The Truth About Native Advertising and Adblocks

We live in a generation where consumers have more power than advertisers; but hasn’t it always been this way? There are over 198 million consumers of Adblock, and just in the past 12 months, this number has grown globally by 41%. Enough with the numbers, to simply put it, advertisers are now struggling to reach consumers and are losing money in result of it. The driving question that advertisers and consumers face is whether Adblock is a positive or negative thing.

From a consumer’s perspective, it can be annoying to continuously see ads being displayed while trying to view content. It is in fact the 21st century and you should have the power to choose what you want to view. I mean we’ve all used TiVo right? We’d be hypocrites if we said we are all of sudden “sinners” for skipping through advertisements. Consumers have labeled these ads as “intrusive” and that they lack personalization and relevance to the content they are trying to view.

The solution to this problem is simple; adaption and creativity. With almost 200 million users of Adblock, it is ridiculous to say that one individual or corporation can stop everyone from using this software. Whether you want to accept it or not, Adblock is never going away. Instead of throwing in the towel, you as an advertiser have to adapt to this new and emerging trend. According to Pagefair, Adblock has costed advertisers roughly $21.8 billion in 2015 and grew globally by 41% during the past 12 months. From an advertiser’s perspective, this gives you plenty of incentive to explore options outside of this pestering and intrusive form of “advertising”.

Advertising methods such as Native Advertising are on the rise and are providing ways for businesses to advertise their content in an entertaining and value-adding format. Native Ads provide the solution to ads being ignored, and consumers viewing ads that lack personal appeal. Native Advertising provides relevant information in a way that does not distract nor draw attention away from the content that the consumer is trying to view. Instead, it displays information that either supplements or relates to content consumers originally explored. This “friendly” form of advertising publishes material similar to what we perceive as “sponsored content”, but makes the user feel more in control and less distracted from their original content.

So are Native Ads affected by Adblocks? Yes and no. Since these ads appear with the rest of the content, it is impossible to truly “block” this material. On the contrary, many Adblock software’s can “hide” Native Ads, essentially meaning the content is downloaded, but hidden from the consumer. What’s unique about Adblock is that users ultimately have the choice whether they want to block an ad or not. Since most of these ads are more likely to immerse the consumer rather than intrude, Native Ads are beneficial and useful on both ends. Users will not feel intruded and most likely will be in favor of this content due to its relevance. The key is to be clear about your purpose and to avoid misleading the consumer.

MasterCard & Mashable

A prime example of how Native Advertising has worked effectively is MasterCard’s partnership with the digital media website, Mashable. In 2014, Mashable published a post highlighting the increase in phone and mobile app usage. This post was an informative piece that touched on the rise of technology and how it is affecting businesses globally. MasterCard, a global payment and technology company, sponsored this post and was able to successfully advertise their brand as well as their mobile app. They did this modestly, informing consumers more about the change in the industry, then following it up with a video and link to their app. For most, you wouldn’t have even been able to tell it was a form of advertising, other than the “Presented by MasterCard” label at the top of the post. MasterCard was successful with this Native Ad due to the fact that they advertised interesting content to the consumer that was relevant to the rest of the article. In no way did they “intrude” or disrupt the flow of the Mashable’s post.

Adblocks are here to stay, and so can your business. By adapting to this ever-changing market, your business can still effectively advertise content that is relevant and beneficial to your target market. Thinking outside the box and spending more time personalizing your marketing, message, and campaign will make your business or organization stand out and thrive in this industry  Utilizing Techmarketing eliminates tedious “human work” such as obtaining data and leads, which allows you to focus your efforts in other areas. It is also important to remember that the quality of your work will always surpass the quantity of material you are putting out.  Take all these helpful steps into consideration and set yourself up for success with your future advertising!

Want to learn more about how to navigate a world of ad blocking? You can download Cyberclick's The Ultimate Adblock Guide by clicking right here.