What is native advertising? How do Native Ads Work? Which Ads are Native and What Do They Look Like? What are the different types of Native Advertising? All of these questions and many more will be answered in this post. Just keep reading.
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What Is Native Advertising?
According to Wikipedia, native advertising is a type of advertising that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears. Simply put, these types of adverts are those that blend naturally with the content found in the platform they appear on, making them fit “natively” and seamlessly on the web page.
Unlike banner or display ads that are quick to spot, native ads are harder to spot because they don’t really look like ads. They blend into the native content of their platform, — such that they don’t distract users from interacting with the web page.
The key important factor of native advertising is to naturally present readers with promotional content without having to annoy readers. Since consumers are becoming more resistant to display and banner ads, it is a wise choice to make use of a strategy that they will be susceptible to — this is where native ads come into play.
This is the reason why Fortune 500 companies and even small startups tend to allocate more of their budgets of ad spending towards content marketing and non-disruptive ad formats “Native Advertising”.
According to PRNewswire, the global market for native ads is expected to hit $402B in annual revenue by 2025.
Read also: A Review of The Pricing and Conversions of Social Media Ads: Facebook Vs Instagram Vs Twitter
What are Native Ads and What Do They Look Like?
Due to the nature of native ads, people find it difficult to spot them on the web, especially when they come with some deceptive title like “From Around The Web”. This is all part of the concept of native ads – to place ads in a nonobstructive and relevant manner where they natively fit.
Native advertising is often featured as sponsored or recommended content on blogs and websites, appearing either beside or below an article or a page. This helps them blend in with your blog posts or content on your website. This type of advertising does not carry regular ad signs like subscribe, sign up, buy now, etc. Rather, you will see words like “recommended content, from around the world” sponsored posts, etc.
You can also see native ads appearing as “in-feed” ads, – this tends to blend with part of your news feed on social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Lastly, some native ads may also come in the form of search and promoted listings — this appears at the top or in the sidebar of your search results such as Google, or Bing search.
Below are the different types of native advertising.
Content recommendation ads
These types of native ads are displayed alongside editorial content or other ads in a recommended format. They are usually found beside an article or at the end of an article and feature different suggested ads or content.
Some of the words used for this type of ad include: Recommended by, Suggested post, Recommended for you, Sponsored, Recommended Stories, etc.
In-feed ads
These types of native ads are usually integrated into pieces of content, social feeds, or platforms. You‘ll see them blending smoothly with the publisher’s content — such that they don’t disrupt the user experience.
Search and promoted listing ads
We see this type a lot on search engines like Google and Bing. they tend to appear at the top or side of search engines — and are usually in text format. They appear based on the keyword a user types into the search address bar.
Custom native ads
This is when a native ad is integrated into the page’s content, – including the design, and behavior in a way that makes it feel like it belongs there naturally
Read also: Direct Advertising vs Programmatic Media Buying Ads
Why are Native Ads Important?
There are several reasons why native advertising is important in today’s online world. The fact that they appear in a format that helps users connect easily with them without seeing them as annoying as banners and display ads is a big game changer. They are also less intrusive than traditional ad formats such as banner ads. Also, native advertising’s contextual relevance over time has proven to produce a high Click-Through Rate (CTR) and boost conversions.
What Are The Benefits of Native Ads?
Native advertising has become a very essential part of online advertising for both B2B and B2C brands. — Since they are seen to have a very high conversion rate.
Irrespective of what you want to achieve with your advertising budget, for instance, (increase brand awareness or increase conversions). With native advertising, you will have a better opportunity — because it helps you connect directly with your target audience without disruption.
Below are some of the benefits of native advertising.
- It has proven to be more effective than display ads
According to statics, native ads gain about 53% more interaction than regular display ads. Coupled with that, it is also seen to have about an 18% increase in purchase intent — this is very true for the search and promoted listing ads. This generally increases business ROI.
- Eradicate banner blindness:
Natives advertising has also helped advertisers avoid banner blindness — and reach out to their target audience.
- People are happy with ads that provide relevance:
People love it when they see that your ads are relevant to them, even if they know it is an ad, they will still click. This is why it is proven to have a significant effect on purchase behavior.
According to a study from Stanford University, it is found that native advertising fools nobody. Even though consumers are well aware that they are viewing a form of advertising, this is because it provides relevance to the viewer.
- Native advertising fights ad fatigue:
This is one thing that display ads have not been able to resolve. When an audience sees an ad too many times, it becomes annoying and they just stop paying attention to it. Since native ads naturally blend with the site content and provide relevance to the viewer, there won’t be such a thing as ad fatigue.
In fact, native advertising will always engage the audience as long as the content is relevant and interesting.
- Boost content
Native advertising gives advertisers the opportunity to invest in the content they already have. Since most business use content for their SEO, this will be an added advantage to their content.
- Drives more sales
It has proven to help brands with already existing content to drive more sales and engage with their target audience.
Two Major Categories of Native Advertising
Native Video Advertising
Native video ads are one category of native advertising that really works well — and increases engagement. We already know how powerful video content is, and when combined with native ads, it gives you the best and most effective result in your advertising strategy.
Unlike the annoying video ads that pop up to disrupt your moment while surfing the web page, native video ads are served to readers based on their online browsing experience.
They tend to grab your attention and interest by offering relevant and interesting content in a natural and non-intrusive way even as you read through a web page.
Rather than seeing annoying videos pop up to disrupt you, you’ll see native video ads in the format of “click to watch” “click to view” or “recommended videos for your”. This allows the user to be well aware of the video content and if he does click — he will be open to watching and receiving your massage.
Programmatic Native Advertising
Programmatic native advertising gives you the ability to target and engage with the right consumers and increase your ROAS (Return On Ad Spend). — This makes it easy for you to scale your business.
They help brands and businesses engage their audiences with relevant, interesting, and compelling content via high-quality websites, targeted to users who are most likely to be interested.
It is important to note that the most vital aspect of programmatic native ads will depend on the goal, — are you looking to get customers to buy a product, download an ebook, request a demo, or watch a video? These are the things that make up your native ads.
Amazingly, the concept of programmatic native ads is very simple even though it sounds very complicated.
How Programmatic Native Advertising Work?
- You write original, high-quality content for your audience in your niche.
- Publish the content online, using a blog, website, or landing page.
- Run a native advertising campaign using a trusted network for example (MunchAds), — targeting high potential audiences.
- Consumers are drawn to your native ads while surfing the web, — they click on your native ad and land on your content.
- Finally, they read your content, become interested in your product, and finally, make the purchase.
The Behind The Scene Structure Of Native Ads
When a user visits a website — for instance, an online store that sells smartphones and laptops, but the user did not make any purchase. However, at a later time, the same user then visits their favorite blog or news website. The user suddenly sees native ads for different types of smartphones and laptops all over.
These native ads are placed in front of you with the help of RTB (Real-Time Bidding).
This means the company selling the smartphones and laptops has simply stated: “they want to show their ads on several blogs and websites – but only to visitors who previously visited my site and didn’t make a purchase”. This helps with better conversion.
It is important to note that while you run your native advertising, there is an advanced native ad-tech platform or network such as MunchAds that partners with blogs and websites all over the world. — This makes it easy to provide native ad space on their editorial pages for marketers to show native ads to consumers online.
Who benefits from native advertising?
There is a lot of potential with native ads — and every party involved benefits from native advertising. This includes the advertisers, publishers, and users
- Advertisers: they are able to reach audiences at highly impactful moments, — especially when they are open to discovering something new. This helps them meet the advertising target.
- Publishers: They can easily and happily monetize their sites without having to lose the quality of user experience.
- Users: native ads help users avoid disruptive and annoying displays and pop-up ads and banner ads, – they are happy to engage with the branded content they might like on their own terms.
Conclusion
Native advertising has greatly changed the online ads game. Giving users a better experience while providing relevant content that they will like.
Amazingly, it is an affordable way for brands and businesses to be featured on some of the world’s leading publisher sites, like Bloomberg, New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, Vanguard, The Sun, etc.
Although display ads have a cheaper Cost Per Click than native ads, the bottom line is that native ads perform way better and convert better as well, helping advertisers get a better ROAS (Return On Ad Spend).
