56% of people click on ads to find information, but quality woes abound

Give us fewer, better ads, consumers plead, as half of adverts branded irrelevant

Consumers click on online adverts to find out more information, but marketers may be wasting half their budget with poor targeting, a study has revealed. According to new research from Conversant, which questioned consumers across seven different countries, 49% still see ads that are irrelevant or for products that they already own.

“Clearly marketers are missing the mark when it comes to consumer targeting and with half of consumers being shown products that aren’t of interest, marketers are simply throwing away half their budget,” commented Elliott Clayton, SVP, Conversant. “Many marketers still see adverts as a way to promote new or existing products and forget the first rule of marketing: build the brand, educate, inform and entertain. There’s a place for promotions and sales, but if marketers don’t get the balance right, they risk alienating customers.”

The research revealed why consumers click on adverts, with only 2% of global consumers clicking on an advert to make a purchase. It is instead the desire to find out more information that drives a click, with 56% of global consumers clicking on ads for this reason.

With information, not purchases, driving clicks, consumers would like marketers to make more use of display ads (41%) and sponsored content (31%), rather than ads on voice platforms like Alexa and Google Home (0.5%). Almost half (45%) of consumers also wish to see fewer but more relevant and useful ads – and 79% of consumers believe that traditional advertising is alive and well.

“Online advertising is thriving, but there are some fundamental challenges that need to be addressed if marketers are to be successful in 2019,” concluded Clayton. “There is still plenty of room for improvement in the industry and marketers need to put consumers’ preferences first and personalise experiences for individuals. Consumers aren’t anti-advertising, they just don’t want bad, irrelevant adverts.”