Eighty percent of smartphone owners check their phones each morning before brushing their teeth. This means they are exposed to a sea of digital advertising, including banners, pop-ups, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads while they search Google and check Facebook. When they flip on the morning news they’re exposed to almost 15 minutes of commercials for every hour they watch. On the commute, they see perhaps dozens of ads in the form of billboards (or, if they’re taking public transportation they’re nose-deep in their smartphones again, with all those pop-up and banner digital ads).
Every day, Americans see about 5,000 different advertisements. How can you get them to pay attention to the one that’s yours?
Even in this age of advertisement inundation, people click. But what does it take to get that click on your banner ads, paid search, and social media, like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter ads?
Here are factors that make the difference – some of which you can control and some you can’t. But being aware of all the reasons that cause people to click (or not to) gives you, the digital advertising marketer, more control of your own destiny.
They Click Because They Need to Know That Information
This is something you can’t control, except to have the marketing data to understand what your target audience wants and place your ad where they tend to look for it. Investing in paid search ads, content syndication and social media advertising are the most powerful ways to reach audiences looking for your kinds of digital advertising.
They Click Because They’re Interested in a Product Like that
Though more nebulous, you can still target these prospects based on the types of products they tend to search for and buy with prompting from digital advertising. That’s less targeted than appearing at the top of the Google search results when they look for “widgets for auto manufacturers,” but it’s not a total shot in the dark, either.
The trick to nailing it with these prospective customers is being able to track them across channels and online identities. For example, can you track the supply chain manager when she leaves her desktop computer and starts browsing with her tablet or smartphone? Being able to deliver the right content across devices and online profiles means reaching Teresa when she’s away from her office, which means she’s probably more relaxed and ready to pay attention to your ads.
They Click Because They Trust the Advertiser
To understand this, it’s important to know why people don’t click. The most common causes for pauses are:
- Fear of getting a virus
- Fear of getting spammed
- Fear of their online activities being tracked
Some also don’t click because the ad isn’t relevant to them or they don’t want to get distracted. The point is, they are far more likely to click when they trust the advertiser. Don’t hide who you are, especially if you’ve done a good job with brand recognition. Just don’t be the kind of company people don’t trust, either.
They Click Because You Told Them What to Do
If you use strong CTAs that make it very clear what action they should take and what happens when they do, you’ll significantly improve the chances that they’ll click. A strong CTA is essential for connecting with people. Make it absolutely clear what they stand to get out of clicking, and what they’ll miss if they don’t click.
Learn more about automating digital advertising programs, including digital advertising from Zift paid search marketing, LinkedIn advertising and ad retargeting.
