People hate ads and it’s all our fault.

Need proof?

Check out this article from Search Engine Watch. In it, author Leonie Mercedes reveals some pretty scary statistics regarding the rise of ad blockers. For example, AdBlock Plus – which is just one of many ad blockers out there – registered 100 million active users in 2016. That’s 100 million devices that marketers can no longer serve ads to. Perhaps even more alarming, nearly 22% of smartphone users had some kind of ad blocking software installed on their device.

Why All the Hate for Ads?

Ads can be annoying for two reasons.

The first reason is that the placement is flawed. When you’re somewhere with a limited signal and you accidentally click on an ad, you’re going to get frustrated that your browsing experience was interrupted. So when websites and apps serve poorly timed or placed ads, they’re doing a great disservice to their users, which also hurting the reputation of the advertising industry in general.

The second reason is that the messaging is flawed. Greasy, hard-selling messaging isn’t going to win people over. And any internet marketer who doesn’t quickly stop using these tactics will soon become the digital equivalent of a used-car-salesman.

What’s an Apartment Marketer to Do?

Since the problem with ads is twofold, so is the answer.

Regarding flawed placement, native ads offer a solution. People don’t view these ads as interruptions because they look and feel like content. For example, Paid Social Ads that appear in the newsfeeds of Facebook seamlessly blend into posts that are published by user’s friends. Users are more likely to look at these ads because they seem as though they belong. They fit the overall experience that users are looking for when browsing the Facebook newsfeed.

As far as flawed messaging is concerned, that problem is a bit more difficult to tackle. It’s really hard to say how a user is going to interpret or react to any given message. However, it’s important that you try to avoid the hard sell tactics. Remember that selling products isn’t the purpose of marketing. Solving problems is the purpose marketing. So instead of bombarding users with messages about your community’s amenities, lightly hint at the type of experiences that those amenities can bring. For example, rather than talking about the physical dimensions of your pool, create an ad that features someone relaxing poolside.

Building Love for Ads

Ads aren’t inherently annoying.

Quite the contrary, they can serve as a source of inspiration, laughter, the list goes on…

By improving the ways that we place ads and create messages, apartment marketers can entertain potential renters while also providing them with useful information about the communities we know they’ll love.