Updated April 24, 2023
What is Native Advertising?
Does the following article provide an outline for What is Native Advertising? How often have readers expressed anguish over too many ads appearing in newspapers and magazines? “There isn’t much to read these days in newspapers; it’s all advertising.” Regular TV viewers are also prone to lament the frequent break popular in-between programs to give space to ads.
In a free and democratic medium, advertisers always enable free viewing of TV programs and newspapers for a low cost of six Indian Rupees. Yet, most people don’t like to see advertisements, and their intention in reading a newspaper, website, or mobile is to gain more information and data.
Unlike a display ad, it may appear more objective and less distracting to a reader or website visitor. Here are some techniques to get the best out of Native Advertising.
8 Most Important Techniques of Native Advertising
Following are the techniques:
1. Have a journalistic bend of mind, not copywriter’s
A native advertising copy is written by a copywriter who tries to stick to the brief set by the accounts executive in consultation with the client. It also depends on the art and creative director’s discretion to allow text space in the native ads. The native ads or advertorials are more editorial-driven, which requires the mindset of a journalist.
Like in a news story, the native ad’s maker must have an excellent account to narrate that attracts and engages readers. It will be shared and discussed just as a news story. Data, quotes from an authority, and images must support it. It should have a great headline, intro, body text supported by data, and a reasonable conclusion creating an interest in the reader to learn more. It should have details of how contact information, pricing information, and where you can get it.
The marketing team should coordinate with the publication to determine when a topic related to the product is covered in the editorial. Sometimes publications decide on a particular topic and contact the prominent players in the industry to participate in advertorial or native advertising. If you can’t get the best people to write, ask the publisher if their content team can be roped in for the exercise. Media agencies are reportedly looking for people with a journalistic talent for doing native ad campaigns, which can be done by conventional copywriters.
Publications and websites are not the only places where native advertisement can be placed- online PR sites such as PRNewswire, PRLog, and Businesswire are seen by blog publishers, journalists, and editors. They are pioneers in commercial news distribution throughout the world. A journalist may get a story idea from your release posted on these PR news sites that could sow the seed of a good business story or technology story.
2. Pay attention to the quality and relevance of native advertising
A Huffington Post survey of experts revealed that their primary concerns are the ad’s relevance and how it is executed. It has to have the following qualities – innovative, creative, newsworthy, and authentic. Hire the best talent to write the copy or get it done by PR agencies who guide you on choosing keywords, intro and body text, video, etc. It must be relevant to the content context in which it is placed- for, e.g., a lingerie ad promotion may not go well with a topic of personal finance or health or nutrition but more with clothing or fashion. A compelling headline must be supported by good data or text to ensure the result is not disastrous.
Similarly, the marketer must consider the appropriate to deliver the native advertising platform. A technology product may be better suited for a technology publication and not in a women’s portal, a sports website, or a political news site. Work with publishers who have great content on their sites and who are willing to collaborate with marketers and ride piggyback on the brand equity of the website and their content. This ensures that the marketer gets visibility through high-ranking pages.
Huffington Post, Forbes, Men’s Health, Money, and CNN have all come up with native ads promotions. Look for sites with good search engine optimization (SEO) strategies and see whether their keyword sets or themes align with yours.
If you have identified the right publishing partner, it will also drive organic traffic after the campaign ends, as the content becomes part of the site’s ecosystem. Additional or continuing benefits come at no incremental cost to the marketer. Look at the website’s target audience and whether it fits with the native ads campaign objective. When discussing with the publisher, the following information can be sought: Will the publisher include it in their social media promotion, will they have it in their email newsletters, and what other distribution methods are included in the native advertising package?
3. Use the search engine and social media platforms for native advertising
Many people think of ‘advertorials’ or ‘native advertising’ as suitable only for print media and websites or blogs. But they ignore the vast possibility of residing in social media. ‘In-feed’ native advertising uses sponsored content to distinguish it from regular news feeds.
In social media platforms for native advertising, where the content is user-generated or made through a tie-up with publications, the differentiation between editorial and advertising is blurred. Moreover, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter users are comfortable seeing a mix of editorial and advertising content. The sponsored ad in the in-feed may link to a website, editorial content, or a published landing page with an assurance of guaranteed reach with a targeted audience. It is a campaign to end when the target is reached, and Facebook or other mediums will show how many people were born and how many viewed it.
Perhaps search engines like Google have a clear differentiation regarding editorial content and native advertising. One form of native advertising possible with Google is to show your ad on top of organic search results related to your topic or keywords. Such native advertising is to search and promote listings found on sites that do not have traditional editorial content, such as Google.
It is created to merge with the browsing experience and look similar to the content shown on that page. It offers guaranteed to reach, and the campaign ends when the target is achieved.
4. Use native advertising videos to get better reach
People are turning more visual than before, and hence video is becoming more popular as an ad medium. Facebook posts with video are more likely to be shared and liked apart from getting more reach than text-only or text-with-image feeds. According to experts, in-feed editorial and auto-playing videos are becoming standards in social media. As with text-based native ads, video ads should also be attractive, engaging, and newsworthy to be shared with a larger community of users of social media. The success of the native advertising video is measured by brand lift, how many viewers view it entirely (completion rates), and the percentage complete for those who don’t fully consider the video.
New pricing paradigms have evolved in native advertising video – CPCV (Cost Per Completed View) and CPV (Cost Per View). Native advertising videos can deliver brand value, allowing brands to put headlines and description text along with the video.
5. Use content recommendation widgets on websites
Some publishers provide content recommendation widgets on their sites that suggest alternate stories readers may read. It is integrated into the home page or relevant section page. Still, it does not appear exactly like the editorial in font size, color, or appearance, but it will have links to a landing page or a different site. It doesn’t guarantee any reach but helps in brand building and interaction. Since readers may be looking for more information about a particular topic, this widget attracts the right audience to your brand.
The content is presented as “ You might like,” “Recommended for you,” or “You may have missed,” sometimes the name of the sponsoring company is given along with the headline, or in third-party sourced content, it may have this title- Recommended by Outbrain/Taboola.
6. Understand the consumer, and tell the reader it’s sponsored content
According to the Huffington Post survey, many experts cited breaking consumer trust as an issue with native advertising. The reader must know and has the right to know whether the content is sponsored or under editorial. Unlike the traditional mass media ad, native advertising works best when the marketer understands the consumer, their interests, products, or services they are interested in.
The right strategy with native ads is not about delivering the marketing message but engaging the reader.
7. Use relevant tools to generate native advertising.
Just as in any other form of native advertising, some agencies have come up with apps that can instantly create native ads for different platforms. Sharethrough has Native Advertising Generators that can now convert your YouTube video URL (Universal Resource Locator) to place ads on mobile, desktop, and laptop.
8. Optimization and analysis of results
It is a collaborative venture between the publisher and the marketer. The number of impressions created may depend on the quality of the headline, and hence it has to be worked out with the publisher. The number of clicks depends on the quality of the text and data-if. The story is not performing well; it’s good to suggest changes. If the headline, text, or video are good enough, but sales conversion is not taking place, look at your landing page. It may not be user-friendly, and some elements may be missing. The landing page should have a great headline as it continues the native ad. Keep text to the minimum (say 100 words); the filled form should be above the fold, the offer or value for buying should be clearly stated, submit button text should be appealing and have a link to the privacy clause. Having a visual on the landing page enhances the appeal.
Advantages of Native Advertising
There are several reasons native ads are much better than conventional advertising – they are not distracting, less intrusive, and very relevant to the audience. Due to higher engagement, click-through rates are much higher, and considering the informative or news value attached to it, it is more likely to be shared by the readers. The primary driver of native ads is not a marketing message but quality content.
However, the native advertising industry is concerned over a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidance on native ads and the possibility of stricter regulation or ban. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has held that such ads should have proper disclosures distinguishing them from specific editorial content so that readers are not misled into believing otherwise.
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