Ahh, the power of advertising and marketing.
We live in a world where we can’t go anywhere without being hit by a barrage of sales messages.
We sit down to watch a film, only to find that after a few minutes the television adverts come on, prompting us to buy things, try things, suggesting that we aren’t whole or complete as people unless we part with our cash for the latest products.
We open a paper, and every other paragraph seems to be a call to action for us to reach for the credit card.
Car adverts, house adverts, holiday adverts, food, commodities, clothes – everywhere we turn we are entreated to buy, buy, buy.
Obviously, the internet is the cornerstone of modern advertising.
It is a hotbed of flashing adverts, telling us we are the hundredth visitor to a site, or that we could win something spectacular simply for signing up to a new service. The recent popularity of sites such as Groupon and KGB Discounts shows us that we are firmly in a consumer society, and trying to avoid the constant onslaught of advertising would be the equivalent of trying to go in to a supermarket and having a stress-free hour – it’s not possible.
So, what do we do about this trend?
Do we try and buck it, or do we go with the flow and join in the throng of advertising messages?
Is it right to imagine that people are so tired of being sold to, that if we try and attempt it on our blogs, we’ll lose our readership?
The bad news is, even though our blogs are the ideal platform for selling to our customers, that’s not why people read them.
People don’t visit a blog with the express intention of being asked to make a purchase of a product or service, even while it’s universally acknowledged that most organisations have a blog because they want to sell, ultimately.
People go in and visit your blog for a wide number of reasons.
They want to find specific information about something which they are interested in, or need to learn about. They are looking for experts who can provide them with information about things they are seeking out. They want to open up a two-way communication and dialogue about something which has taken their interest, and they want to read up about products or services, an industry or field of business which appeals to them – either as a consumer or a fellow service provider.
Because that is the primary motivation for visiting your site, it’s important that you deliver this first, and think about selling later.
Subtle sales are about making sure your products or services are visible, accessible and easy to buy, without using pushy techniques to encourage purchasing.
Write from the honest intention of supporting your readers.
If you provide a valuable, useful, interesting and engaging blog, people will trust you, come back and visit, and bear you in mind as a preferred service provider.
Waste your time publishing pushy, invasive and uninteresting sales pitches as blog posts, and you’ll lose your readership more quickly than you could ever have imagined.
Writing articles based upon meeting the needs of your customers is the best possible way to sell on your blog.
You won’t persuade someone to buy from you because you promote your services in every blog post – rather, you’ll gain credibility as a blogger if you write to help others first and foremost, and the sales?
They follow on naturally, afterwards!
What’s your view? Do numerous banners and adverts put you off or make you buy?
Please share your views in the comments below.
Andrew is a website builder and helps small businesses with their on-line presence…so they can grow their customer list and increase sales. That’s it! That’s what we do each and every day.
To answer your question, YES, too many banners and adverts does put me off 100%!
Though, I think some people are able to do a much better job than others (having lots of ads). They do it in a way that its not IN YOUR FACE, kinds of ads. That, I can work with.
So, I think a lot of it comes down to your ad placement.
Satrap
I obviously do have a few ads but I have reduced them. I tedn to have 2 in the sidebar and one at the botom of the post.
I do detest pop-ups!
Andrew
>>>We sit down to watch a film, only to find that after a few minutes the television adverts come on
I rarely go to the movies these days, and I still remember the “good old days” when the only commercials they showed you before a movie in a theater were ads for upcoming movies! There were no pre-trailer ads for Coca-Cola, Playstation, etc.
Those who run businesses, however small, of course need to embrace advertising to some extent but I do believe if left unregulated, advertising WILL become out-of-hand and overly invasive as the technology continues to grow and allow advertisers to pry further and further into our personal lives. I think there WILL be a point that we’ll need to fight it.
Fred
I remember those days as well!
I think advertising needs to be subtle – less in your face. How? I don;t really know the answer to that!
Andrew
Couldn’t agree more, Andrew. As far as what do I prefer? I usually expect to see a few ads. As long as they’re not intrusive and flashing in my face when I land on a blog, then I don’t mind. I’ll even take time to look at the banners to see what others are promoting or offering. Who knows, maybe I’ll be interested in something and buy it.
Alan,
Must admit I do look at some banners – really depends upon the site and the subject.
But sales via banners is becoming less and less (in my experience).
Andrew
I normally don’t mind a lot of ads and banners as long as they don’t over do it. I’ve seen sites where every 3rd line is an ad or a banner and that gets annoying. But if they’re nicely placed, like a banner on top, one in the middle, one on bot, one on each side, but the content is clear, I wouldn’t have a problem as long as I can get the content I came for.
I believe in valuable, useful, interesting and engaging blog, like you said. you need to be relevant more then enything els to my opinion…
Ads are literally all over the place, TV, movies, books and blogs. I do try to change the ad display on my blog though, I could use a little money as well. Also you need to gain trust first before you can ask them to buy your products.
It depends hardly on the banners itself! If they manage to provide enough information to make me “curious” or interested in the product, I may click on them. But to many of them are for sure confusing…
It really depends on where the ads are located. Personally, I get turned off by blog posts where I need to keep on scrolling to continue reading and skipping the ads that are inserted in the posts. It can get quite distracting.
Adeline
I agree! Too many ads and banners within the post is very distracting.
Andrew
Selling without selling is the best strategy I’ve found to be working. I don’t have to ask people to buy or punch on their faces with flashing banners. The more helpful I am, the more trust I earn and hence if I recommend something, people buy without thinking (if they need it).
Jane
That’s the approach we should all take.
Andrew
I agree with you.placing ads and your services stuff every where in your blog page doesnt mean you get more sales. You should be trying to build loyal users before telling them about sales.
To make sales i just put some of banners of them into my blog. To targeting improvements i make channels. That’s it.
More sales means more conversions, right? Your blog should stand out among the rest and should feature useful information to your visitors that cannot be found anywhere on the web.
Its important that you don’t too many ads on your blog as the visitors are their for info you provide not the ads you provide.
Hence their should be no ads in between the posts. Some ad networks like infolinks are one of the big distractions to the content you provide.