Digital Advertising Alert: Is it Time to Go Native?

Digital marketing is moving fast.

Constant shifts with Google’s algorithm and a reduction of reach in social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter has meant it is more challenging than ever for content to get noticed.

Enter native advertising.

Native advertising is the latest trend in digital marketing that makes your content get attention fast.

But what is native advertising and what’s the point?

Native advertising is a paid form of advertising that looks like it fits very naturally on a page and feels like it is part of the other types of content on the page.

For a formal definition, the International Advertising Bureau (IAB) describes native advertising as paid ads that are so cohesive with the page content that they are assimilated into the design and consistent with the with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels they they belong.

The big opportunity with native advertising is to be able to speak naturally to your audience.  It’s a way of promoting promoting your content in the context of what they are already reading.

Did I mention it’s also a powerful way to generate leads!

In truth though, the concept is not new.  Most people would be familiar with native advertising’s older cousin – the advertorial – often seen in magazines and television programs like The Morning Show.

However there is less awareness of this form of advertising in the online world.

The fact is native advertising is rapidly growing.

Some of the types of advertising that readers will be more familiar are Facebook sponsored posts, Twitter promoted tweets (not yet available in Australia) and LinkedIn’s Sponsored Content including the newer Direct Sponsored Content– all of which are forms of native advertising.

facebook sponsored post
Facebook Sponsored Post
Twitter Ad
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
LinkedIn Sponsored Content

Other forms of native advertising, are paid search units like those shown by Google AdWords (as seen below), Bing and Yahoo and promoted listings like those seen on Amazon below.

google ad
Google AdWords Search Ad
amazon product ad
Amazon Sponsored Product Ad

Other less commonly known forms are recommendation widgets which you may have seen on sites like Forbes, Inc.com and BusinessInsider. You may have noticed some segments on Inc.com that show content “from the web” or Sponsored content on business insider or Sponsored Stories on Forbes.

As you can see by the ad seen on Inc.com below, you will notice that it is promoting content from the Drive.com.au.

inc from the web ad
“From the web” ad as seen on Inc.com

Business Insider has a carousel widget that promotes content on Gizmodo and Lifehacker.

business insider carousel
Business Insider Carousel Widget

In a similar vein, the ad spotted on Forbes is promoting content from Career One, The Australian Financial Review and even the BBC.

forbes sponsored content
Forbes Sponsored Stores

How do consumers feel about native advertising?

According to a study by Contently, over 50% of consumers did not understand what the label “Sponsored content” actually meant when seen on an online news site.

Yet there was a disconnect between understanding and trust with some of the main findings indicating:

  • Two-thirds of readers have felt deceived upon realizing that an article or video was sponsored by a brand.
  • 54 percent of readers don’t trust sponsored content.
  • 59 percent of readers believe a news site loses credibility if it runs articles sponsored by a brand.
  • As education level increases, so does mistrust of sponsored content.
  • And yet, respondents rated branded content as more trustworthy than Fox News, and nearly equally trustworthy as MSNBC, indicating that content has a mistrust problem overall.

Clearly there are low levels of trust not only from content sponsored by brands but also from the Fox news site.

Interestingly, the study did not reveal how trust was affected by content type or content medium.

Presumably, content on news sites that is less self serving and more educational is a likely to be more trustworthy.  Conversely, sponsored content on Facebook may be more accepted since the news feed tends to show a lot more ads.

Either way, we think it is wise is to ensure that any content  has a well thought out promotional strategy in place – the preference being to promote content that is educational rather than self-serving if brand image is a major consideration.

Who can take advantage of native advertising?

As native advertising goes mainstream, its becoming clear that virtually any business or brand can access it. It makes it possible for any brand, large or small, to promote their content. The good news is that you don’t have to be a publisher to get a lot of eyeballs on your content.

The critical issue is in ensuring that you have a well thought out content strategy in place.

You can learn more about these different advertising formats from the IAB native advertising playbook.