What is a pattern interrupt in affiliate marketing, and why is it important?

What is pattern interruption, and why is it used in affiliate marketing? In this article, we will take a closer look at this concept and help you understand its main feature.

Everything is based on human perception. The human brain works on the principle that if it has seen many “identical” creatives, it will simply not notice a few more. It looks monotonous and automatically uninteresting. Even though the offer may be truly top-notch and unique. 

In order to eliminate this “banner blindness,” webmasters actively use pattern interruptions and other methods. 

Pattern interruption, which will be the “main guest” of our program, sharply disrupts user expectations, changes perception, and forces them to pay attention to the post.

Let’s see how it works and why! 🚀

How does pattern interruption work?

We have already mentioned that the human brain simply gets used to similar content. You scroll through your feed, see a bunch of similar creatives, and don’t even pay attention to them. You automatically react: “Nothing interesting, everything is as usual.” 

However, as soon as you notice something that doesn’t meet your expectations at all, whether you want to or not, you pay attention to that post.

We have already written an article about why cringeworthy advertising converts. Well, it works on the same principle. Yes, there may be certain problems, mistakes, etc. in the post, but it will still catch your attention for at least a minute. And why will it catch your attention? Because it does not meet user standards and expectations.

The main task is to break expectations. For example, you have a template of what a person expected to see in your post depending on the niche. This template needs to be “broken,” given a hook, i.e., pressing on pain points, etc., leading up to the offer.

After “breaking the template,” it is worth retaining the user by pressing on their triggers. Otherwise, the person will not understand why they are being offered this offer and will move on. 

What are the pattern interruption techniques for each stage of the funnel?

Each stage of the funnel may differ from the other in how this pattern interruption works. 

Let’s go back to the above: your main task is to understand what is expected of you and how to destroy those expectations. 

Creatives and teasers

Here, the conflict between what is seen and what is heard most often works. 

For example: You see a video where a woman comes to her own divorce in a wedding dress and calmly takes her step toward breaking up the relationship.

It would seem that this is life, anything can happen. However, the basic reaction of the user to this is, at a minimum, surprise and perception “as a joke.” In any case, it looks impressive and unusual.

People are used to associating divorce with pain, suffering, difficulties, letting go of a former partner, etc. And here they show how someone ends their love story so easily, simply, and joyfully. 

Here you have a pattern interruption. Some may not be thrilled about it, some will laugh, some will agree. However, few will remain indifferent and immediately scroll on 😌.

Preludes and the text stage

In the case of the text format, it is not possible to play with the audio and visual aspects. So here, a change in the text template comes into play. People are used to the fact that first there is pressure on the pain point, then the solution to the problem, and then the offer itself. It seemed that this worked well, but the human mind has long since learned to recognize this and “close” itself off from it in a certain way.

It is worth moving away from the template and stopping “pushing” like a typical salesperson. Become a conversation partner for the user. Start with a life story to address the problem and emphasize real experience. Then the user will feel that it is close to them and will want to continue reading.

The format of an internal monologue works best.

For example: “I gained 10 kg, and it bothered me for a long time. Exercise didn’t help, I couldn’t always stick to a balanced diet, and I kept failing. However, I recently found a remedy that helped me fix everything. Now I feel much better, my eating problems are gone, and with them, the extra pounds. So now I’m going to share my discovery with you.”

First, you need to make the person feel like something is “theirs,” and then approach them with an offer. “Real experience” sells much better than “blunt advertising.”

Quizzes, landing pages, and engagement

This is more about “technical” tricks. The user comes across a certain quiz and expects to see something like “Answer 10 questions” or something similar. Instead, they see: “Oops, loading error. Continue?”

This is a kind of “glitch perception.” It is important to regain control immediately and not delay the “error,” because then the person may simply leave the site. 

Therefore, the algorithm is as follows:

• First, disrupt expectations;
• Then stabilize and return the user to a format they are familiar with;
• Quiz, result, lead form.

It is important that the pattern interruption was on the first screen. Because then it can be perceived as just a bug, not a hook.

How to integrate pattern interruptions into a pipeline?

Even experienced web developers make mistakes when creating “interruptions.” Therefore, there are several important points to consider ensuring that it works to your advantage and does not cause losses.

A clear algorithm of actions

Simply breaking the mold is not enough. Otherwise, you will indeed attract the user’s attention for a moment, but in the end, it will not work because the main point is missing.

The pattern interruption should be built according to the following principle:

• First, you need to understand what exactly is a “pattern” for users in a particular niche.
• Next, make a “shift” that is noticeable but not too abrupt.
• The next step is to explain what it’s all about.
• Finally, smoothly shift the person’s attention to the offer. 

Pattern library 

It is important to build your own “pattern library.” These are the visuals, phrases, etc. that people are used to perceiving, and for them, it is a kind of base that will not surprise them.

Then you will know exactly which patterns to break and where it will work best.

Testing

Where would we be without testing? It is always worth testing everything, because without it, you simply won’t know what works and what doesn’t.

In the case of the interruption pattern, it is worth testing the “lighter” and “more aggressive” options. 

As practice shows, most often success comes from something in between. Because it doesn’t “scare” the user, but at the same time it’s not completely “invisible.” 

Measure more than just clicks

A pattern interruption is the moment when the user stops scrolling and automatically begins to really look at the situation. Therefore, in this case, it is worth measuring not only clicks, but also the pause in perception itself:

• scroll stop rate (if the creative is in the feed);
• watch time and drop rate (if video);
• time on page, bounce rate (if pre-landing);
• CTR on the first screen and separately on the offer.

If you notice that there are clicks but no CR, all is not lost. Don’t hide the creative. This means that you have broken the mold and attracted attention, but you have not assembled the funnel well. It is worth checking where the user ended up after the interruption. Perhaps that was the problem. 

Come up with something new

Patterns also become habitual and turn into templates. Therefore, it is worth studying the market and understanding what has already been broken many times and what web developers have not yet gotten around to. Keep your own table and write down what you notice. This will help you come up with something new. 

We recommend manually checking once a week what is outdated and what continues to work well. 

You can also mix template and non-standard elements in one campaign so that the scheme is not too simple and people do not immediately recognize it. 

Unfortunately, a pattern that has worked once will not always work many more times. Therefore, do not stop at one technique and test new ones. 

Summing up

Advertising is primarily psychology. “Selling hard” has long since ceased to work, so we have to come up with other ways.

Sometimes we think that something “crude” and strange will repel users’ attention, so we choose a “polished” image. However, we are deeply mistaken here, because it is precisely such techniques that bring crazy results.

When you advertise, you are no longer just a website, but a manipulator who plays on people’s emotions.