I couldn’t take a picture of the sign I want to share with you because I was driving 60 mph when I saw it.

The highway sign, on Route 3 eastbound outside Clifton, NJ, was one of those changeable overhead signs whose messages often warn drivers of an upcoming delay or a security alert.

This one was a two-parter:

ARRIVING FROM OUT-OF-STATE?

CALL 511 TO DETERMINE QUARANTINE STATUS.

The background, for readers outside the tri-state area, is that New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are asking people coming from states where COVID-19 cases are rising to quarantine for 14 days when they arrive.

So this is an important and timely message, yes?

Yes. It’s also misplaced.

If you’re on Route 3 eastbound outside Clifton, you’ve been in New Jersey for a good long while.

The closest border is the northern one, with New York, about 20 miles away — but if you’re on Route 3 eastbound, you probably didn’t come that way. If you came from the west, you’ve been in New Jersey for at least 60 miles.

Signs at the border would be not only important and timely but also well placed. This one, not so much.

Our audiences need to encounter our messages when and where they actually need them. Otherwise, we’re wasting perfectly good message space.

Worse, we’re wasting audience attention and patience, which are far more valuable commodities.

Direct mail? Website? Print ad? Phone solicitation? Social media? If the latter, which platform(s)? The choices of where to place your messages are dizzying. Let me help you sort them out.