Have you been hearing a lot about native advertising? In particular from various trade publications? So, what is native advertising?
According to Wikipedia “Native advertising is an online advertising method in which the advertiser attempts to gain attention by providing content in the context of the user’s experience. Native ad formats match both the form and function of the user experience in which it is placed.”
It’s basically sponsored content. Remember the advertorial pages of print advertising where your advertisement looked like editorial content? Or a paid advertising supplement? Well, native advertising is similar but in an online format. It could be anything from videos, images, articles, infographics, or even promoted tweets on Twitter. Even LinkedIn has gotten on the bandwagon and offers Sponsored Updates. So how do you effectively use this medium?
An important factor is to ensure that you retain your audience’s trust. You do not want to fool the readers that what you are promoting is actual editorial content. So you must have transparency. In fact, the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) recommends guidance and disclosure principles in “The Native Advertising Playbook” that was published in December 2013.
According to the IAB, there are basically six types of ad units available for sponsorship:
- In-feed units – Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter
- Paid search units – Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo
- Recommendation widgets – Taboola, Disqus, Gravity
- Promoted listings – Etsy, Foursquare, Google
- In-ad with native element units = Martini Media, Onespot
- Custom – such as Tumblr, Spofity, Pandora
For specific definitions of each type of ad, refer to the IAB Playbook.
Native advertising is a great way to engage your customers in a memorable way. It is gaining in popularity as the effectiveness of online advertising has dropped significantly in the past few years. Since it is focused on the user experience, it seamlessly weaves into consumer content. It appeals to the needs of the audience you are targeting.
Since native advertising is still in its infancy, many ad agencies shy away from it. It does have its challenges such as it must be tailored to each site where it will display. Right now it is non-scalable and must be customized.
If you have any experiences using native advertising, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to post your comments and share your examples.
