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Native Advertising

June 7th, 2015

What’sNativeAdvertising?

Nativeadvertisingrepresentsafundamentalturningpointintheevolutionofdigitaladvertising–itoutlinesthetransformationfromintrusivepre-adolescentdisplayadstothecohesivematurityofdigitaladswithorganiccontent,whichimprovestheaudience’sbrowsingexperience.Itprovidesadvertisersandpublishersamoreeffectivewaytodeliverpaidadsthatincreaseengagement,brandlift,andreachthantraditionalbannerads.

Intermsofincreasingreach,sincenativeadunitsaremorevisuallyengaging,25%moreconsumersweremeasuredtolookatnativeadunitsthandisplayunits,andconsumerslookedatnativeads53%morefrequentlythandisplayads.Nativeadunitsalsodrivehigherbrandliftthanbanneradswithan18%higherliftinpurchaseintentand9%higherlifeinbrandaffinity.Moreover,nativeadsaremoreshare-worthyandhavemorepotentialtogoviral;therefore,theyincreasehigherreachandpenetrationthandisplayunits.Infact,32%ofconsumersarewillingtosharenativepaidcontentwithfamilyandfriendsversusamere19%fordisplayads.Bydeliveringscalable,share-worthypaidcontentthatisconsistentwiththesurroundingfunctionanddesign,nativeadvertisinghelpsadvertisersandpublishersbetterachievetheirgoalsinleveraginguserexperiencesaswellasincreasingadeffectiveness.

Mobile is an Opportunity

Consumerattentionhasbecomeincreasinglyelusiveasmobileadoptionandusagegrows.Sincenativeadvertisingisvisuallyengagingandcommandsfocusandattention,itcanbeaneffectivemethodforadvertiserstobetterengagewithhighly-distractedaudiences.Infact,mobilenativeadsarereportedtohavea57%higherCTRanda33%higherengagementthandesktopnativeads.Therefore,asmoreandmoreaudiencesareconsumingcontentthroughmobiledevices,nativeadvertisingwithcross-platformcapabilitiesisinevitablybecomingakeypartofadvertisers’contentmarketingstrategyin2015.

Challenges

Bothadagenciesandadvertisersmayfaceafewchallengesalongwithfavorableadeffectswithnativeadvertising.Foragencies,sinceeveryplatformhasauniquewayofpresentingpaidcontent,itmightbechallengingtofindageneraladformattoadhereto.Therefore,followingthe“principlesofnativeadvertising”thatwillbecoveredinthenextsectioniskeytocreatingcontentthatiseasytoscalebetweenvariouspublishersandadplatforms.Also,sincetrackingandmeasuringresultsfromeachindividualplatformmaybedifficult,determiningnativecampaignobjectivesinordertocallforthebestmetricsacrossvariousplatformsbecomescrucial.

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Foradvertisers,becauseoneofthekeycomponentsofeffectivenativeadvertisingiscoherencewithsurroundingorganiccontent,theymighthavelesscontroloverthecontentitselfaswellasmarketingmessageswithinthecontentwhilecollaboratingwithpublisherstoproducepaidcontent.Thatistosay,advertisersshouldamplifythevalueofpaidcontentbycreatingquality,share-worthycontentthatistailoredtoeachindividualpublisher.

ContentPrinciples

TypesofNativeAdvertising

1.In-feedSponsoredContent:

Designedtofitnaturallyinapublisher’sfeedtoprovidesimilaruserexperience,matchinguserexpectationswithestablishedorganiccontentpatterns.

o SponsoredStory-Mimicstheformandfunctionoforganiceditorialcontentinnewsfeeds.

ExampleI:Desktop

ExampleII:Mobile

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o SocialAd-Takestheformoforganiccontentandmakesadunitssimilartowhattheaudienceexpectfromafriendtoincreasetrustandopportunityforengagement.

2.PromotionalListings:

Appearalongwithsearchresultsornon-editorialcontentandarepresentedinaformatandfeelsimilartoorganiclistings,aimingtodriveimmediateengagement.

o PromotionalDisplay–Designtofitseamlesslyintotheproduct-focusedexperiencewithlinkstoaproductpage.1

ExampleI:Etsydisplayspromotionalproductlistingsaspartofthesearchresults.

1 Native Advertising Insights -Research, Infographics and Resources. sharethrough. Retrieved from https://www.sharethrough.com/nativeadvertising/

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ExampleII:AmazonshowcasesSponsoredProductsbasedonauser’srecentactivitiesonthesite.

o PaidSearchUnits–AppearnexttoorganicsearchresultswithCTAstodrivetraffictoapage.

ExampleI:Searchengines

ExampleII:PromotedsearchlistingofTheSalvationArmyonYouTube

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3.RecommendationWidgets:

Apreviewofpromotedcontentfeaturedinrecommendationwidgetsonvarioussites.Thesewidgetstendtoalwayslookthesamefromsitetosite,andthenativeexperiencecomesfromtheconsistentuserexperienceacrossmanysites,whichallowsthemtoblendin.2

ExampleI:DailyFinance

ExampleII:StarMagazine

2TheSixCoreTypesofNativeAds.Flite.Retrievedfromhttp://blog.flite.com/home/2014/3/25/the-six-core-types-of-native-ads#.VS1mZc6FFUQ=

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4.EmbeddedBanners:

ComeinstandardIABcontainers(e.g.300x600banners)andcontaincontextuallyrelevantcontentwithintheadwithlinkstoanoffsitepage.

ExampleI:WhoWhatWeardisplayscontextuallyrelevantbanneradsontheirlandingpagewithlinkstoapageoffofthesite.

ExampleII:Recipe.comembedsbanneradsthatarecontextuallyrelevanttoapagewithlinkstoanoffsitepage.

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5.ProprietaryNativeUnits:

Customizednativeunitstailoredtoaspecificplatformtoprovideuniquecontentexperienceexclusivelyfortheplatform.

ExampleI:PandoraworkedwithGatoradetocreatethreebrandedworkoutstationsassociatedwiththebrand’sGseries.

ExampleII:SpotifylaunchedAppFinder,enablingbrandssuchasRollingStoneandPitchforktobuildabrandedpageandpromoteplaylistswithinSpotify.

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ExampleIII:DuringthestoryflippingprocessonFlipboard,adsthatarehighlyrelevanttoatopicthatauseriscurrentlyflippingpopup,withlinksoffoftheapp.

PrinciplesofNativeAdvertising

1.Non-intrusiveDesign:Designnaturalpromotedcontenttoblendinseamlesslyintothesurroundingorganiccontent,aimingtoprovidealess-interruptivebrowsingexperience.

2.Shareworthyness:Createshare-worthy,scalablecontenttoprovidethesamevalueandrelevancyasanyotherorganiccontent.

3.ConsistentFunctionwithSurroundings:Thetypeofcontent(e.g.videoorstory)andintendedbehaviors(e.g.linktoanarticle)providedbynativeadunitsshouldfunctionthesamewayasthesurroundingorganiccontent.

4.AdTransparency:Disclosurelanguagesuchas“sponsored”or“promoted”isrequired.

5.Cross-platformAccessibility.AsmobilenativeplacementshaveaCTRone-thirdhigherthanidenticaldesktopplacements3,beingabletoprovidecross-platformnativeadunitsiscrucial.

LandingPageGuidelines

1.LinktoanExistingWebsite:NativeadunitswithclearCTAdirectuserstoalandingpagedisplayingcontentexpectedbyuserswithinanexistingbrandwebsite.

Example:EssieonWhoWhatWear

3 Slate Adds Scale to Native with Polar. AdExchanger. Retrieved from http://adexchanger.com/native-advertising-2/slate-adds-scale-to-native-with-polar/

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2.LinktoaCampaignLandingPage:NativeadunitswithclearCTAdirectuserstoalandingpagedesignedexclusivelyforacampaign.

Example:JollyTime“UnplugPopConnect”

3.LinktoaPostwithoutLeavingtheSite:Sponsoredcontentthatfitsintothesurroundingsanddirectsuserstoaquality,share-worthypostwithouthavingtoleavethesite.

Example:Boudreaux’sButtPasteonSkinnyMom