What Content Marketers Must Know About Ad Blocking

There has been a lot of recent conversation about ad blocking: why more consumers are doing it, how more consumers are doing it, and how brands may get around it.

Ad blocking is not a new trend. As Seth Godin recently noted, "Of course, people have been blocking ads forever. By ignoring them."

But now that technologies have advanced to give consumers more options to ensure that ads are not a part of their internet experience, here are the key things that content marketers need to know about ad blocking.

How to Handle It
Some publishers are responding to ad blocking by preventing users from accessing their content, while others are thanking those without ad blockers or are simply requesting that users turn their ad blockers off—with some even providing guidance on how to do so. How you decide to confront ad blocking will depend on your brand voice and tone, and your expectations for how your audience will receive acknowledgement of their choice to block or not to block. If ad revenue is important to your site, no matter how you decide to address ad blocking, develop an agreed-upon strategy to begin testing.

How to Avoid Being Blocked
Before ad blocking becomes more popular and potentially becomes the norm for your target audience, continue to be extremely thoughtful with every piece of content that you share. Yes, I mean every one. Timing, placement and target should be considered for any content that your brand is sharing with the public—especially, in this case, advertisements placed with publishing partners. As always, high quality content and strategic content promotion are the keys to success. Make sure that all of your efforts and partners are in sync.

How to Still Be Seen
There are several technology companies that allow marketers to work around ad blockers in order to reach the tech-savvy group via ad recovery. They tout the benefits of allowing targets to select the ad experience that they prefer (i.e. video vs. images). If you choose to work with partners to get around ad blocking requests, be cautious about how your brand will be perceived as a result and what actions your target audience may take to implement—and guarantee—further communication blocks.

Are you implementing ad blocking as a consumer? Are you concerned about ad blocking as a marketer?

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This post was originally featured on the Likeable Media blog. Read more of my musings on social media marketing, travel and music (and share some with me) on Twitter: @KelByrd.

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Original source: What Content Marketers Must Know About Ad Blocking.
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