Why we need to talk about data, personalisation and ad blocking?

Do we need to talk about data, personalisation and ad blocking?

Posted By: Sweety Rai
Friday, 1st july 2016

Using data to create more personalised experiences in the world of marketing is nothing new, but the avenues we have to explore, especially within content, are constantly changing. This is massively exciting, but it is also one of the areas where I see the most creative and strategic tension. 

The issue stems from a lack of understanding of use of data and consequently a reticence to use it because it’s just not that easy. This has been a huge driver behind the recent adoption of ad-blocking which is currently one of the biggest issues our industry faces.

Data and insight can be hugely powerful in creating meaningful experiences, regardless of channel, but as an industry we’ve simply not made the most out of this opportunity. We’ve let consumers down with poor experiences, and as a result they’re voting with their feet, installing red buttons on their browsers and seemingly not looking back.

Ad blocking is a big deal – adoption over the past year has increased by 82% in the UK – and now with both iOS and Android building in support, it’s no longer just a problem for desktop.

So why are people using ad blockers? Research suggeststhe two most prevalent factors are wanting to protect personal information and a rise in the sheer number of ads. I would argue that while these are key issues on people’s minds, they’re more a result of an earlier problem – the industry losing consumer trust with the explosion of the ad tech industry.  Publishers, brands, creative and media agencies looking for billings and conversion rather than stopping to think if there’s a way we can actually make our content and experiences more useful. The IAB’s acknowledgement of this last year was really on point; we’ve sacrificed user experience for automation and scale.

Whilst the rise in ad blockers is understandable, equally understandable is the panic that has hit publishers. The argument that blockers are essentially a form of piracy is interesting, but are consumers even aware of their potential impact? Wired’s take on this is to humanise the whole affair, quietly reminding those with blockers installed that ads help “keep the lights on” and asking you to consider whitelisting them if you value their content.

Bigger publishers will no doubt invest in higher quality native experiences and be warier about running intrusive formats, but smaller publishers who don’t have resources to invest in these will be hard-hit. The industry collectively needs to adapt and change it’s mentality, publishers can individually convince people to whitelist them if their content is strong, but the problem is that when a consumer installs a blocker, it’s a massively uphill battle to get them back into the ad-ecosystem.

New startups have emerged looking to tackle the issue. People.io, for example, lets consumers license and control their own data that is given to marketers (and looks to provide them with more tailored experiences in return). But concepts like this are only useful (for both consumers and publishers) if they scale well, which at this point I’m personally sceptical of.

Ultimately the problem is that whilst we live in an age where it’s now easy to hyper-target content to your audience through segmentation, and have the ability to serve content that’s relevant by context, time, location and any number of other factors, It’s something we simply haven’t been doing.

So what can we do? The ad-tech industry Is looking to unite publishers and the media industry through initiatives, such LEAN, and latest studies show that native advertising is going to grow 2.6x accounting for over 50% of all display advertising spend by 2020.

From a creative point of view, we need to learn from past mistakes and ensure that we focus on using data to offer truly personalised experiences. We can achieve this through focusing on the three areas below:

• Creativity meeting data: Great content is important, but we need to make sure we’re using data and insight to build better experiences. You need to take a creative idea and not only ensure that it works across multiple channels, but that you’re also able to tailor your message by personas, context and device.
• Integrate your tech and data stack: Absolutely crucial, if as a brand or agency you’re going to commit to personalized content experiences, you need to maintain, integrate and optimise your data. For specialist agencies it’s tricky if you don’t have access or control over data sets for your client, but if you’ve got integrated clients and look after lots of their channels, you should be looking to add value by continually developing audience data and using this to deploy personalsied experiences wherever possible.
• Collaboration is key: This is one of the most complicated areas, one that sounds easy on the surface, but in reality can be a nightmare to put into action. Often agencies and suppliers create walled gardens, not sharing data or insight which creates siloed activations, with each agency just looking to optimise their own activity without thinking about the impact on a wider single customer view. For personaliation to truly succeed, you need all of your stakeholders to collaborate and work towards a more effective, integrated approach.

“Adblockalypse” is a very real problem, but it’s one that we as an industry have created, and one that we now have to work together to overcome. It’s a case of taking a step back, putting more emphasis on the consumer experience and rebuilding trust. 

If intrusive formats, poor targeting and lack of personalisation are leading the consumer exodus towards ad-blocking, let’s address this head on through better built content experiences.