The Guide to Native Advertising: how does it work and popular native ad formats explained
There are several ways to advertise on the internet and one of the most popular of them all is native advertising.
While native advertising has been in existence for a long time now, it's recently that native ads are appearing everywhere, from social media platforms to news sites.
Advertisers want the maximum eyeballs and the highest returns. They are willing to experiment with newer techniques to get a high ROI and native ads appear to be offering them just that.
Native ads, just like other online ads, are designed to help companies sell more but without much brand exposure.
Native content is written in a way that it attracts users and forces them to even share it, as a result, it's more rewarding.
Native Advertising: The Definition
Native ads can be in the form of banners, social media posts or written articles. They adapt to the platform that they're built into and hence are not intrusive. As a result, users are typically not able to turn a blind eye to native ads. In fact, some can't even identify such ads.
They can be disguised as an infographic on social media, a video on your favorite platform, or an editorial on the blog you follow.
Native Advertising: The Trends
- Native advertising is growing by leaps and bounds and is expected to account for about 61% of all ad spend in the US.
- It's also leading when it comes to mobile ads as about 79% of all mobile ads expenditure is linked to native advertising.
- According to The Business Insider, native advertising is expected to hit the $ 21 billion mark by 2020.
- About 75% of all native ads are usually placed on Facebook and other social media platforms as they're popular when it comes to online ads.
Examples and Types of Native Advertising
According to the IAB classification, there are six types of native advertising. Native advertising includes:
- In-feed ads
- Paid search ads
- Recommendation content
- Promoted content
- IAB standard ads with "native" element ads
- Custom content
Let's understand some of the most common types of native advertising with real-life examples now.
In-feed Ads
These types of ads are located in the site's feed and look just like the feed so that it doesn't stand out and syncs well with the content.
It is different from in-feed social ads as it's found on the website and not social media pages.
These ads are customized based on the site and the user's requirements. These ads are typically used by big companies that use automated purchasing systems to buy impressions.
In-feed ads are very popular as they are placed in a vacant corner on the site that does not merge with other onsite ads and goes well with the editorial content placed on the page.
These ads can provide 10x more returns than other online ads including banner ads and 2x better CTRs than recommended content, which is also very popular.
Recommended Content
Recommended content is usually published on the site by using a widget that allows you to place an ad outside the feed to suggest related content to visitors.
The widget takes users to a different source with similar editorial content. It offers 20% higher returns than in-feed ads and is commonly used on major platforms like NYT and BuzzFeed.
As seen in the above example, you can find links below to more content. Clicking on these links will take you to another page.
This form of advertising is beneficial for advertisers as it gives them the opportunity to pay only for the clicks, making it more affordable.
Social Media In-feed Ads
These ads can be seen on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter and blend in with the original content found on the page. They have less space for creativity and non-customizable but provide better results.
With so many people now on social media platforms, these ads are heavily in demand. Advertisers only need to choose the right platform for buying native traffic and they’d be able to enjoy the benefits of native advertising.
The above is an example of how native ads look on the Facebook news feed.
Branded or Sponsored Content
This is a result of joint efforts between advertisers and publishers. It's a good example of native advertising as it helps promote business in a very neat manner without sounding salesy.
The above is a good and popular example of sponsored native ads, which are among the most popular types of online ads.
The Digital Implementation of Native Advertising
Native ads are already a huge part of online ads. They are available in different ad formats and sizes, hence suitable for all kinds of businesses. You can use these ads to increase sales and build brand awareness if you're going to make money online.
If you're thinking of using online ads to promote your business then native ads can be a good choice. Pay attention to the following factors and you'll enjoy all the benefits of native advertising:
- Choose from different forms and types of native advertising.
- Know your target audience and what you wish to achieve with the ad.
- Be attentive when measuring your ROI.
Native Advertising may sound a little complex but it isn't, especially due to the presence of demand-side-platforms (DSPs) that are connected with the supply-side platforms (SSPs), representing publishers.
This helps automate the process and makes everything quicker and easier. While buying traffic on DSPs Advertisers can choose the site and type of ad that they prefer. This helps them reach their marketing goals easily and within their budget.
Read also: Real-time bidding for Programmatic Advertising
Native Advertising is the future of online ads. It brings more leads and is easier to manage if you invest enough time to build everything right from the start. Consider native ads if you're serious about growing your business.
Want to integrate native advertising in your programmatic advertising strategy?
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