In early August, Facebook announced that it would take steps to circumvent users with ad-blocking software. According to Statista.com, the number of active Adblock plugin users worldwide from January 2010 to June 2015 was 198 million. This means nearly 200 million internet users appear to be actively blocking ads when going online, with numbers steadily growing each year.
Ad-blocking software is becoming increasingly common as people who are online frequently report growing tired of the constant barrage of advertisements. Indeed, many companies have taken the path of blasting out ads to as many people as possible, targeted or not, and hoping that some small percentage of a large number of targets takes a hit. That’s never been what we recommend and in today’s competitive environment and with the tools available to research your demographic in pretty good detail, that strategy makes less sense than ever.
Facebook’s decision is an interesting one because it takes away the option of user choice. If we expect everyone to opt in to emails, opting in to receiving ads may be a logical next step, even though as marketers it’s not our ideal scenario. Facebook’s announcement of the change to their policy states: “When we asked people about why they used ad blocking software, the primary reason we heard was to stop annoying, disruptive ads.”
So, people don’t like advertisements, and will go to great lengths to avoid having to see them. But if you’re in the business of advertising to potential customers, what options do you have for how to get around ad blocking?
Native ads
Native ads are sponsored content that could be an article, video or photo that is so much a part of the content it’s within that it’s not obvious it’s an ad. For instance, sponsored content online looks and reads like any other piece of editorial content but is strategically placed there by a company who has paid for it to be there. Many websites do this on a daily basis and it often goes unnoticed. Product placement is another example of native ads. Do you have a clothing store or other retail outlet? Find people in the community who are photographers or actors and offer your clothing or other items for their shoots, for instance. There are so many options in this field, both online and in real life.
Infographics
Create a visual about your topic so compelling people have no choice but to share it. It’s easy to find templates online for infographics, and with good photos and content, you can create an informative and easily shareable piece of content that no ad blocker can touch. Limelight Department has professional designers on staff who can help create visually interesting content “bites” such as these if you don’t trust your own design skills. Remember, a badly designed piece of content may hurt your brand more than no content at all.
Email marketing
Step up your email game with compelling newsletters that offer value to the people who are already connected to you. Make more of an effort to collect new email addresses by sponsoring or hosting events, making it easier to sign up for newsletters on your website, or offering incentives to sign up.
Publish an ebook
If you’re an expert in your field, you may have knowledge worth sharing that people would be willing to pay for. Creating ebooks, or even shorter downloadable PDFs about some topic related to your products or services, gets that information into the hands of the people who are looking for it and want it.
Advertise in apps
As of yet, there are no ad blockers for apps or mobile devices.
Always be compelling
The one thread that unites all of these ad-blocking strategies is to create content that is targeted to the people who want it and is not in the form of traditional ads. If you rely on Facebook advertising, realize that your strategies will continually have to change as the social media landscape itself continually changes. If you are focused on creating content on all of your channels that is the most visually interesting, informative, helpful and easily shareable as it can be, you will be able to worry less and less about whether people see your ads or how to get around ad blocking because you will have so many other ways to reach them.
There are many other ways to reach customers beyond what’s here in this post. Let the group at Limelight Department help you if you need a brainstorming session about how to get around ad blocking and best reach your customers. We’re here to help you be successful.
