6 Ways Businesses Can Make Marketing Less Annoying
Over the years, you would have thought that businesses understand what works and what doesn’t from a marketing perspective. After all, there have been countless eras, from the Mad Men-style “the customer is always right” to “permission advertising,” from which to learn the dos and don’ts of shaping the consumer experience.
Over the years, you would have thought that businesses understand what works and what doesn’t from a marketing perspective. After all, there have been countless eras, from the Mad Men-style “the customer is always right” to “permission advertising,” from which to learn the dos and don’ts of shaping the consumer experience.
However, to this day, companies continue to make the same mistake – annoying audiences. In some ways, it seems as if it’s a necessary evil because there is no other way to raise awareness of the brand. Plus, there’s no such thing as bad PR.
Yet, 91% of people who feel that marketing has become incredibly intrusive would disagree. Whether you believe the customer is always right or not, you can’t deny that shoppers’ opinions matter.
So, if you’re not disregarding the tried and tested advertising methods that make audiences mad, you’re bound to frustrate them into submission, and it will reflect in your analytics’ stats. Thankfully, you can stop annoying people straight away by listening properly and being more insightful.
With that in mind, here are six solutions to the most common marketing pet peeves. If any of the following are familiar, you need to tweak your approach.
1. Being Pushy
Everyone who owns a business understands the temptation to push customers into making decisions. Although it’s wrong, it helps get the company off the ground and creates a solid sales base for the future. Unfortunately, shoppers are picking up on the tension between customer and company, and they don’t like it.
A massive 87% say there are more ads in general than 2-3 years ago, and there has been a 30% increase in ad blocking as a result. Individuals don’t want to be targeted and manipulated into a conversion – they’ll decide on their own. And if you attempt to jump the gun, they’ll spite you because A) it’s symbolic and B) there’s plenty of alternative sellers.
Now more than ever, the trick is to appear in their searches as organically as possible. With the help of search engine optimisation tactics, you can raise awareness of the brand and simultaneously get on browsers’ good sides. Single Grain has nine simple-yet-powerful SEO methods for beginners if you don’t know how to begin.
Of course, you can ask for permission, too. Obtaining consent means they are happy for you to drop targeted emails and ads, so you won’t need to worry about getting on their bad side.
2. Clickbait
“Clickbait” is a diplomatic way of saying “lying.” You may not like the comparison, but the link is undeniable. When you send an email with a headline that states one thing and the body deals with another, you’ve lied to boost your click-through rate. Although it works in the short-term, the long-term impacts are dramatic.
For starters, those who click the video or email will bounce right away. Once this happens, the chances of making a quality conversion reduce by a considerable margin. Seeing as SEJ says that the average percentage for bounce rate is anywhere between 25% to 70%, you may have problems beyond slow upload speeds and broken links.
A high bounce rate means you have lost the trust of your audience, and that’s fatal. The obvious solution is to make the headline and subject lines of your marketing genuine. Authentic buzzwords and phrases will give readers what they want, enhancing the customer experience.
The best part about being true to your content is that it encourages you to be creative. Rehashed angles won’t do because the subject lines and tags won’t have a wow factor, so you’ll need to think outside of the box to grab people’s attention.
3. Self-righteous CTAs
A call-to-action (CTA) is supposed to ensure readers don’t skim through the content. By hitting them with a powerful finisher, you are more likely to secure conversions that the business needs to grow. Typical examples range from “Contact us now” to “Check out.” The problem with these types of CTAs is that they are boring.
Instead of feeling pumped and energised to make a sale or register for a newsletter, audiences close the tab and move onto the next one. To prevent this from happening, marketers are using more engaging CTAs, such as “Claim your free trial now.” This works because it offers value, and the product or service is cost-effective.
However, BlogSpot points to a worrying trend of calls-to-action becoming self-righteous. 83% of online users want to filter out obnoxious ads because nobody enjoys being patronised. To make sure you’re not getting on your high horse, it’s smart to avoid CTAs that say stuff like, “No thanks, I don’t want to make money.”
Firstly, you shouldn’t guarantee anything as there are no sure things in business. Secondly, it gives the impression that you’re looking down on legitimate decisions. CTAs must be engaging, but it shouldn’t play on feelings of guilt.
4. Cold Calls
The classic marketing method that annoys people more than anything is a cold call. Picture the scene. You have sat down to eat dinner when the phone rings. You get up from the table to answer it, only to be greeted by a sales rep who won’t let you go back to your food. It’s infuriating!
Of course, cold calling is still prevalent today, which means it must have some advantages. You never know – you may get lucky once or twice and make a conversion. Still, wouldn’t it be better if you could encourage a higher level of interaction without being a third wheel?
Drop Cowboy says you can if you opt for ringless voicemail. This technology allows businesses to place voicemails directly into a contact’s mailbox without a mobile or landline ringing every five minutes. Therefore, it’s an excellent technique for giving people space.
There’s another benefit of ringless voicemail tech, too. Responses rise by as much as 20% in some instances because it eliminates the need to screen calls. Plus, you can use the technology internationally, so there are no boundaries. Sending text messages and emails are also worth considering as they are less intimate and hassle for the receivers.
5. Irrelevant Ads Or Content
Being bombarded with adverts and content is bad enough, but the recipients lose their minds when they have no meaning whatsoever. As well as being annoying, it proves that you haven’t taken your time to target customers effectively. Rather, you’ve sent out a mass email in the hope of catching a few fish.
Fishing isn’t your forte. What you need to do is show potential customers and repeat customers that you care. By dropping behaviour-related ads, you’re more likely to engage people as the content will add value and make them more receptive to your marketing strategy.
The key is to use the patterns to your advantage. A prime example is remarketing. Wordstream explains that this is a technique to resell or upsell to customers based on their previous purchases. Grouping people into demographics should help you raise your behavioural segmentation game to new levels.
Another feature to watch out for is complicated or confusing content. Posts, images, and videos that readers can’t understand will instantly be forgotten. Therefore, it’s essential to make your content accessible by being clear and concise and avoiding jargon. It may boost self-esteem, yet it turns off audiences. Localise your marketing campaign to ensure it’s inclusive of the readership you’re targeting.
6. Faceless Brands
“Faceless” doesn’t have to mean that they don’t know who you are or what you look like, although it does help. In a marketing sense, it equates to a random business or individual trying to slide into a person’s DMs without permission. Not only do they reject your ads because they don’t trust you, but you don’t have a reputation, either.
As a result, it’s easy to ignore messages and emails that flood inboxes. People want a company or individual with standing and street credit to show them what to buy. Going into partnership with influencers means that you can get your products and services in front of your base without appearing tacky.
Of course, it costs money to hire an influencer’s services, but you should see it as an investment. After all, the chances are high that you’ll recoup your expenses pretty quickly. The stats back up this assumption, with 80% of marketers saying that influencers are effective, and 71% saying that the quality of traffic is the best around.
You have to meet customers on their patch in a world dominated by technology without being overly promotional. It’s worth paying influencers to bypass ad blockers by posting content on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter until you have built a reputation that rings out.
Summary
There are lots of things that you may do to annoy and frustrate your audience. However, from cold calling to trying to push shoppers into purchases, you can redeem yourself by doing the following:
- Use SEO for natural SERP rankings
- Create authentic tags and subjects
- Hire influencers to boost brand awareness
- Be clear
- Don’t disrupt routines
If you do those, you will reap the rewards in the long run.