In this native advertising guide, you’re going to learn everything about native advertising. What native advertising is? Is it effective? And should you add it to your digital advertising plan? And most importantly, can you do it on your own or would you be needing help from a digital advertising agency?
The Birth of Native Advertising
If you haven’t yet heard me already say online advertising is the most ignored form of advertising on repeat, this is for you. It is shocking but it is true. Whenever we are comparing traditional advertising with digital advertising, we compare on the basis of cost and reach. But what about the impact of that ad?
I remember so many ads that I saw on TV, but not many from the internet. Who is to be blamed for all this?
The rise of ineffective and interrupting ads?
The loss of creativity in digital ads?
The increased number of ads?
All three are responsible for our current stage in digital advertising. Not just the internet users have developed banner blindness, they have evolved with the internet to ignore anything that disrupts their normal flow on a website.
This gave rise to native advertising and we present you with a native advertising guide for 2021.
What is Native Advertising?
Native advertising is the form of advertising in which the ads match the look and feel of the media format where they are placed. They become a part of the editorial flow of that website.
So, if they are on social media feed, they are going to look just like another social media post there.
The only difference between native ads and the regular content on a website is that there is going to be a tag saying “promoted post”, “sponsored”, “recommended for you”, “suggested videos”, or an option to close the section.
It is paid media designed to match the content to that of a media source. For instance, an example of mobile native advertising is paid video content on YouTube.
Popular examples of native ads are sponsored social media posts and promoted search results. Both these formats provide value to their users in the form of organic search results and user-generated social media posts.
Native advertising is most likely to look the same as other articles and content pieces around you especially in cases where the brand goal is to increase awareness.
It allows connecting with the users in the format that users are choosing. It is less obstructive than traditional ad formats.
3 Types Of Native Advertising (With Examples)
You must have seen thousands of native ads by now. They are everywhere. They are on your social feed, on Google, on digital magazines, and many other places.
Social Media Native Advertising Ad
A native ad on Facebook by Bizadmark.
Social media native ads are the ads that appear in social media feeds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. They look like just any other social media post except a small sponsored tag under the brand name.
Brands use social media native advertising due to their highly sophisticated targeting methods to reach their target audiences.
It can take the form of visual formats also such as images and videos.
Search Native Advertising Ad
Source: Google Search
These native ads are also known as Search engine marketing.
Search native ads are the search ads or promoted listings that appear when we search for something on Google or Google maps.
Moreover, it produces both organic and paid results.
Article Native Ads
Example of article native ads
Article native ads appear in the form of recommended articles under the article that you just finished reading.
You might have seen many articles below when you complete reading one article.
These are generally placed at the bottom which can increase their clicks and opens.
Sometimes these articles also feel relatable to the topics that you are searching for. So it is a great way of targeting customers.
What is Programmatic Native Advertising?
Programmatic advertising means displaying targeted native ads to various specific sets of consumers based on their preferences and in real time. This all happens with the help of real time bidding.
Programmatic native advertising is a technique that incorporates a marketer’s message and assets in a publisher’s feed.
One thing which is becoming popular is the combination of programmatic and native advertising.
It enables advertisers to promote advertisements that combine well with the surrounding content.
Programmatic native ads also offer brands the ability to capitalize on and increase relevance and also personalization.
Such ads allow the advertisers to make native ads more relevant. These ads can also be tailored by leveraging machine learning and contextual signals.
This results in better performance for both brands and advertisers.
3 Reasons Why Native Ads Are More Effective Than Other Digital Ads
1. Less Invasive in Nature
The best part of native ads is that they don’t look like ads. They are smoothly integrated into a website. So, your audience can ignore display ads, banner ads, but it’s going to be tough for them to ignore native ads.
This is the reason why native ads are 53% more effective than display ads. Not to mention, they increase the purchase likelihood and consumer engagement.
2. Non-disruptive
That means they don’t interfere with what your target audience is doing on the internet. There won’t be suddenly a full-screen pop-up ad or there won’t be those video ads that follow you everywhere.
Most of the time these ads are in the form of an editorial piece, but they are still capable of increasing brand awareness.
3. Less Likely to Frustrate the Viewers
According to a study by Stanford University, the users are aware that they are seeing a form of an ad, they still don’t care much. Isn’t that wonderful? So, native ads are more trustworthy than many other kinds of digital ads.
5 Steps to Run Effective And Profitable Native Ads
Before we discuss whether you need a marketing agency or not, let’s talk about how a native ad is actually run.
Native advertising is a 5-step process.
Step 1) Define Your Audience
This step is very crucial in writing the success of your native advertising. As better you’re going to know your audience, the more relevant and effective native ads you will be able to serve them.
Native advertising guide for 2021 illustrates that users ignore ads because they find the ads very irrelevant. And ads become irrelevant when the users don’t have the need for a particular product and still the ads keep following them everywhere.
For example, I am not a fan of chocolates. There is no chocolate ad that can change my mind. So, if I am reading an article and a chocolate brand tries to steal my attention by showing me a native ad about their new, delicious chocolate. It’s not going to make an impact on me. However, it will definitely frustrate me to never buy from that company again.
On the other hand, if a brand shows me an ad for a non-processed, organic, sugar-free, vegan cookie, they will get my attention with utmost ease.
As a consequence, understanding your audience becomes very important. There are two ways of learning about your audience and they both are required.
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- Market research
- Data analysis
Many invest their time in market research but then never analyze their data. Gathering insights from data is very important as the needs and preferences of your audience are continuously changing. The faster you’re going to learn about their evolved needs, the better you’ll be able to target them.
Step 2) Understand Your Goals
I can’t tell how many times I have met business owners who are running ads without any particular goal in their mind. Advertising is done for various purposes.
When nobody knows about you, you run brand awareness ads. When you don’t want your consumers to forget you, you run brand awareness ads. If your reputation is compromised, you run image correction ads. If your audience knows you but is still not buying from you, you run consideration ads.
Native advertising guide for 2021 can be used in many ways as native ads are also done for various goals and before you can run your ads, you have to drill down to your specific goals from your campaign.
Step 3) Decide the Channels
The third step is deciding the digital channels where you want to publish your native ads. Do you want to display it on social media? Do you want to target Google? Or do you want to distribute it on various publisher websites? Do you want to use programmatic advertising for better reach and impact?
Step 4) Create Content And Creatives
Native advertising guide for 2021 makes an important point that the challenging part about creating content for native ads is that this is actually not normal content. This is content with a sales appeal in it. For that particular reason, you can’t just write it yourself. You will be needing help from copywriters who understand writing as well as the art of advertising.
Then, you will be required to decide what kind of content you want and how can you make that content non-boring.
Step 5) Measure the Result
Measuring the performance of your ad campaigns is very important as it gives you insights into how your audience interacted with your ad campaigns, what could be improved and how?
6 Native Advertising Trends
We have brought you a list of native advertising trends that you need to have a look at.
Native Videos are Becoming Popular
Video is the hottest and most demanded trend in the digital marketing industry. As you have noticed, we are seeing lots and lots of native video advertising on our social media and news feeds.
According to eMarketer, native video ad spending has risen to 38.7% in 2020 from 35.1% in 2017.
So, you can get the idea of its increasing popularity in the present times.
Native Advertising Is Becoming More Programmatic
This is also high in trends. For a long time, the differences in the layout of native ads had made it difficult to realize the programmatic buying of native ads.
In 2019 and 2020, large native ad players connected via RTB.
Moreover, most of the ads in the US are purchased programmatically. The trend is going to accelerate in the coming future.
More Mobile, Less Social
A study by eMarketer showed that native advertising will be more programmatic and mobile and less social.
Reports show that it was estimated that 88.8% of native ads in the US will become more mobile.
With this latest trend, the non-social native ad technology players will benefit the most.
Interactive Format Works Wonders
Interactive content is also trending and gaining a lot of popularity these days. A study by GO-Gulf shows that 93% of the marketers agree that interactive content is educating its buyers.
Also, 88% of them said that interactive ads help brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
For instance, FreakOut launched interactive ad formats last year.
Valuable Content Is Preferred
Native advertisements are favorably received by the audiences. They expect that native ads will always provide them with valuable information.
An article by Time Inc. showed that 90% of the consumers like custom content including native ads online instead of a traditional ad.
So after clicking the ad, the users will be led to a landing page. It should have content that provides valuable information about your products and services. Also do not forget to explain to your audience how it helps them.
Storytelling and Context Marketing is Trending
Keeping your ads aligned to your goals and giving what your audiences want is of utmost concern. If you engagingly tell your story with relevant context, it will help you in garnering greater engagement.
Sponsored content in premium media generates more credibility towards your products and services. Also, the articles produced by professionals can engage and entertain the audiences.
Moreover, clicking on a native ad on a premium website has a greater impact than clicking via Facebook.
8 Native Advertising Best Practices
With a rise in native advertising popularity, it is important to know some best practices that can assist you in your tasks in a smooth manner.
To help you with this, a list of 8 best practices is given for native advertising. Have a look below.
Research and Research
You should never underestimate the power of research when starting with some work. It can have innumerable benefits in understanding your audiences and the challenges of the target market.
Research further lets you know how to go further with the planning of your ad campaign. It helps you set targets that match your business objectives.
You can also include a series of experiments to plan your next ad campaign in the best possible way.
Know Your Audiences
The funda is simple, if you want to succeed with native advertising, never forget your audiences. Try to learn everything about them. Go to depth and be the master.
There are 3 parties involved in making a native ad successful and they are- The brand that pays for the ad, the publisher that provides the platform, and most importantly the audiences who engage with it.
So keep a track of all things in a balanced way and your ad will surely work wonders.
Content is King
When it comes to native advertising, content is the King. You need to know everything about your market so that you can best target your audiences.
Craft out a content strategy very well in advance and create eye-catching ads. It should grab customers’ attention.
So, the combined action of all these elements will help you get success with your ad campaign.
Target Your Ads Wisely
One thing which you need to remember is that not everyone needs to see advertisements. So, focus on those who will see it. Answer a question of yours- For whom am I creating this ad? This will help you sort out things easily.
Start by creating a demographic and behavioral profile that aligns with your target customers and only target ads to them. I am sure this is going to work.
Moreover, it will also help you save costs and efficiency.
Be Optimizing
When you launch a campaign, it may take time to get you conversions. So, you need to focus on optimization.
Also trying to optimize a campaign with sufficient conversion data is inefficient so, you can start by optimizing for web engagement first and then switching to lead generation.
Another idea is to add an implicit user engagement signal. It can include viewing the price page.
Creativity is the Winning Element
Creative gives you a competitive advantage over your competitors. So, come up with creative ideas to target your desired set of audiences.
For instance, make your images unique and creative and make them stand out from the crowd.
Do not complicate it, rather think of ideas that only require a simple tweak. It can be the lighting of images or saturation level.
Place the Ads in a Smart and Consistent Manner
Unlike other display ads, native ads do not appear as pop-ups, banners, and similar dynamic formats. They are usually embedded onto the web pages, like other content that publishers would produce through their editorial team.
So it is advisable to design ads as consistently as possible. Allow the user to scroll up and down the page without losing sight of the thumbnail.
Moreover, the persistent nature of native ads is different from other digital ad techniques.
For instance, you can take the example of emails that arrive and stay in the inbox for many days. Also, some brands make ads more persistent by relying on direct ad sales instead of opting for programmatic.
Level Up Your Objectives
To best target your native ads and get optimum results, keep leveling up your objectives from time to time. This will help you reach new heights and also increase your customers base.
Know your objectives and work accordingly. This will also help you in leveling up your brand image.
For instance, if you want profitable leads you won’t look to dollars only. Rather you will also look at your business objectives also and then define your profit target.
Do You Need a Digital Advertising Agency for Native Ads?
As I explained above, running a native ad requires expertise in various areas. From the ability to understand the needs of your audience to understanding fully your goals, from deciding the right publishing channels which can help you reach your goals faster to creating memorable, interesting, and impactful content.
You need to be good in every area if you want to run effective native ads. As the strength of a chain is determined by the weakest link.
So, if you think you can research your audience, figure out your goals, analyze large data pretty easily, can even write good content but are not aware of writing advertising copies, then your ad is not going to create the desired impact.
Lack of copywriting skills will become the weakest link in your entire native advertisements creating process.
If you think you lack the required skills and expertise in any of the areas mentioned above, it’s better to partner with a digital advertising agency.
Even though native ads are created to fight the problem of banner blindness, they are still not immune to ad blindness. They can still be ignored by your audience, leading to the loss of your valuable ad budget.
Only when you create the right ad, they are able to create the right result. Otherwise, they just end up becoming a part of digital noise. And you definitely don’t want to join that noise because the internet is overcrowded with that. Share on X
If you are planning to start native advertising, or if you are already running native ads and are still not seeing any results, send us a message at [email protected] and we will get in touch with you.
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