As marketing practices have evolved over time with the advent of the internet, consumers are finding themselves inundated with advertising messages that span across every medium they interact with. The popularity of ad block tools and applications has risen sharply in response to advertisers and publishers who use aggravating “adtech” practices that track users from site to site, repeatedly serving them the same ads. In an effort to protect their loyal users (and some say to take a hit at Google’s core advertising business), Apple made headlines when they announced that their latest mobile-operating system (iOS 9) will let users install apps that prevent ads from appearing in its Safari browser, sending some advertisers into a frenzy.
But before we panic, let’s remind ourselves of the effective digital marketing practices that won’t get vacuumed into the ad block abyss. Here are some of our suggested strategies for creating consumer-friendly ad experiences in the digital world of web and mobile:
1. Content Marketing
The purpose of content marketing is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the ultimate goal of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. A great way to deliver your content is through native or in-feed ads which combine similar form and function of the digital platform they live within, giving them a more natural look and feel. Unlike display, native ads can avoid ad blockers by getting in the editorial flow, allowing brands to inform and entertain users in an unobtrusive way.
2. Social Commerce
It was a hot summer for social commerce with just about every major social platform offering new marketing products like Pinterest’s “buyable pins” or Instagram’s shoppable ads. Browsing through Pinterest often triggers a positive emotion among users which the site believes can be enhanced by giving them buying options. Meanwhile, Instagram (and Facebook) will rely on their massive user data collections to serve shoppable ads that are very relevant and as a result, will have a higher e-commerce conversion rate.
3. Mobile Optimization
It’s no secret that many purchasing decisions are influenced by a simple search. After Google’s major update to its search algorithm earlier this year, now, when mobile users access Google from their smartphone or tablet, Google will only display search results for mobile-friendly websites. Therefore, if your website doesn’t pass Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, it won’t be highly ranked in the mobile search results. It’s almost 2016, if you aren’t optimized for mobile by now, you are hurting your business, and falling way behind your competitors.
So let this ad blocking trend serve as our call to be more creative with our digital ads. It’s our responsibility as digital marketers to improve the advertising experience and earn back consumer trust.
If you have any questions or comments about emerging marketing trends, or about any other marketing-related topic, feel free to send them our way.
You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 or sarah@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.