How to Connect with Consumers in the Age of Digital Decluttering

BY Kathy Crosett
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In a world of digital decluttering, should your clients be stressing out about their ability to connect with consumers? Abobe’s latest research on digital decluttering reveals that consumers are definitely changing how they take in content. Given the shift, your clients should take the following steps.

How Consumers Are Decluttering

In recent years, marketers have believed that apps allowed them to personalize offers to consumers. That may be true, but unless your clients’ apps offer something truly outstanding to consumers, they’re in danger of losing their coveted spots on smartphones. Since 2016, researchers have measured a 9% drop in app launches and a 3.6% drop in installs. 

Marketers are likely making this change because consumers aren’t using apps. In the past couple of years, consumers have registered a 14% drop in their use of news apps and a 4% drop in social. On the other hand, they’ve boosted their use of entertainment apps by 6%.

Researchers also noted that 52% of consumers have cut back on apps for social media and 47% have unsubscribed from email lists. Some of the shift in behavior speaks to consumers’ desire to connect with quality content. Over 25% of surveyed people gave that reason for cutting back. The interest in quality content may also explain why Reddit experienced a 94% increase in user minutes in the past year, while Snapchat had an 18% drop.

Attitudes About Advertising

Consumers are a bit happier with the ads they’re seeing this year, in terms of relevance. Nearly half, 46%, say ads are more relevant than they were last year. Could this be because more marketers are using first-​party data? At least 61% now do so, and it’s a practice your clients should be using as well. If they need help collecting and organizing their customer data, talk with them about your digital services packages.

The largest increases in relevant advertising by format were for social media and streaming video, now at 35% and 12%, respectively. Interestingly, 49% of consumers say TV delivers the most relevant ads.

Consumers voiced strong opinions about native in-​feed advertising. This format is designed to allow your clients to use ads that match the look and feel of a site. And they work well for mobile as they can be put in small spaces on devices. But, 22% of consumers say they’re intrusive and 24% say they don’t like seeing ads between their content. 

The Power Of Audio

What does all of this information mean for your clients? They may want to shift some of the resources they’ve been putting into apps and native in-​feed advertising to other formats. Specifically, the power of audio is increasing in this era of digital decluttering. Nearly 25% of consumers have made a purchase after hearing an ad while they were streaming music or a podcast. That same percentage of consumers plan to increase their podcast listening time in 2019 and that trend bodes well for the 32% of marketers investing more in that format this year.

To learn more about Podcast Listeners, check out the AudienceSCAN report produced by AdMall at SalesFuel.


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