know exactly how to implement them.

Use it: https://vintageads.softr.app/

Moyo

on March 26, 2024

Say something nice to Moyo…

Post Comment

3
Hey Moyo, congrats on launching Vintage Ads! 🥳

I love offering feedback on apps/websites/landing pages, and helping founders, like yourself, design beautiful and high converting software. Here are a few notes that I jotted down:

Things I loved 💜
- I Love the Concept! I think that a lot of the classic advertising lessons from the past that stand the test of time, and are still very much relevant today.
- There are some gems in here. I remember that Lego ad from a marketing class I took years ago. It’s amazing how ads with catchy images like that can stick with us.
My top 3 things that I think could be improved 🧐

Design Layout
- The site feels like a true MVP right now. It has some of the elements that make up a great landing page, but they aren’t organized in a way that guides me, and tells me a story along the way. In part, I think this is because this landing page is doubling as the home page for your app.
  
  Suggestion: Create a landing page that is unique/separate from your product. On this page you can tell people about how you sympathize with their problems and how by using your product/newsletter, they will learn how to be more effective at connecting with their target market.
Copy - Call To Action (CTA)
- The CTA is critical for any landing page. What action do you want users to take on your page? If the purpose of this page is to showcase of your tool (the big blue “Discover Your Next Viral Ad” button), then I’d say it does an OK job right now. If the purpose is to get people to sign up for your newsletter (the other CTA on the page), then I would rework the site to focus on that.
  
  Suggestion: In order to drive conversion (people signing up for your newsletter) make sure that that CTA is visible multiple places throughout your site.
Design - Color & Imagery
- This type of site would thrive with the right use of color and imagery to tell the story. Look to add more visually exciting and engaging examples. The ads that you feature on the site do this already, but now it’s time to spice up the site around it with splashes of color and engaging images about your service. I think you have a great opportunity to turn this site into a clever example of applying these advertising lessons to your site. What classic ads can you draw inspiration from to design your site?
  
  Suggestion: Pick an ad that you reviewed on your tool. Design your website in that ad’s style. Or maybe, create different sections with different classic styles.
  
  Suggestion: Use a retro color scheme & font to make the site feel like an old-timey ad!
I hope you find this feedback helpful. Good luck on growing Vintage Ads!

-Scott
ScottJames

·
2 years ago
·
Reply
1. 2
  
  Hey @ScottJames, this is totally unrelated to your comment which I actually havent fully read, but I just wanted to say that we need more people like you. Thanks for your effort in helping this guy out. :)
  
  Jorsoi
  
  ·
  2 years ago
  ·
  Reply
  1. 2
    
    Cheers @Jorsoi! I think your suggestions about the long timeline, and if they plan to monetize are spot on too.
    
    ScottJames
    
    ·
    2 years ago
    ·
    Reply
    1. 2
      
      Thanks mate! :) If you are interested in reviewing new websites / MVPs I'd be more than happy to hear your feedback on a project which I have just finished a few weeks ago called LifeAdvice. Its been a passion project for quite a while now and I'm still looking for ways to make the UX even better :)
      
      Jorsoi
      
      ·
      2 years ago
      ·
      Reply
      1. 1
        
        I'll def give it a look. I'm going to do a few video roasts of products over the next few days. I posted the idea on reddit and it got some traction. https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1bpk3fu/link_your_startups_landing_page_and_ill_make_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
        
        Do you mind if I do one for LifeAdvice?
        
        ScottJames
        
        ·
        2 years ago
        ·
        Reply
        
        1
        
        Definitely! Would love to hear your feedback :)
        
        Jorsoi
        
        ·
        2 years ago
        ·
        Reply
2

Very cool concept. I had to stop myself from scrolling the ads that you have posted.

I think the page can be too long and people can forget to sign up as they scroll down. Have you ordered ads in some sorting order? I thought they would be ordered by time but ordering seems to be different.

I would suggest to have a sample ad the top along with the sign up form so they get a flavor of a what learning looks like. You could reduce some text in the first half.
"The only way to create new things is to learn from old things" this sounds like a tag line of your product. I liked it.

All the best.

enthudeveloper

·
2 years ago
·
Reply
1
Well done. Love the idea and it really seems like you are passionate about both programming AND marketing which sounds great!

Here are my 2 cents:
1. Hero section needs some more textual hierarchy. Currently there is no real "Headline". All texts have the same size and it is hard for me as a visitor to determine what to read and what to ignore. THus, make it simple: Choose 1 large text and one very short paragraph below, if the user is interested to read more. (Cuz right now it literally looks like I have been redirected to a Google Ads page)
2. Timelines are very very lengthy. It kinda devalues each section a bit since it seems to be a never-ending timeline. I think, that each post should have its own space with the major key findings not being longer than 4 bullet points and broader explanations below.
3. Last but not least: How are you planning to monetize it ? Is it just a fun project or are you tryin to catch some $$$ ?
Cheers,
Jorim
Jorsoi

·
2 years ago
·
Reply
1

The nostalgia is real on some of these 90’s ones… Really clever idea. Clean ux too 👌🏼

duffdevone

·
2 years ago
·
Reply
1

It's cool, idk how effective your CTA is

hatkyinc

·
2 years ago
·
Reply