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AdBlockers: A Rejection Of Ads, Not Content

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The digital landscape is changing… again. It has already been one of the favorite media channels to make your products and services known and allows creating campaigns at low-cost by reaching an incredible number of people. But, businesses need to change their approach and deliver value in the form of content. Here is the main reason why:

 

Today it is impossible to go anywhere on the internet without being bombarded with promotional messages. Mostly users find ads intrusive and this intrusiveness has made consumers perfectly hermetic to digital marketing actions. Then AdBlockers were born and this threatened the way marketers advertised.

 

Of people who have clicked on an ad, 34% said it was a mistake and 15% accused advertisers of tricking them into clicking. Only a paltry of 7% said it was because the ad was compelling.

 

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Image Credit: PageFair and Adobe – Ad Blocking Report https://pagefair.com/blog/2015/ad-blocking-report/

 

What are AdBlockers?

They are add-on software for popular web browsers. They seamlessly remove display, search, video and native ads. For most people, it takes the form of browser extensions such as AdBlock (Chrome, Opera, Safari) or AdBlock Plus (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, IE). Everyone is probably familiar with AdBlock but ‘adblocker’ is an umbrella term covering dozens of free and commercial projects. The majority is open-sourced and the market is maturing into multiple business models: freemium, donations, pay to play.

 

Why do people block ads in the first place? Put simply, people are blocking ads because they find them invasive, meaningless and useless for them as a user. The primary motivation for blocking ads is that they interrupt what people are doing. Users don’t browse sites for commercials; they browse them for relevant content. Digital ads are perceived to be irrelevant to the individual. It doesn’t matter how customized they are to the user they will always feel suspicious of them.

 

If we want people to pay attention then we have to:

Add value

Be relevant

 

Marketing is all a matter of human relations. Therefore, consumer’s behavior, needs and desires must be priorities in your digital marketing strategy. Consumers are ready for a system in which they provide a fair amount of information about their interests, in exchange for regulated ads that are designed to be helpful and educative instead of spammy. The solution to the AdBlock issue is simple; advertising without advertising. It sounds crazy doesn’t it? Yet this is exactly what content marketing is all about.

 

Content Marketing: the ad-free way to reach your audience

The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience.

Content marketing is part of inbound marketing; you can’t execute inbound marketing without a content strategy. It's a method of earning a prospect’s attention rather than renting it by advertising agencies. It is a practice that allows you to go through Adblockers with relevant content that traditional advertising doesn’t have. Content marketing is one of the best solutions for consumers that are bombarded with advertising.

 

Content marketing is a strategy that consists of producing regular and qualitative content. The objective is to attract the consumer by offering interesting elements that will demonstrate your expertise. In traditional marketing, marketers are looking to gain interest from new potential customers by broadcasting advertisements everywhere. While this method may reach a greater audience than with content marketing, it is less effective. In fact, since AdBlockers arrival, content marketing has absolutely not been affected.

 

Prospects who visit your website through content marketing have a much higher conversion potential than through traditional advertising normal. There are several reasons for this:

  • Prospects come voluntarily to your website
  • Content demonstrates your expertise and convinces prospects of your knowledge
  • Content can inspire prospects to embark on the journey you want them to take.

 

Content marketing is therefore a much more effective strategy and is gaining in performance since the advent of Adblockers. With the diminution of online commercials, consumers can focus on the content you have produced instead of being distracted by spammy messages. Content Marketing is not an immutable rule and it must adapt to your audience. You cannot produce the same things as other companies because they do not have the same audience. You need to make sure you understand and adapt to your audience’s needs. This model should now see advertisers act as publishers and provide value that people will be attracted to.

 

In conclusion, the shift towards acceptable advertising with relevant content is one that will change how businesses think and prepare them to face the continued growth of AdBlockers. Our team at Revenue River Marketing is ready to stay on the forefront of this evolution. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for the latest digital marketing updates.