5 Marketing & Design Trends That Should Go Extinct This Year

With the first month of 2016 almost over, we’re already seeing quite a few changes in the inbound marketing world -- but if you ask the members of our team, some things can’t change fast enough.

Here are 5 of web design and marketing trends that the IMPACT team would love to see go extinct this year.

Mobile Exit-Intent Popups

“I understand that they are a great conversion point, a fantastic way to get your content directly in front of your audience, and a really great way to build your subscriber list, but they just don’t work on mobile.

My thumb is fairly large, and if I’m going to have to find and click a tiny X (which isn’t always in the same spot!) in order to read the content I actually care about, I’m going to find and close the tab before I even give the page a chance to load.

They need to go!” - Derrick Weiss, Account Executive

Social Media Links in Print Ads

“This is honestly the silliest thing I have ever seen! When I see this happen, as a marketer, it makes me laugh. Social has become such an integral part of marketing strategies for all businesses (and props to you for trying to include it), but when I see links or buttons in a print ad, the company loses a bit of credibility in my eyes. If they can't understand how the buying behavior of their audience, how will they understand my challenges?”

Auto-playing Videos

“Not only are auto-playing videos annoying, but they slow down your page tremendously. I am more likely to find a different site to solve my problem rather than wait around for a video I don't really want to watch to finish loading.” - Amanda Leclair, Client Resource Manager

Sliders

“I’d be happy if I never saw a slider on a website again. I won’t click through your slider to read all your content, and if I am reading a slide I like, I don’t want it to scroll away! Luckily, I think people are starting to catch on to the fact that they are conversion killers, but hopefully, this year will put the final nail in the coffin.   

“R.I.P. Conversion” -slider ” - Kyle Bento, Growth Strategist

“Scrolljacking”

“I think it’s about time we drop using scripts that hijack user scrolling. Nothing bugs me more than visiting a site that has upped my mouse sensitivity or forces me to stop at specific points on it. Let your users scroll at their own free will!

Changing the functionality of one of your users main controls will ultimately leave them frustrated and angry. Almost no one's site design should require complicated scrolling mechanics to try to make the experience more ‘uniform’. You know the old saying - If it ain’t broke, don’t go fixing it!” - Christine Austin, Creative Lead (Marketing Team)