Have you ever scrolled through a Buzzfeed article and clicked on something that’s caught your attention? Maybe an offer along the lines of, “GET CASH BACK NOW!” then once you click on it, you’re directed to a landing page with an incentive to sign up for products or services? Chances are you have, and that’s the power of Native advertising.
What is Native Advertising?
Native advertising is a paid media initiative where the ad is made to match the look, feel, and function of the format in which it appears. You can use images or videos to capture peoples’ attention in an effort to drive them to your landing page. Typically you will see native ads on social media platforms or on websites where they are listed as recommended content. The magic is that they don’t look like a typical display or banner ad. Instead, they feed into the content that you are currently invested in and serve as a non-disruptive unit.
Why Should You Utilize Native Advertisements?
In an era where content is key and everyone is looking for personalization, native advertising is the least disruptive way to go. Native ads are served to users who will look at content that is the most relevant and interesting to them based on their habits. There are three key takeaways that prove why Native Advertising is successful:
- 53% of consumers are more likely to look at native advertisements rather than display ads. In addition, 18% of native ads that are served lead to an increased purchase intent and high engagement rates.
- Since native ads are baked into editorial content, you don’t have to worry about ad exhaustion. As long as the content is relevant and interesting, the ad itself will engage the audience and not tire them out.
- Most consumers know that native ads are a type of advertising, but they really don’t care. Stanford did a study where researchers found that native advertising doesn’t fool anyone.
Is It Successful?
Each advertiser wants to ensure their media dollars are being spent efficiently and that their medium is effectively achieving the campaign’s primary KPIs. The best thing about native advertising is that you are able to measure the ad’s effectiveness through data whether you utilize Yahoo! native ads and log-in to your dashboard or work with a vendor and get updated reports when you request them. Just ensure that you have your UTMs in place so you can see things on the back end like conversions and time spent on the page.
As mentioned before, native advertising performs stronger than traditional display ads because it builds trust through driving engagement to potential new customers. Click-through-rates on average tend to be 4x higher when utilizing premium native ads vs. display ads on a mobile device.
What’s Next?
If you have the chance to create your own media plan, make sure you review the media brief to determine what the campaign’s objectives are. If your goal is to drive users to your landing page and have them convert, native advertising should be included in the recommendation. Many clients like to hear that native advertisements provide great bang for the buck—it’s one of the most engaging units out there and only serves up content that’s relative to users. No wasting of media dollars with this approach. Remember, consumers are pretty smart and know when they see a native ad, the only reason why they engage with it is because it’s something they are more likely to click on!
Sources:
https://adespresso.com/blog/19-amazing-native-advertising-ad-examples/
https://ignitevisibility.com/native-advertising-why-it-is-the-next-big-thing-for-marketing/
