Do You Know Why Users Aren’t Clicking on Your Ads?

New research conducted by Nielsen might provide the answer

Advertisers have been working for years to increase the click-through rate of their online ads.

As the average click-through rate is .09%, advertisers are still looking for a solution that will lead to more engagement with users.

A recent article from MediaPost discusses the Nielsen research, which was commissioned by AdKeeper and WPP’s 24/7 Real Media. Focusing on why Internet users don’t click on ads, the study consisted of 600 people between the ages of 18 and 54.

Throughout this study, the main ads in question included banner, expandable, video and rich media. Ads related to search marketing and Facebook were not a part of this study.

Reasons why users don’t click on ads

The participants of this study “hardly ever or never” clicked on advertisements they saw on the web. The reasons are:

-61 percent of participants find ads distracting as they take away from the main purpose of the associated website.

-58 percent of participants don’t find the ads relevant.

-57 percent of participants don’t click because they believe it will trigger more spam from the advertiser.

-55 percent of participants believe clicking on the ad will lead to a computer virus.

-54 percent of participants do not trust the ads.

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Fear and distraction appeared to be the two main reasons why users do not choose to click on ads.

To determine what would make users click on ads, 17 percent said they click if it didn’t interrupt their browsing experience. Additionally, 9 percent said they’d click on ads of trusted brands; another 9 percent said they’d click on targeted, interesting ads and another 7 percent they would click on ads with coupons or discount codes.

A few tips from these statistics

For better results, ads cannot be distracting to users. If you pull users away from the website they choose to be on, they will not be interested in learning about products or services being offered.

Since I believe content is still king, I’d suggest creating messages that align with the associated content in the most interesting and accessible way possible. Use the content to show value and be very honest with your audience.

How do you think ads should be made? What types of ads would you be excited to click on? I’d love to get your input in the comments section.

For more on this topic, check out the article from MediaPost.

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