Internet users don?t exactly?grin and bear?interruptions. Many exit out of a website at the first sign of an unwanted pop-up, for example, or when a page has too many advertisements.
Others seek a more drastic approach: they use tools that ward off intrusive interruptions.
Knowledge about the functions these tools serve is useful for marketers because it reveals two important insights:
- which tactics are more likely never to reach your intended audience
- what people find really annoying online
Since you?re unlikely to warm people to a brand by annoying them into submission, it?s good to figure out what turns people off, and how you can avoid actions that people find more annoying than persuasive.
Interruption-free web browsing tools
So, what are some of these tools that allow for interruption-free time online? And how are they positioning their value to web users?
- AdBlock Plus:?Boasting the status of the number one Firefox extension, various iterations of AdBlock Plus have been around for years. It works on multiple browsers and has even made the jump to mobile. It claims to offer distraction-free, faster browsing by blocking ads. In other words, it labels advertisements as obstacles that make people take longer to reach what they?really want to find.
- AdFender:?Another blocking tool, AdFender?vows to help you ?regain control? of your web experience by getting rid of online advertisements that ?cause significant deterioration of the average user?s experience of the web.? Understanding that you may use multiple browsers on one computer, it supports a wide range of them, both popular and obscure ones.
- AVG Do Not Track: Responding to concerns about the need for greater privacy online, the anti-virus and Internet security software AVG now offers a Do Not Track feature, which works in your browser to let you control which applications, advertising networks, and websites can track and collect your data.
- Social Fixer:?Advertisements don?t hold a monopoly over annoying people online. Sometimes actions through social media websites like Facebook can rub people the wrong way. Social Fixer?empowers you to customize your Facebook experience by ?eliminating annoyances? and filtering stories you want to hide. These annoyances can be anything from?offensive?content to excessive ?look at me!? promotion through social channels.
What can ad-blocking and filtering tools teach online marketers?
Just because there?s a strong market for tools designed to thwart online?advertisements?doesn?t mean they?re going away. On the contrary, ZenithOptimedia predicts that more money will go towards online?advertising?globally than newspaper ads in 2013.
But it?s no coincidence that so many products describe advertisements as nothing but burdensome messages ? many people agree with that sentiment. And that perspective is likely to shape the future of online marketing, especially as more digital natives populate the Internet.
Recently, Adobe conducted a survey about online advertising and the results weren?t pretty. Half of its respondents agreed that ?online advertising is creepy and stalks you? and that ?most marketing is a bunch of B.S.?
The online behavior of younger adults helps reinforce that philosophy.?A full 70% of users aged 25-34 report that they rarely pay attention to ads on social networking sites. Instead, they?re more likely to listen to recommendations from people in their network.
This data brings up a significant insight for marketers: user-generated content is important.
The Adobe survey (the one where many people agreed marketing was B.S. and that online advertising was creepy) found that 28% of?respondents?believed user-generated content is the most effective type of ad. A full third would check out a product that someone in their network recommended and 7% said that social media?endorsements are the most effective ad medium.
Those results help paint a picture of users who are not looking to escape purchase-related influence. They just want authenticity throughout the process. And if you consider the ?get out of the way? language peddled by ad-blocking tools,?users also want?expediency?when they?re ready to buy.
Online marketers should?accommodate?this mentality by asking questions like:
- How can we make it easier for?users to engage in value-add interactions?
- How can we make our marketing content more authentic?
- Which of our tactics are probably perceived as a?nuisance, and how can we change that?
In short, tools that promote ?distraction-free? web browsing offer a glimpse into the psychology of the future Internet user ? someone who is tech savvy, bored of intrusive ads, and who blocks them where possible.
In response, online marketers should turn to?authenticity,?relevance, and engagement. Without these traits, you could find yourself fighting an uphill battle with little hope for victory.
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