A lot of marketers are unaware of native advertising or, if they have come across it, don’t understand the difference between it and regular ads.
What is native advertising
The official definition of native advertising is that it is a form of advertising that is integrated seamlessly into the design of the platform on which it is displayed.
Native advertising as a type of paid advertisement that is designed to blend in with its surroundings so that it does not disrupt the viewing experience. This allows advertisers to create content that is more likely to catch the attention of viewers without being perceived as an advertisement.
Native advertising vs. Content marketing
Native advertising is designed to appear alongside other content on a website or other platform, without interrupting the viewer’s experience. Native ads are a way for new audiences to discover content through a trusted source with an existing audience. Rather than being the content itself, native advertising is a method of distributing it.
The content you create for your website or social media platforms should have a purpose, such as building a following, establishing yourself as an industry expert, or increasing engagement. Creating this content can also have the added benefit of improving sales.
Search engine native advertising
One of the most common types of native advertising can be seen on search engine result pages. The first results that come up are usually paid ads, but they look similar to all the other results on the page.
Native advertising on social media
A sponsored post on social media can be made to look like a regular post, with a label saying it is sponsored in the caption, content, or location stamp.
Benefits of native advertising
Native advertising’s ability to get users to pay attention is its biggest advantage. According to research, people think they are reading an editorial content piece when they see a native ad, and they spend the same amount of time reading it.
How to grow your business with native advertising
1. Label your native ads
You need to clearly label any advertisements as sponsored posts to maintain integrity and avoid deceiving your consumers.
This is especially true if you’re new to creating content. With your first few native ads, you might not strike the right balance between selling and pitching, so it definitely helps to have a clear label that lets you experiment a bit.
2. Be a guest blogger
You can promote your products or services by finding opportunities to act as an expert in your field and to have your content featured on other people’s blogs. In addition, you can use online tools like SEMrush to contribute your own written content for advertisements, and in doing so build up your reputation and authority among your target demographic and industry.
3. Pay others to write for you
If it weren’t for their knowledge of effective content marketing tools and their ability to write native advertisements, publishers wouldn’t be as successful as they are. Fortunately, DesignRush has created a comprehensive guide that will teach you how to develop an effective content marketing strategy.
4. Experiment with different native ad formats
There are many different types of native ads that you can use to promote your business, depending on what your goals are. Some options include in-feed native ads, paid search results, or simply promoting more of your existing content with content recommendations. Experiment with different types of native ads until you find the one that works best for your brand and business goals.
5. Choose the best headline
The headline is the most important part of the article. It determines the tone for the rest of the article and encourages people to read the article.
A helpful tip when you’re unsure about your headlines is to pretend you’re writing it for social media. Write something short, concise, and accurate that describes the article. Then, add an adjective and use active voice.
6. Be informative
Provide your readers with content that is educational and interesting so that they will continue to engage with your site. Write quality content that gives your readers useful information so that they feel like they have benefited from reading it. Try writing how-to guides and tips and tricks, as this type of content is often very successful in converting readers into customers.
7. Match the style and form
You have to match the style and format of a publication in order to create a successful native advertisement. Even though the labeling should clearly state that the post is sponsored, every other design, layout, topic, and tone of voice choice should subconsciously counteract that, enabling the user to perceive this paid ad as the regular content piece on that publisher’s website.
8. Sell, but don’t underdeliver
It’s important to find a balance when creating native advertising content. If you don’t make it clear what value your piece will provide, people may not read it or understand it. However, if you overpromise and don’t deliver, you could lose readers’ trust and business. Make sure to market your piece at the right level of value.
9. Guide the consumers of content
If you want to place a native ad, you have to be careful not to disrupt the flow of the content too much. The ad should be relevant to the consumer and fit in with the rest of the content. If it doesn’t, then you haven’t executed the project well and you need to try again.
10. Retarget users who engaged with native ads
Native ads are clicked on much more often than banner ads, so retargeting with display ads can improve results. Users who have interacted with a native ad are more receptive to display ads because they are already engaged with the product. Images and banners are processed quickly, but native ads leave a lasting impression.
10 Native advertising examples
1. Altran Engineering in the Financial Times
This ad combines the best aspects of digital advertising by using video, a human interest story, and by connecting it to a hi-tech figure like Elon Musk.
This video ad promoting Altran and the SpaceX competition has a very strong human angle to it, with the students and Altran staff working together to achieve success. The futuristic angle is also present, with the students working on designing a transport pod that could change transportation forever.
2. Land Rover — A Mini Suspense/Action Movie
Land Rover vehicles are promoted using diverse and impressive content marketing campaigns. A great example of this is the Dragon Challenge video , which is eye-catching, well-produced, and suspenseful. This video exemplifies what a successful native marketing campaign should be.
This ad features the world’s first attempt to drive a vehicle up the 999 steps leading to China’s Heaven’s Gate landmark. A specially fitted Range Rover SUV made it up the stairs at a 45-degree angle.
3. Eni Energy on CNN
Eni’s Green River Project, which improves the livelihoods of local communities in the Niger Delta through farming and livestock initiatives, is promoted through native ads on CNN.com. These ads feature picturesque green landscapes and link back to the Green River Project’s website, making it a great example of native advertising.
The website is designed to look like a story, with three sections: Past, Present, and Future. The content is a mix of different things like text, pictures, audio, video, personal stories, animations, and illustrations.
4. Mercedes in The Washington Post
An example of a native Mercedes campaign is designed to be smooth and clean in order to engage the user. The campaign is focused on how various technologies are turning people into “superhumans.” Some of these technologies include robotic exoskeleton suits, virtual reality in medical settings, and the Mercedes Benz E-class series that integrates the new Intelligent Drive system.
The quiz questions and hot spots make the content very interactive. A great thing about this campaign is how it easily creates a connection between Mercedes and the “superhuman.”
5. Viral Meme on VentureBeat
There’s nothing quite as viral as a meme, and they’re a great way to raise brand awareness. For example, during the recent “Laurel or Yanny?” debate, VentureBeat used the meme in their content to promote an upcoming Transform conference on artificial intelligence and analytics. They did this by using an AI device to finally settle the Laurel vs. Yanny debate.
VentureBeat published an article discussing how AI was used to determine whether a person heard the word “laurel” or “yanny” when the audio was played.
6. Allbirds in The New York Times
The New York Times focuses on creating an experience, not just a story. This is a great opportunity for native advertising to come into play. This paid post, The View From Above: Why Our Future May Depend On the Fate of Birds, was placed online and sponsored by the shoe company Allbirds. This example was placed as an in-feed/in-content ad on the platform’s newsfeed.
The bird population has declined by 3 billion since 1970. The article Allbirds is about how the company is focusing on sustainability to help the environment. Birds are declining in population by 3 billion since 1970.
7. Influencer Promotion on BBC.com
BBC Future is one of the BBC’s “storytelling” channels that connects brands to audiences. For example, a BBC article discusses the average face of an American politician is sponsored by a story.
The average face of an American politician is created by taking the composite images of all American politicians and using technology to perform “face averaging.”
This technology can be used to do research about what the average politician represents in terms of gender, race, etc.
8. Colored Corn on Business Inside
If you want your native content to be successful, one of the best things you can do is create a story. If that story is visual and colorful, that’s even better. For example, there is native content from Business Insider.
The article provides links to purchase the seeds from Native/SEARCH, a not-for-profit conservation company. The article is presented as a remarkable, colorful news story, though it is effectively a product sales page.
9. KPMG on Forbes
BrandVoice is a platform created by Forbes that allows brands to sponsor content and have ads placed natively on the site. Many well-known brands have their own BrandVoice channels, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SAP, Deloitte, and even the government of Japan.
KPMG has improved its native content on Forbes with a campaign called “The Great Rewrite.”
This book is about how different industries are being rewritten in a post-innovation age. It is big and bold, just like native advertising should be.
10. Orbit Gum on CollegeHumor
Native videos are a great form of advertising because they are entertaining and easy to blend in with traditional media. “Dating Footnotes” presented by Orbit was released before Valentine’s Day on the popular YouTube comedy channel CollegeHumor. It is short, funny, and takes advantage of the holiday.
This native ad by Orbit Gum fits perfectly into their history of fun, memorable commercials. This ad was able to blend well into the humor of the channel where it was posted and promoted Orbit Gum’s products without feeling like a regular commercial.
Native advertising and the future of content
The future of native advertising is expanding with more time and money being invested in it. Results have shown that it provides a strong return. However, ad blockers could shape its future. It’s possible that native advertising may be the one area that is spared from ad blockers.