Creating Impactful Advertising in a World of Distractions

Terence Winter, the guy behind Boardwalk Empire, once said, “Any distraction tends to get in the way of being an effective gangster.”

So why are we citing Mr. Winter? 

Mostly because it sounds cool. But it’s also true. And not just for gangsters. While the wild world of digital has opened multiple doors for marketers and advertisers, the countless distractions that are part and parcel with this medium have made it more difficult to create impactful advertising. 

Your Target Market Is Surrounded By Distractions 

Some studies suggest that the average consumer is exposed to up to 10,000 brand messages per day. And that’s today. As marketers have increasing numbers of channels to reach their customers, that number will keep climbing.

Add to that how often people switch between screens. That figure currently stands at around 21 times. No, not per day. Per hour. Short attention spans are seriously trending. #WaitWhat

And it turns out that the short attention span is the perfect petri dish for growing that marketing bacteria strain known as click bait. Honestly, click bait is gross. Like bacteria. Plus it rarely offers any real value. Like bacteria. It’s a desperate attempt to get attention and is devoid of anything of value to a potential customer.

So Consider What the Customer Needs Vs. What You Wish to Achieve

When marketers understand precisely who the customer is, they are better equipped to create attention-grabbing campaigns that also add value. A tall order these days.

To shoot through the distractions, companies need to create simpler messages. And they need to communicate them in a sharper way. But not in the repeated stabbing manner of click bait. Rather, companies should be sharpening their focus on what we’ll call the Three Es of Impactful Advertising: 

• Entertain
• Emote
• Engage

(Humor helps too. But the "Three Es and An H of Impactful Advertising" doesn’t deliver the same punch. So we’ll blend it in with Emote.)

That’s why it’s essential that your company understands its customers. For example, let’s say you run a funeral home. Most see this as a somber business. You don’t agree because, well, you went into the business. And it doesn’t seem all that dark to you. So in an effort to make things more light-hearted, you decide your advertising needs to be humorous. Put the “fun” back in funeral.  

Super bad idea. It would be akin to running a toy company

and employing a knife-wielding clown as your spokesperson. Or any clown. Because they’re just plain frightening. To nutshell it, marketing will have more impact if it elicits the right emotions for your target market. 

Once you’ve got some solid content that’s entertaining, emotional and/or engaging, consider this:

You Can Also Take Advantage of the Distractions

Though this applies across all forms of advertising, it’s particularly relevant to advertising on social. 

Once again, using distractions to your advantage requires you to know, first and foremost, the specific audience segment you wish to target. Of course, there will be multiple segments. But trying to go for all of them at once is a waste of resources. So focus on audience that’s most likely to be moved by your message and then blanket the social sites they frequent with advertising that doesn’t look or feel like advertising. This is also known as native advertising. 

Native advertising isn’t about earning clicks. Rather, it serves to provide value through the above-mentioned relevant content. Now, pay attention. Ask yourself, what’s catching your audience’s attention while they’re crawling around online with 13 tabs open at the same time? What, pray tell, is the buzz?

Know What’s Trending 

Get familiar with what’s relevant on every platform and channel your audience is reading. Then adjust your campaign to focus on what’s in demand. Most platforms offer some sort of tool that indicates what’s trending. Some can even give you measurements of the engagement levels of certain articles and topics. 

Check in with Reddit, who brand themselves “the front page of the internet.” Cuz they sorta are. You’re bound to get some juicy trending nuggets there. You can also use tools that are devoted specifically to scouring and sharing top headlines - some of which are free, while others charge a fee.

Streamline Your Execution

Trends happen fast. So forget about over-planning. You have to take action. 

That means if your spirit animal is a manatee or a sloth, then turn things over to those guided by the hummingbird or the ferret. Start streamlining that execution. Set some ground rules - like avoiding any topics of a political or traumatic nature. That’s just good practice. And be sure everyone’s on board with a brand persona that defines how your brand positions itself and why. Be clear about your values. 

Then get on it. While using trends to your advantage, it’s best to tweak timely campaigns in motion and learn as you go. Consider outsourcing the ad buy portion so you can keep

your focus on creative reworking as needed. And plan on having someone specifically monitoring your campaigns regularly so they can keep pace with trends rather than just analyzing the facts and watching your competitors grab your audience. 

The ultimate goal? Your company is trending. Or course, for all the right reasons… 

Is Your Content up to Snuff?

Whether you’re cutting through the distractions or using them to your advantage, it don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing. And that swing is content.

Yes, you’ll need to fine-tune your strategy to find the most timely placement so you’ll be popping up multiple times. But what’s the point of getting premium real estate if you don’t have anything to to put on it? Or, even worse, populating it with false or misleading content. 

Know your audience. Know what they want and what they need. Know those important touch points so you - and NOTHING else - will be at the top of the their minds when the time comes to make a purchase. Distractions be damned.

Or just maybe, blessed. 

5 Ways to Get around Ad-Blocker Technology

With the advent of ad-blocker technology, are you starting to feel that doing online advertising is pointless?

It isn’t. 

It just means that advertising and marketing specialists have had to step up their game to get around this ad-blocking technology and figure out new ways to help their clients get the attention they need.

Ad-Blocking Technology Is Not the End of Online Advertising

And yes, there are ways to get around it. 

It doesn’t involve a treasure map or battle with an impressive show of sword play. Getting around ad-blocker technology requires more covert action. 

Here are five ways we’ve found are helpful:

1. Take Advantage of Content Marketing

You know what’s cool about content marketing? It’s not a honey badger. It’s neither pushy, nor aggressive, nor in your face.

Even so, mild-tempered content marketing is basically the original ad-blocker killer. And it’s stronger than ever. Not because it has mad street skills. It’s just that the simple act of providing valuable, useful and targeted content is really effective toward building authority, generating leads and increasing engagement and awareness of your brand

See, the thing with content is that it is de facto advertising. You keep on creating  and sharing interesting blog posts, infographics, videos, podcasts, and things of that ilk, and you’re essentially getting your product or service out there. And since it’s content, filters won’t filter and blockers won’t block. Yeah, haters may still hate, but there’s not much you can do about that.

But with interesting and worthwhile content that isn’t just fluff and filler, you’ll get known. You’ll be in the long game, without having to worry about how many clicks or conversions you get. Engage, connect and build relationships. That’s key. And soon enough, you’ll be advertising to your audience without their even realizing it. 

That’s some stealthy, ninja type stuff.

2. Get Involved with Influencer Marketing

Remember the popular kids in school? Maybe you were one. (We forgive you.)

Social media influencers are like those popular kids. In some cases, at least. They might be high profile VIPs whose celebrity alone gives their opinions an other worldly - and often undeserved - magnitude. If Taylor Swift or Beyoncé starts wearing your bedazzled baseball hats, then her eight hundred million followers will want one too. 

On the other hand, influencers an also be the folks who have attained a solid social media following because they’re hardcore experts on a subject. These are more like the unpopular kids in school who knew a little too much about meteorological anomalies or Dungeons and Dragons. But in the case of social media,  admission of such knowledge gives them serious clout rather than merciless teasing on the bus or a wedgie. 

So to narrow it down, an influencer is a personality or content creator with a decent-sized following on a given platform. Influencer marketing is a partnership with these influencers to review, promote, or link to your content, brand, and products. And once again, since it’s content, it’s immune to ad-blocking.

How does one find the ideal influencer?

First, decide on the platform you want to use. For example, if you’re an expert in trading commodities, you’ll have better luck with LinkedIn than you would with Snapchat. Once you’ve got your platform, find someone with a large following who’s popular with your target audience and/or active in your industry. Think micro influencers - 50,000 followers or fewer. 

But look beyond just the number before you settle. You need

to check their post history too. Check for any racist, sexist or other objectionable material, so that your product or service isn’t inadvertently associated with the Orange Male Kitten Haters of America. Unless that’s your groove.

Once you’re cool with the potential influencer, start following them. Engage with their content and leave comments. Once you’ve established a presence, reach out to them either through email or a private direct message. Mention how a partnership would benefit both them and you.

3. Focus on User Experience

This one is pretty simple. 

There’s a clear cause and effect component to why people block ads in the first place. And it has to do with the how the ad is received by the viewer. 

Consumers are sick of intrusive advertising and being barraged with countless ads that lack substance. It’s overwhelming, irritating and rude. 

Focus instead on optimizing the user experience on your website. Give viewers the option to skip video ads, hide irrelevant ads or give a thumbs down to content they don't like. Bearing down hard on advertising isn’t working for anyone. Especially advertisers.

And the advent of ad-blocker is clear proof of that.

4. Use Native Advertising 

In the past, traditional online ads have sought to get attention in much the same way a child does. They jump, they wiggle, they bounce. They yell and have temper tantrums. In other words, they get noticed for being irritating.

And that’s their downfall. An attention-seeking child is exasperating. So are traditional ads. And because they ARE so easy to see, they’re easy to block and filter.

Enter native advertising. 

The native ad is the subdued child who knows how to mimic adults, blend in and play it cool (regardless of the psychological repercussions that might show up later). It mimics the digital environment that it’s in rather than pitching a fit. 

A native ad strives to NOT be an interruption to the user experience in any way. In fact, it’s trying to make you think it’s not an ad at all. The only way the viewer will know it’s an ad are the words “Sponsored” or “Promoted” that sit nearby.

When a viewer clicks a native ad, they’ll usually land on a page that looks and feels like a regular blog post or article. It’s interesting content that can easily be shared. Yet it still has a message. 

Within that content, there are features of the product or service that’s being promoted. There’s often a call-to-action to sign up for a newsletter or report.

All without being obtrusive and bossy, and without the aforementioned psychological repercussions.

5. Find a Loophole

Finally, we turn to technology.

And yes, the technology does now exist that allows for bypassing ad-blocking extensions. For the most part, this technology serves ads in a way that limits an ad blocker’s effectiveness. It will render ads according to Better Ads Standards guidelines and then re-insert them.

As with all technology, this isn’t a total fix.

Yeah, it’s viable for websites that want to keep ads visible to as much of their audience as possible. BUT, if a user turns off all of the ads with something like AdBlock Plus, these newly rendered ads aren’t gonna get through. So the battle of ad-blocking technology vs. ad-block-breaking technology continues - which sounds vaguely like the makings for a Dr. Seuss story. 

Work with Ad-Blocker, Rather Than Against It 

Advertising is like (nearly) everything else in that it’s

constantly evolving. 

But with online advertising in particular, the rate of evolution is exponential. What’s working one week may be obsolete the next. And it’s clear that intrusive, showy, repetitive ads are no longer effective. They are the first to be blocked. 

It’s also clear that, although the evolution of online advertising has been swift and unforgiving, there’s one thing that has remained ever strong. Engaging, valuable, worthwhile content. 

The sort with which ad-blocking technology has no beef.

Question of the Week: What is Native Advertising?

In a nut shell?

Native advertising refers to ads that have a similar look or feel to the content or design that surrounds it. This can include its color, shape, formatting, tone, location and/or contextual relevance.

Native Advertising Fits in with the Existing User Experience

And it’s available for advertisers to purchase at scale. The

only thing that makes it stand out is that it’s marked as “promoted” or “sponsored.” (Which you often don’t notice until that split second after you’ve clicked on it.)

As to what can be defined as native advertising and what isn’t, there is some debate. But when humans are involved, when isn’t there debate? Seriously. 

At any rate, the following sit under the wide spanning umbrella of what’s considered, to many, to be native advertising:

1. Sponsored Articles

If you’ve ever been on the hunt for content, you’ve likely been fooled by one of these. A sponsored article is one where an informational article is sponsored by a brand, but it doesn’t promote that specific brand.

For example, this article from the Onion entitled “Pile Of Dirty Clothes On Bedroom Floor Starting To Mix With Pile Of Clean Clothes On Bedroom Floor” could have been sponsored by the Institute to Promote Laundry and Eradicate Procrastination.

If it had been, the Institute would not be mentioned by name in the article. But you would have seen their logo next to the words “Sponsored Post” so that you’d immediately make the connection.

Your reaction might sound something like this: “I really need to do a load of laundry. Like, yesterday.” 

And then maybe you’d do it tomorrow before heading to the Institute.  

2. In-Feed Programmatic Native

These ads are unobtrusive in that they appear in-feed or in-stream as you scroll through organic content. Kind of like sitting by a babbling fresh water stream in Alaska and watching a piranha casually swim past.

And that’s the main criticism. The publishers of these ads will tinker some with the look and feel of these ads, but not so much that they completely fit in with the surrounding content. So yeah, they stand out a little. 

These ads are bought/sold through programmatic channels like Facebook, the Audience Network and other native ad OpenRTB exchanges. 

3. Integrated Native

The integrated native ad is more akin to the salmon in that Alaskan stream. It matches the look of the surrounding content (i.e. other salmon). Furthermore, it provides value through contextual relevance. 

These ads are employed by user-first brands like Facebook,Yelp and others with or without hugely recognizable names. And these native platforms are usually built in-house rather than using a network.

4. Content Recommendation Widgets

Those involved in the heated native advertising debate might want to turn a blind eye to content recommendation widgets as native advertising. 

These are the “Around the Web” rectangular ads on news and media sites that are visually and topically similar to the article you just read. But many consider them spammy. 

Plus, there are other issues with appropriateness. For instance, it’s pretty horrible to have a well-researched article on eating disorders be accompanied by a promotion for “10 Foods to Make You Skinny” at the bottom of the page.

As such, publications like The New Yorker has removed them from its website altogether.

5. Advertorials

Those involved in the even more super heated native advertising debate would ban the advertorial from donning the native advertising moniker altogether. And let’s face it - it’s a shifty poseur with a bad rap.  

You’ve seen one. It looks and reads like an objective editorial, but all the while, it’s really promoting a specific

product. So just when you are drawn into that editorial about dysfunction and feel at one with the world in knowing that you’re not alone, you’re being bamboozled into buying a product to fix it. 

Shameless. And that’s why a lot of publications have pulled these too.

So What’s the Value of Native Advertising?  

In cases where it looks authentic and is not involved in back-handed, dark alley trickery, people tend to trust it. Some people even like being drawn to a product or service hand-picked just for them.

It also increases the brand value of the advertiser, since it’s put on platforms which people are likely to trust.

Is it something you should use? Maybe. As long as you have advertising professionals to guide you and keep your trustworthiness in tact.  

Otherwise, you could be doing egregious things with piranhas. And nobody wants that.