It’s no secret that people hate advertising.
But for some reason we find ourselves more involved with advertising than ever before. The advertising must be working because the successful businesses out there continue to invest millions and billions in advertising every year.
Here is the new research on the topic of advertising.
From Nearly half of US news readers don’t like ads on any platform—but mobile ads are least popular:
Nearly half of all US news users told Pew they didn’t like to see ads on any digital platform where they read the news—including on their desktop computer or in print publications. Just 5% said they preferred to see ads on tablets and 4% on smartphones.
The discussion really isn’t about device. Different people use different devices and for the most part the majority of people dislike ads on any device, platform or channel.
So what are people and business owners to do?
People need to discover brands (and solutions to their issues in life) somehow.
I think people generally want to find out about new brands, new products and new services. I think what people don’t like is to be interrupted.
Think about the last time you were having a conversation with someone. Say you’re in the middle of telling a story and that person interrupts you to go into a story of their own.
You’re like taken aback for a moment because it’s really rude for someone to do this.
Or even worse. What is another person you didn’t even know interrupted the conversation and started telling you their story?
Yikes. Of course you wouldn’t like it.
There might be a 1% chance that the new person had something actually interesting to say, but you would feel upset the other 99% of the time.
But since that 1% is profitable for companies we get advertising.
It’s fine. I accept it, but I don’t feel the need to focus on it for my business.
The concept of permission marketing is not new. Basically the alternative concept to advertising is to find people when they are looking for information or a solution of some kind that will make their lives better.
As a business you want to be found when someone is searching and you want to be shared when someone asks for help.
This type of marketing is difficult, but better in the long run and it can actually be less expensive and more profitable than advertising.
Blogging is one example of being there when someone is searching and asking for help. People find blog posts when they search the Internet and people share blog posts that are helpful with their friends, colleagues and family especially when those folks ask the person for assistance.
Maybe there is a sweet spot in the middle of advertising and blogging.
You still need to sell yourself and your business. There is no way around it. I think there will always be an art to interruption. Only the best people can figure out how to consistently sell their product in the middle of advertising and permission.
What are your thoughts on the topic?
Does your business participate more in advertising or more in permission?