Even though the Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have revamped how they display paid ads, it seems that more and more of today’s consumers and businesses are using ad blocking software. This sudden and drastic surge in ad blocking means your company must rethink and retool its inbound marketing strategy. Online publishers are being hit the hardest as they derive most their online revenue from pay-per-click (PPC) and banner advertisements, and if it affects publishers, then it affects the companies who advertise online.
However, there are solutions. To help, here are five strategies to confront the growing threat posed by ad blocking software.
1. Refocus and Redouble Efforts on Content Marketing
Each of your content pieces should be focused on one or more of your buyer personas. Itemize how your customer’s main decision makers make purchasing decisions. Address their overriding concerns and redouble your content marketing efforts. Focus on a solution that guides your customer along a journey where they must contact you directly because they absolutely have to hear more about what you do.
Your inbound marketing strategy must devote considerable resources to making your content work. Understand who you’re targeting, what concerns them the most, how your products or services can help them and how your call-to-action (CTA) can get them to move forward. Use your content to generate the lead and use more content to keep them engaged.
2. Native Advertising
Why does native advertising work? Simply put, because it doesn’t appear as an advertisement. Users just see more interesting content. They click on the content box and are sent directly to your landing page. If your content is well-structured, then you’ll convert that inbound lead. Native advertising appears on multiple publisher sites alongside other content. Native advertising is a fantastic way to generate leads online because it’s impossible for ad blocking software to track and block.
3. Use Influencer Marketing
Creating a network of like-minded individuals and professionals works. Leveraging a market influencer with a strong social media following is guaranteed to increase your leads and increase your online reputation. Cross-promotion with well-known market players is one strategy. Another includes piggybacking on news and trends with the help of a recognized market leader.
4. Social Media
Yes, influencer marketing leverages a strong social media presence. However, that’s not all that social media does. Understanding your customers comes down to knowing where, when and why they gather online. Having a strong social media presence implies you know how to generate leads through social media. Gated content is one way but there are multiple strategies that produce results while also helping you bypass the roadblocks imposed by ad blocking software.
5. Use Video-Sharing Websites
Behind Google, YouTube is now the second most popular search engine processing more than 3 billion searches per month. Our philosophy has always been if a picture tells a 1,000 words, then a video tells a 1,000 pictures. This medium cannot be ignored if you want to have a successful digital marketing strategy. Many of our clients generate leads from their videos, if, and only if, it is own the content.
You can embed a link on your videos that drives traffic to specific landing pages. Another strategy involves using a link in your description field. Having a YouTube channel and leveraging other video-sharing websites allows you to avoid ad blocking software altogether.
Ad blocking software isn't going away anytime soon and your company can't just start charging for viewership the way some publishers are. Instead, your inbound marketing strategy must adjust to a changing landscape. Each of these aforementioned strategies allows you to eliminate the impact of ad blocking software on lead generation.
If you're looking for a marketing agency that can help you generate leads with a more organic approach, then contact us. We will be happy to provide an informative assessment.
Written By: David Carpenter
