Interrupt Marketing

One of the best examples of interrupt marketing is a television commercial. A viewer is watching a program when the advertiser interrupts that program and shows a commercial message. Let’s take a closer look at the characteristics of this type of advertising.

From the viewer’s perspective:

Does the viewer like the experience? Heck no! Most people have built some tolerance for TV commercials over the years, but few, if any, enjoy them. The people that dislike the ads most are those who have zero interest in the product or service being advertised. After repeated and frequent interruptions, the viewer’s dislike can extend from the just the commercials to the sponsors that constantly interrupt their favorite programming. If you’ve ever wondered why so many ads nowadays tend to use comedy or attempt to entertain the viewer in some way while delivering their message, the purpose is to negate building this antipathy towards the sponsor.

From the advertiser's perspective:

What percentage of the viewers that see the ad will buy the product or service? The answer will vary, but; likely minuscule. The advertiser has no idea if a particular viewer has any interest whatsoever in the product or service being offered, and they don't care. The logic behind this type of advertising is that lots of people will view this message. And while only a tiny percentage of those people might be interested, the overall number will be high enough to justify the cost of the marketing effort. For decades, "interrupt" was the only type of advertising available. While no one likes it, it was tolerated by viewers in exchange for being able to watch their favorite TV programs.

Modern-day examples of Interrupt Advertising:

Facebook Advertising is interrupt advertising. Whenever friends are discussing an unrelated topic and an ad (sponsored message) interrupts them because Facebook is being paid to show the advertisement.

Google News and other news feeds are a form of interrupt advertising. A news headline gets your attention, you click on it, and you end up on a page filled with lots of unrelated advertisements, and likely even an advertising video that starts playing automatically. Meanwhile, you’re struggling to shut off your sound and find the news article you came to the page to read. These media companies often create the “worst possible user experience you can find anywhere on the internet” and may eventually ruin interrupt advertising for many other market segments.

A recent Adweek (the advertising industry's Bible) survey found that more than 72% of the people surveyed used an ad blocker on their internet browser because this form of advertising has become so obnoxious.

Direct Mail is a form of interrupt advertising-whenever you receive unsolicited / junk mail.

Most Forms Of Email Marketing is interrupt advertising. While very popular (especially with inexperienced marketers), much of this is just SPAM. Very few companies use email with any level of effectiveness. The exceptions are those companies the build “true opt-in” memberships and deliver related content that their subscribers expect, and look forward to receiving it. Most people like email marketing because it's free (or almost free) and extremely easy to utilize.

The common denominator of Interrupt Marketing is
only a tiny percentage of people are even semi-interested,
a more significant portion of people tolerate it,
but the majority don’t like it.

On-Demand Marketing

Google Search is an excellent example of On-Demand Advertising. Let's say someone is searching for the term "patio furniture." The fact that they are searching for patio furniture would indicate that they have an active interest in patio furniture. Now let's say your advertisement for patio furniture shows up on the search results page. Your ad is much more likely to be accepted as helpful by that person as compared to being an annoyance because you are actively aiding this person in their search efforts as compared to interrupting them.

However, if your ad for house painting showed up on this same search results page, you will now be an interruption, not an aid in their search process. Your ad is not related to what the searcher is looking for. You interrupted their interest in patio furniture with your advertisement for house painting.

Yelp is another example of On-Demand Advertising - Provided the user searched for house painting, and your name comes up as a house painter; this is another excellent example of on-demand marketing.

From the viewer’s perspective:

Does the viewer like the experience, YES! You are helping them achieve their goal; you are aiding them in their process.

From the advertiser's perspective:

Every person you get in front of is looking for the product or service you sell right now! They are the perfect audience at that exact moment in time. People will move in and out of this audience over time.

The Lines Get Blurred:

There are lots of situations where the lines are not so clear. For example, let’s say you manufacture customized leather pouches for motorcycles. Let's also say that you decide to attend a motorcycle convention as a vendor. Someone could argue that this is an example of on-demand marketing because every attendee should have a level of interest in motorcycles, and your product is directly associated with motorcycles.

Another person could argue that this is not an example of on-demand marketing because every attendee is not interested in leather pouches for their motorcycle. I would agree that the lines are not crystal clear here, and I don't want to debate this type of situation for hours. However, I would endorse the fact that this is not a perfect example of on-demand marketing. Still, this type of advertising is likely to be much more effective and much more accepted than traditional interrupt marketing would ever be. I would also point out that it is very reasonable that you will not annoy any of the attendees as they walk by your booth even if they are not interested in your leather pouches.

The common denominator of On-Demand Marketing is
the viewer has an active interest in the product or service you are advertising.
Most people would say the viewer is in the "buying cycle" for your product or service at the time your ad shows up.

Summary

Each form of marketing has its unique value, depending upon the goals of your marketing campaign.

If lots of exposure is a primary goal, you’ll likely see better results from Interrupt Marketing, however, be careful not to patronize ad sources that sacrifice the “user experience” in exchange for earning additional revenue.

If you’re looking to create immediate sales activity, you’re often better off using On-Demand Marketing. While your cost per impression will be higher, your cost per lead should be lower, and your phone should start to ring sooner and with more frequency.

Prestigious brands such as Apple that don’t want to annoy their potential customers typically shy away from interrupt advertising because of the potential of building antipathy towards the advertiser.

Determining which type is best for you, should be detailed in your marketing strategy.   learn more

BTW:

You came to this article to learn more about Interrupt VS On-Demand Marketing, so I guess this article is an example of On-Demand Marketing, right?