If you are a business owner, you know that there are many options for attracting customers online. Social media posts, banner advertising, and pay-per-click ads are all good options, but an increasingly common and even more effective option is native content advertising. One reason why native content advertising is so effective is because it doesn't look like typical advertising.

Native content advertising has become a hot topic over the last couple of years. What exactly is it? And why would anyone want to use it?

 

What is Native Advertising?

The term “Native advertising” has been around since 2011, but it has only really taken off recently. Native advertising is basically a way of marketing advertising content that is designed and placed in a way that makes it look like regular content. For example, instead of using banner ads or text links in a sidebar, which many readers have learned to ignore, advertisers might include images, video, or even audio within the body or at the end of an article. This type of content is often called native because it appears naturally within the context of the page where it was published.

Native advertising is not the same thing as content marketing, however. Whereas content marketing is a type of inbound marketing strategy that involves creating content (which has been created for free or for a price) and then drawing an audience to it, native advertising or native content advertising is a form of paid content that appeals to an audience that has already been cultivated by a third-party platform.

For example, a content marketer might write an article “A” and then publish and promote it on their blog and social media accounts, whereas a native content creator might create an article “B” that gets published as a piece of writing on someone else’s blog, to be read in addition to another piece of published writing on that blog. In other words, article “B” would appear at the end of an article that has already been published on someone else’s blog, as a type of “further reading.” Alternatively, a native content creator might pay a publisher to create an ad or piece of media to promote on the publisher’s website. The publisher would post that ad or piece of media on his website, either in the middle or at the end of an article that has already been published, ensuring that article “B” is placed in such a way as to match the design content, and platform of the website it appears on.

 

What are some different kinds of native ads?

Native ads often come in one of 3 forms: “in feed” ads that appear in the middle of a social media feed or a blog article, “promoted listings” that appear at the top of Google search results or in the sidebar of a Google search page, or “content recommendations” that appear at the end of a blog article as a recommendation for further reading.

In feed ads may be labeled “sponsored” and appear in line with other forms of similar content (ads, editorial content or posts). Sometimes they’ll appear in your social media feed as sponsored content. Promoted listings often appear on online shopping pages as products that are similar to the ones you have just been searching for. They are made to look organic, but they reflect products that advertisers have paid to have appear on the pages you’re looking at. You have also seen promoted listings on Google search pages. Do a Google search and look at the top few results. Most likely these will be labeled “Ad” in bold print: they are promotions that advertisers have paid to appear at the top of Google search results.

Content recommendations are an especially interesting form of native advertising because they read just like any other blog post. When you finish reading one article you are more likely to read related content. Although that related content may not be explicitly promoting a product, it is drawing traffic to the advertiser’s website, increasing awareness of that advertiser’s brand, and making it more likely that readers will remember and revisit the advertiser’s website.

 

How They Work and Why They Are Effective

There are several reasons why businesses should start using native advertising now. First, they provide a better user experience for visitors to a website. Second, they allow brands to reach audiences who are already interested in their products. Third, they can be more cost-effective than traditional forms of advertising. Finally, they enable companies to create more effective ad campaigns. Let’s take a look at each of these points in more detail.

 

1. A Better User Experience

One of the main benefits of native advertising is that it provides users with a great overall experience. When people see native advertisements, they don’t feel as if they are being sold to. Instead, they believe that the post is written by someone who genuinely cares about their online experience and wants to share something that is relevant, engaging, and useful for them. This is because the content of a native ad matches the form, appearance, and general subject matter (or category of information) as the media on which it appears. Therefore, native advertising content is often perceived as being more trustworthy and less intrusive when compared to other types of ads.

Matching the overall appearance of the media in which your native content ad appears is especially important when it comes to social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other sites have made it clear that they do not want businesses or marketers to spam their users. In fact, when you are working with a publisher to create a native ad for your website or business, it’s important to make sure that they do not spam social media in order to publicize your content. Doing so can get your website banned from some social media platforms and will create a user experience that is less than ideal.

2. Reach Interested Audiences

Another benefit of native advertising is that they can target specific audiences. Businesses can identify which types of individuals are most likely to respond well to certain kinds of content. They can then use this information to craft targeted messages and advertisements that speak directly to those groups. In the digital age, great content is the key to driving revenue. Native ads offer marketers a way to build trust with their audience while delivering branded content that's valuable to their business. The beauty of native ads is that they can be personalized for your audience, and they provide brands with the ability to capture a coveted consumer's attention in their desired format.

Native ads are a great way to reach people who may already be interested in your products. These kinds of ads target users that are already on the site and want to see the kind of content or products you are offering. For example, if a user is viewing an article about solar energy, an ad for solar panels may show up within the body or at the bottom of that article. Since the ad is positioned in or just below the article, it gets a lot of visibility and readers are more likely to engage with it.

3. More cost effective

Because native ads are more targeted than many other forms of advertising, they often cost less per engagement. This makes them ideal for businesses that want to ramp up their marketing efforts without going over budget. Native ads costs typically follow one of several models: a scalable pricing model, a creation+distribution model, or a fixed-price, time-based model.

Scalable pricing models can be tricky for advertisers that are new to native advertising, because they are based on performance of the ad (or expected performance). Scalable pricing models may charge at rates measured as cost per click (CPC), cost per view (CPV), cost per mille (CPM - i.e., cost per 1000 impressions), or sometimes even as cost per day (CPD). The creation+distribution pricing model is based on the publisher’s creation of the ad plus its distribution on the publisher’s website. In this model a publisher may charge separate fees for each of these services or may combine the two into one fee. The fixed price, time-based model is just as it sounds: there is a set cost for the ad (which may vary depending on the size of the ad) plus the number of weeks or months it will remain up on the publisher’s website. Sometimes it makes more sense for a company that is seeking to increase its customer base to keep a native ad up for several months, or to place ads for the same product on more than one page on a publisher’s website to increase its visibility with that publisher’s audience.

In many cases, native advertising is less expensive than traditional forms of advertising, which makes it ideal for small businesses that don’t have a big budget available to spend on traditional marketing campaigns.

4. Create better ad campaigns

Native content ads work best for companies that already have a lot of content to share, whether this is in the form of blog posts, long-form articles, or videos. Having a story you can tell is something readers find especially compelling. Although many brands try to use backlinks and SEO to improve their Google page ranking or get more traffic to their website, these methods work best when combined with the effort to truly engage your audience. After all, what is the point of driving readers to your website if you are not offering the kind of content those readers are looking for?

Savvy online marketers know that most website visitors have learned to tune out sidebar banner ads, since they are so ubiquitous. Many web browsers are also annoyed by intrusive pop-ups that disrupt their browsing experience and may close them out before they've read the content.

5. Build brand awareness

If you are trying to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, then having your name associated with high quality content is a great way to do that. When people search for information about your products or services

Native ads have a higher viewability rate -- as much as 53% higher-- than other types of digital advertising. Native advertising has been shown to increase purchase intent by around 18%, providing a similar, or even slightly better, viewing experience than the original editorial content itself. Studies show that native advertisements perform better than banner advertisements. As a result, more small businesses have begun turning to native advertising campaigns to spread awareness of their products without turning potential customers off.

How do you create an effective native advertising strategy?

Creating a native ad strategy that converts isn't as simple as designing an ad and posting it to a website. It's important to understand how different types of audiences respond to different types of ads, such as text ads versus video ads. You'll need to consider how much information you want to provide to users, how often you want to run the ad, and how much money you're willing to invest in the campaign.

What are your goals?

Before you start planning your native advertising campaign, think about what you hope to accomplish. Are you hoping to drive more traffic to your site? Do you want to encourage people to buy from your store? Do you want to increase the number of active users on your website? Are you promoting a sale? Are you trying to reach new audiences? Maybe you'd like to generate leads for your sales team. Whatever your goal, make sure you know exactly what you expect to happen before you begin creating your native advertising plan.

Who do you want to reach?

Once you've decided what you want to achieve through your native advertising campaign, you'll need to decide who you want to target. Is your brand aimed at men or women? Young adults or older consumers? People who live in certain states or countries? Knowing who your target market is will help you determine what type of ad works best for them. For example, if you sell solar panels, you might choose to advertise to homeowners who are interested in switching over to solar energy. If you sell gardening tools or seeds, you'll want to find out which websites gardeners visit on a regular basis.

You may also be able to narrow down your target market based on demographics. For instance, if you sell organic food, you could target people who shop at Whole Foods Market. This would allow you to better tailor your message to the specific needs of your customer base.

You may also be able to narrow down your target market based on demographics. For instance, if you sell organic food, you could target people who are concerned about eating healthy. Or perhaps you sell pet supplies, so you could target dog owners who are looking for a new collar.

Whatever the case, take some time to find out who your target audience is and where they hang out online. Once you figure this out, you can begin developing your native advertising strategy.

How to reach your audience

Once you've figured out what you want to achieve, you can determine the type of native ads you want to create. There are three main categories of native ads: product placement, sponsored stories, and native advertisements.

Product placement

Product placement is probably the least well known of the three types of native advertising. This type of ad features a brand name or logo next to something else — usually a piece of content. The idea behind this kind of ad is to get your brand noticed by potential customers while providing value to those same customers.

For example, if you sell organic foods, you could place your logo next to a blog post written by someone who has recently switched to an organic diet. By doing this, you're showing your brand's support for the organic food industry without being too pushy with your own products.

Sponsored Stories

A sponsored story is similar to a standard article on a website, except that it includes a link to your company's website. When readers click on the link, they land on your page instead of the page where the article was published. Sponsored stories are great for driving traffic to your site, since they provide a way for you to directly connect with your customers and show them what you're all about.

Native advertisements

Now we come to native advertisements. As described above, these are ads that appear within other apps or websites. They can be static ads or in-feed video ads. They often include links back to your own website, so like sponsored stories, they're a great way to drive traffic back to your site.

A native advertisement (also called "native" or "sponsored") is a bit different from other forms of native advertising. Instead of placing your logo next to another piece of content, you actually create the content yourself, or you may be able to pay the publisher to do this for you. You purchase a slot from a publisher, and then write a short description of your ad, or ask the publisher to do this for you. It's best to use your branded colors, logo, and fonts, or some approximation of this.

This means that when readers see your ad, they'll think it's part of the original content, not a separate entity. That makes it easier for them to trust your message and feel comfortable clicking through to your website.

The key thing to remember here is that you don't have much control over how your ad will be displayed. You should request to see a copy of the ad before it goes live, and ask as many questions as you need to in order to feel comfortable about the ad. After all, it is a representation of your brand.

Include social proof

Social proof refers to any evidence that people believe others are acting in a certain way. For example, if you run a restaurant, you might put up pictures of happy patrons on Facebook or another social platform. Or if you're selling clothes, you might share photos of models wearing your clothing.

In both cases, you're using social proof to convince people that your restaurant/clothes are good quality and can be trusted. Social proof is one of the most powerful ways to make people believe in your brand. People tend to trust brands that others trust, especially if those people are famous. So, if you can find a way to incorporate social proof into your native ads, you'll increase their effectiveness.

You can accomplish this in several ways. For example, you might ask influencers to share your ad on their social networks. Or you might offer free samples of your product to bloggers who mention your brand in their articles.

You can also add social proof to your ads using images. A picture speaks louder than words, after all. In fact, studies have shown that pictures are more persuasive than text alone on social platforms.

So, if you want to give your ads a boost, you should consider adding at least a single image ad to engage active users. On the other hand, multiple image ads can really pack a punch.

What messages work best?

Native advertising usually consists of two main components: the creative element, which includes everything from the headline to the images used in the ad; and the copy, which is written directly into the ad itself. The copy is typically short and concise, and it focuses on one particular point of interest.

For example, if you sell shoes made from recycled materials, you might focus on the comfort of the shoe, the fact that the materials used to make it were diverted from landfills, or the fact that a portion of proceeds from each sale goes to support an environmental charity (if that is indeed true). Whatever the case, the copy should clearly communicate what the advertiser wants its audience to know.

There are three main types of copy that you can use in native advertising:

1) Product information

2) Call to action

3) Storytelling

Product Information

Product information is probably the simplest type of copy to write. It simply tells potential customers what exactly the advertiser offers.

For example, let's say you own a dog grooming salon. Your copy could read something like this: "We offer professional dog grooming services." This is straightforward, direct, and easy to understand.

Call To Action

Call to actions are instructions that tell readers how they can take advantage of a specific offer. They often appear as buttons or links at the bottom of an ad.

If you sell shoes, for example, you might include a call to action that reads, "Buy our shoes today!" This is a strong call to action because it makes it clear that clicking will lead to purchasing the advertised item.

Storytelling

Stories are a great way to connect with audiences. They allow advertisers to create emotional connections between themselves and their products or services.

A story about a customer who has been helped by your company is likely to resonate much better with viewers than a list of features.

When writing stories, keep these points in mind:

• Keep them brief – Stories need to be quick and snappy!

• Use language that resonates with people – Don't just talk about yourself, talk about others too.

• Make sure the message is consistent across all channels you may be using – you don't want to confuse viewers when they see your ads in different places.

  
  
  

Adopt Native Advertising as Part of Your Marketing Strategy Today

According to Insider Intelligence, native advertising is projected to reach $87.6 billion in 2022 and is forecasted to grow by almost 14% in 2023. Although many businesses and bloggers are still new to the concept of native advertising, it is fast becoming a format of choice for savvy businesses and even bloggers seeking to expand their audiences and get the word out about their brand.

Native ad formats solve some of the issues that have caused diminished returns in other parts of digital advertising. They're highly targetted, seamlessly integrated into the page or stream, and tend to generate more conversion than other types of campaigns

At Green and Prosperous, we take the time to understand your target audience and develop tailor-made native ads to drive more leads and sales for your business. Get more info about our native ads here: https://www.greenandsuccessful.com/banners/native-ads/, then get in touch with us to see what we can do for your business or blog!

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