Digital advertising is an amazing tool for marketers that enables them to reach their audience and offer their products and services in a very cost-effective way. Although it has a plethora of benefits, not so many professionals think how intrusive and overwhelming advertising can destroy the user experience.
As a result, an increasing number of web users install data blockers which protect them from overly disturbing ads and make their virtual life a tad better. However, it poses plenty of challenges for publishers and advertisers. In this article, we are going to explore how to effectively navigate the limitations presented by ad blockers and improve the user experience.
Core Challenges Ad Blockers Pose to Advertisers
Before we dive into the practices that will help marketers to alleviate the adverse effects of ad blockers, let’s take a look at how ad blockers hinder advertising efficiency.
- Limited reach. A large amount of your target audience won’t be able to see your ad because of these tools. It will drastically limit your reach and may also impact user engagement. It will be increasingly difficult for marketers and advertisers to deliver their message to the desired demographics.
- Revenue loss. Ad blockers also block your revenue opportunities. As ad impressions are reduced with this type of tool, it will lead to less engagement, clicks, and conversions, resulting in lost profit and the reduced level of ad campaign effectiveness. ROI will also suffer so it will be necessary to cut the budget as the investments wouldn’t be justified.
- Impact on user experience. Users install ad blockers mostly because they have prior negative experiences with seeing intrusive, irrelevant, and disruptive ads. This bad experience can impact the ability of advertisers to monetize their content. This is the main call for digital professionals to come up with more user-friendly and minimally intrusive ad formats to reestablish trust with their audience.
How to Effectively Overcome Ad Blockers with AdTech Advancements
Here are the essential solutions to overcoming ad blockers and improving the outcomes of your AdTech efforts without compromising user experience.
- Native advertising
This ad format is considered the least intrusive among all which makes it the preferred option for advertisers struggling with ad blocker adverse effects. Native ads integrate naturally into the surrounding content and provide a less disruptive experience among users. It will all result in better engagement rates which can be even increased if launching native ads through programmatic which makes all the process so much easier.
2. Subscription and freemium models
To manage and prevent revenue loss for publishers, it’s possible to implement subscription and freemium models. Users will be able to choose between an ad-free experience with a small payment which will balance the loss on ad impressions. Another option is to deliver free content but charging extra for additional features or exclusive content and gives them a sense of control.
3. Ad recovery tools and anti-blocker solutions
Ad recovery tools can be helpful for reinstating ads that have been previously blocked. The tool will opt for an ad delivery method that will make it difficult for an ad blocker to detect and remove the undesired content. It makes it possible to recover some revenue without compromising user experience. On the other hand, anti-ad blockers can detect when the user uses ad blockers and motivate them to disable them while browsing a specific website. This approach is effective but it’s still important to deliver ads in a respectful and non-intrusive manner.
4. Contextual targeting
Contextual targeting is picking up pace and becoming more widely used among advertisers. This targeting makes marketers rely less on user’s personal data and focus more on targeting ads based on the context of the content which users are consuming. This approach can help you deliver more precise and relevant ads without undermining your brand’s image and drawing the user’s attention to your product or service.
5. Consent management programs
Consent management platforms enable you to focus on giving clean and transparent consent options. CMPs are a great tool not to show the importance of ads but to allow users to set their data preferences and select less intrusive ad formats they are willing to view. Respecting the choices of users can have a positive impact on the overall marketing strategy and serve relevant and non-disruptive advertisements with no need for ad blockers.
Summing It Up
Whereas ad blockers significantly hinder the advertising strategy and negatively affect its final outcomes, it’s still possible to implement some adjustments that will mitigate the risks associated with the usage of these tools and will let marketers deliver their campaigns to the right audience. By combining the tips provided above, it’s possible to make it happen.
The author, Ann Tarasewicz, is CEO at Axis. Connect with her here.