Digital ads, 'Must I click?'

I'm not sure I notice digital ads or even mobile ads. Over the years I have searched the Internet and used Google and Facebook, there has never been an inherit rewarding experience for clicking on ads. The free stuff ads offer in Google at the top of my search results, aren't ever really free so I tend not to click on them anymore. And Facebook with all their data on me, haven't really got a grip on really targeting anything at me so I easily glance over their ads. I've even tried to be a good sport and update the information Facebook uses to spin things in my direction. YouTube just makes you wait four seconds to skip the ad to get on with what your doing. But Google, Facebook, and YouTube are not where I spend a majority of the time on the Internet, I generally use my feeds and email lists to direct me to articles. Once there, there is either a pop up, which I ignore, or the pages have what I consider very unobtrusive banners that I easily forget about.

But lets say there is an ad that caught my attention, lets say it was a video or a well placed native ad. The outcome is the same as all the rest of the ads. I'm taken to a page to enter my email or I'm asked to complete the action with Facebook. I've used my email for many things, and I'm constantly unsubscribing to anonymous emails and Facebook is an easy way to get through but sometimes enough Facebook is enough Facebook so it's better to turn away.

The ads I admire the most are actually on the brands homepage, but ads placed around the web generally take you to a subpage with content and some sort of call to action button looming over you as you try to read. Advertising for the most part on the Internet tries to get you to click to the next click and keep clicking to as close to clicking on the purchase as possible. Marketers sell these results to clients with gusto.

I'm not much of a home shopper, the things I do buy online are mostly digital. I would say that the tags and descriptions sellers attach to items so they appear along side and under current items you are looking at is great, but I find it difficult to say that some ad somewhere on the Internet drew me in to an online store to buy a product, I'm usually already there.

Television ads are by far the most attractive to me. They are designed to be rememberable. You can't easily get off the couch and get the one thing that you want in that one moment, usually you wait till you need a few things to go to the store or for some people load up their cart online. So you need that connection to remember it when you are planning to check out. I would like to take a disclaimer on this though, I haven't lived in the States for sometime, and when I'm back and watching some tube, the ads go on forever and you only buy insurance or need a lawyer or actually need some drug once in your life.

Ad blockers are even a huge deal right now, threatening to take the freedom of the Internet away. I haven't heard YouTube complaining about this but Facebook seems to be whining. And just imagine, the digital advertising space is supposed to be valued at $77 billion. I'm sure that is not what the Internet is worth, but there are 4.5 billion active Internet and smartphone users; so that means someone has spent almost $20 trying to reach me this year and everyone else. That's thousands of impressions that have reached my blind eye, marketers telling their clients it was worth it.

The fact is, the Internet makes it easy to avoid advertising. I'm really not sure how much of a super genius a marketer needs to be to get your attention in the mere two seconds your page is open to some sort of publicity. The truth is, a billboard still has more impact than something online, but the actual audience size is whoever passes by it, where on the Internet we pay by the thousands of people who see an ad. And I do know that a lot of Internet surfers are different than me, I think many people do have attention quirks and do click on flashy things. Not entirely sure an advertiser riles up the best focus market that way.

The Internet has spawned and added great wealth to influencers in turn to give substance to a message of a brand. That's great, but I'm not a huge follower. For example, the Olympics were on recently. Many athletes sported the brands that supported them. I didn't really pay attention. For instance, I bought a Speedo recently before the Olympics, so it had nothing to do with the athletes and I would have to say the fact that they were supported did not add to my image of the brand. Speedo's brand image for myself was developed long ago and I think it has a catchy name. That's the same with most of my purchases, I would say my relationship with brands is personal, so adding a figure head to my purchase is something I consider irrelevant and takes away from my evaluation of the product. Thinking Phelps wears the same swimsuit as me, doesn't really add to my self image. I like to throw things against the wall and give them a personal brutal test, if I find a product takes it under my own scrutiny, then the product sticks with me.

Influencers do take some of this challenge on themselves by gruellingly testing products, and this is beneficial and worth while. The fact that this is known as influencer marketing is somewhat misleading because I do not relate the accepted product to that person. But them being an influencer does allow them to test more products, something I myself do not have the opportunity. The impartiality of the influencer is paramount to me, something brands must consider.

But one thing I want an advertiser to take away from this article is that people do the best advertising and sales. Click, click, clicking does not. I am still most convinced to buy a product by the representation of the people in the retailers. Having a conversation about the product I'm about to buy is extremely satisfying. I go on for an hour when looking at phones. When I buy things online, I always chat with the service first if it's available, sometimes to the regret of overselling by the seller, but having the input of someone I'm shopping with makes a big difference. Taking advice on the best place to eat in town from a friend is usually great advice. If companies really embraced their consumers and trusted them with their message to deliver it with their own energy and actually encouraged them to be brand champions in their own light then they really would be sending a message that the personal touch is not digital.