How To Get Your Ads in Front of Your Target Audience

Marc Reifenrath, co-founder and president of Spinutech

According to a Deloitte Global survey, more than three-quarters of North Americans use at least one form of ad-blocking. The survey found that 31 percent of Americans use ad-blocking software on their desktop computers, and 20 percent say they use a mobile ad-blocker.

With a significant number of people using ad-blocking tools, marketers face an important challenge: how to engage consumers who may be intent on avoiding marketing messages.

“Ad-blocking has been around for years,” says Marc Reifenrath, co-founder and president of Spinutech, a digital marketing agency in the Midwest. “With the recent concerns from the public regarding data privacy and regulations, it’s starting to resurface.”

How do you make sure your target audience sees your advertising messages in spite of this trend?

“Large tech companies — think Google and Facebook — and even the IAB [Interactive Advertising Bureau] curb some of the public concern around data privacy and intrusive ad experiences by ensuring ad formats aren’t intrusive, and that targeting capabilities are relevant,” says Reifenrath.

“Through these efforts and others,” he says, “the adoption of ad-blockers has stagnated over the years.” He notes that the impact on marketers and the industry depends on the advertiser and the targeting: “We all can agree that it has some impact, but it depends on who you’re trying to target and how.”

Reifenrath recommends following the data and analytics when making campaign decisions. “While there’s roughly 30 percent of U.S. users using an ad-blocking technology, a lot of those users still allow some ads to display to an extent. Be agile and let the data tell you what’s happening,” he says.

Learn more: Banner Ads in the Age of Ad-Blocking

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President