Better Customer Engagement
In the Age of Ad-Blockers
The Old Model
It has never been easier for companies to collect and leverage data for marketing purposes. Platforms like Marketo, Eloqua, and Pardot use a combination of technologies- big data, open API calls, predictive analytics, machine learning, and website cookies- to reach audiences with unprecedented precision. Companies have mastered the use of these platforms to advertise, upsell, and cross-sell through email, text, native content, social media, and pop-up ads. A report by the Pew Research Center shows that in 2014, spending on digital advertising rose 18% to $50.7 billion, with the strongest growth in mobile. Companies have invested heavily in digital marketing and show no signs of slowing down.
We’re not going to take it
But, for consumers such as myself, companies have become a little too skilled at getting their messages across. While reading a single article last week, I was interrupted 4 times by different advertisements: a popup ad for McDonald’s (I’m not loving it), a request to complete a random survey (my suggestion: stop pestering me), an ear popping video-ad (apologies to my co-workers), and a creepy ad for anniversary vacation packages at the end. I promptly downloaded an ad-blocker to stop the harassment and to curb corporate creep into my personal life. From this point forward, if a company is able to get around my ad-blocker, I will certainly remember them… and choose their competitor the next time I make a purchasing decision.
And it seems that I am not alone in fighting back against the barrage of online advertising. The most recent “Ad Blocking Report” by PageFair and Adobe shows that from Q2 2014 to Q2 2015, the number of people using ad-blocking software rose 41% to 45 million. Participants in the study cited two main reasons for their use of ad blocking software: Misuse of personal information and the increasing number of ads. And the use of ad-blockers will continue to grow as both major mobile operating systems (iOS9 and Android) now enable ad-blockers to be added directly to mobile and tablet versions of their browsers. Growth in ad-blockers should function as a wakeup call to companies around the world: we consumers don’t want to be interrupted and don’t want your annoying offers.
A Way Forward
Instead of barraging us with never-ending advertisements that undermine their brand, companies could use that same technology to offer effective, personalized support content. Everyone knows that even the best products fail. But when they do, I expect the company to make it easy to fix the issues myself. If they can predict my anniversary, they should be able to predict my problems, and send me contextual support content to fix them. It is only in these moments of need that I want the company to engage me by text, email, or even video- assuming it is at a reasonable volume. If a company can provide me exceptional customer experience, it will earn my loyalty and maybe even advocacy in my spheres of influence. As a customer, I am asking companies to use the latest technology to surprise me, not with creepy and annoying ads, but with exceptional, contextual customer care.
