Native Advertising
What Is Native Advertising?
Native advertising is a type of subtle, implicit advertising that users can’t identify as an “ad” because it blends in so well with the form and function of the platform in which it appears.
A native ad could be in the form of an article, a video, or an editorial. But in most cases, it will match the look and function of the media format to which it’s added.
The word “native” implies the coherence of such content with other media that appear on a platform.
Native ads can often be found in social media feeds or as recommended content on a web page. Unlike display ads or banner ads, native ads don't look like ads. They look like part of the editorial flow of the page.
To help elaborate further, let’s look at some examples of how native advertising is used.
Examples of Native Advertising
Here are some of the most popular forms of native advertising:
1. "In-Feed" Ads
These ads appear in the news feed of social apps and are built to look and function as organic posts. A sponsored post in your Instagram or Facebook feed is a great example of this format.
2. Paid Blog Posts
Paid blog posts can be offered as a native opportunity by large media companies through a blogging partnership platform. Published on a co-branded site page, such content is designed to look like collaborative, ongoing industry research rather than promotional material.
And since they allow users to delve in-depth into relevant, news-related topics, they can be quite enticing.
3. Content Recommendations
Recommended articles often appear in the form of widgets at the side of web pages. There’s usually a designated spot for sponsored content to appear on a site.
4. Search Ads
These ads appear in-stream and match the form and function of other entries on a search engine results page (SERP). These narrowly targeted placements are most commonly used to drive a direct response – a sale, download, or data capture.
Why Native Ads Are Effective
Native ads are intended to give your content higher visibility than it may get on your claimed channels. They can be more relevant and impactful than other forms of digital ads.
Here's how that happens:
Publishing content on trusted and respectable data sources offers a solid potential to draw in a more extensive crowd.
Since the substance is designed to share bits of knowledge and viewpoints instead of to sell your products, it's bound to sow seeds of positive insight for your business in the minds of audience members.
Likewise, native ads offer a high level of creative flexibility. You can join text, video, photographs, data visualizations, and even interactive features into your native ads. By providing viewers with rich, engaging content that blends into the publisher's organic feed, you can advertise in highly effective ways.
Also, because native ads are often managed through the publisher’s versatile self-service tools, they can be created, launched, and streamlined pretty quickly and altered to fit pretty much any spending plan.
Can You Identify Native Ads?
The entire concept of native advertising has to do with placing ads in a relevant and implicit context where they fit without giving the promotional factor away.
Native advertising is most likely to look just like the content surrounding it. And if a business’s goal is brand awareness, then it’s doubtful that you’ll see words you’re usually accustomed to in normal ads, such as “purchase,” “sign up,” or “subscribe.”
Therefore, it’s difficult for common users to recognize a native ad - if at all - unless they pay very close attention.
Key Takeaway
Overall, native advertising is a clever strategy to use to promote your brand to an audience without disrupting the regular flow of content they’re accustomed to. It can work on social media feeds, websites, and videos in ads that take the same format as the host media.
Native ads can be a great way to advertise your brand to wider audiences while also providing valuable content to them in return.