Online advertising does not receive high marks in a new study from Adobe/Edelman Berland. In fact, over 2/3 of consumers say that online ads are just plain annoying, and more than twice as many think that traditional ads are still the best way to go.
The online survey of 1,250 adults took place earlier this month. The survey looked at responses from both the general public (consumer) and “marketing decision makers” (marketers). Right off the bat, it’s probably important to tell you that 53% of respondents said that most marketing is a “bunch of bullshit” – so that’s the jump-off point we’re working with here.
But as far as the general perception of online advertising goes – it’s still pretty negative. Sure, pop-up ads are less common, and some current advertising practices like Facebook Sponsored Stories and Twitter’s promoted tweets can even function within the actual flow of the website – but people are still “annoyed” by online ads. 68%, in fact. Furthermore, 51% described them as “distracting” and 46% said they are “all over the place.” Another 38% called them “invasive” and 16% labeled them as “creepy.”
Only 10% think online ads are clever and 7% say they’re persuasive.
In all, 66% of consumers think that TV ads are “more important” than online ads. Only 49% of marketers agree with that sentiment. But when they were asked about their favorite place to look at ads, consumers chose print magazines (45%).
As far as the type of ads go – consumers by and large say no to banner ads. While only 30% of consumers said that online advertising is ineffective, 54% said that banner as are ineffective.
One of the more interesting parts of the survey deals with social media advertising and “likes.” 69% of the consumers surveyed said they use social media, and over half (57%) said that they have ‘liked” a brand or product. And as far as the “like” influence (seeing that your online friends “like” a brand) – it’s not too strong. 29% said that seeing a friend’s like would make them check out the product. Only 11% said it would prompt them to visit the company’s social media page, and a measly 2% said it would direct them to purchase the product.
The study concludes with a discussion on what consumers want out of their ads and how much they actually pay attention to online ads. Consumers want to be told a story (73%), and say that video ads are much more effective that text ads (67%).
Still, getting people to pay attention to online ads is like pulling teeth. While 54% said they pay attention to their dentist (sure, I’ll floss!), only 7% said they pay attention to online ads.
Though online advertising is much more important than it was a decade ago, interent users are obviously still wary of it and prefer traditional advertising. It looks like social media advertising is the place where marketers have to make an impact, since over half of consumers admit to liking brands.
What do you think about online advertising?
[via Geekosystem]