Native Advertising: Let Me Fill You In!

Have you ever wondered what native advertising is? Well, let me break it down for you. It’s this cool way of advertising that blends right in with the content you’re already checking out. I know, it sounds sneaky, but it’s actually pretty clever.

So, here’s the deal. Native advertising is like a chameleon. It takes on the appearance of the website or platform it’s on, so you might not even realize it’s an ad at first glance. Sneaky, right?

Now, you might be thinking, Isn’t that misleading? Good question! And you’re not alone in wondering. Native advertising is a bit controversial because it could be seen as tricking people into clicking on ads when they think they’re clicking on regular content.

But here’s the thing, native advertising is supposed to be transparent. It’s not trying to fool you or be shady. The idea is to provide you with helpful and relevant content that you’ll actually enjoy. It’s kind of like a win-win situation.

Let me give you an example. Imagine you’re reading an article about the latest tech gadgets. In the middle of the article, there’s a little section that talks about a specific smartphone. It might look like part of the article, but it’s actually an ad. However, it’s an ad that fits right in with the topic you’re already interested in.

See, the goal of native advertising is to blend in seamlessly with the surrounding content. It’s not meant to interrupt or distract you. It’s just there to provide you with more information or offer you something that you might be interested in.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. How do I know if something is a native ad or regular content? Great question! Publishers are required to clearly label native ads so you can tell the difference. It’s all about being transparent and making sure you know what you’re clicking on.

So, there you have it. Native advertising is this clever way of making ads blend in with the content you’re already checking out. It’s all about providing you with relevant information or offers without being intrusive. Pretty cool, right?

If you were to ask me to explain what native advertising is in a simple way, I would say: Native advertising is a type of online advertising that looks and acts like the platform it appears on. But that might not make much sense without some more information, so let’s take a look at some examples of native advertising.

Native advertising is meant to blend in with the content around it, so it can be difficult to recognize. Here are a few examples of native advertising that I’ve seen in the wild:

One type of native advertising is search engine ads. These ads are designed to look just like regular search results when you search for something online.

Discover Native Twitter Ads

Let me tell you about another type of native advertising called Twitter’s promoted tweets. Take a look at the example below, and you’ll notice that, except for the Promoted by text, a promoted tweet appears just like any other tweet you see on Twitter.

Get to Know Native News Feed Ads

Imagine scrolling through your favorite news website and discovering interesting posts that look like they belong right there, alongside the real news articles. These special posts are called native news feed ads, and they are cleverly placed within the publisher’s news feed. Let me show you an example:

• Sponsored – a brand pays a publisher to create the content.
• Branded – the brand creates the content and the publisher, well, publishes it.

Native Advertorial Ads

Advertorials might look like regular articles, but they’re actually made to promote a brand. These ads are popular both online and offline and have been around for a long time. Let me give you an example: Guinness’ Guide to series.

Native Video Ads

Let’s talk about native advertising. It’s not just about using words and pictures anymore – videos have become really popular too! Take a look at the cool First Long series created by Nike and shared on SBNation.

The Aims of Native Advertising

1. Planting a brand’s image firmly in the minds of consumers, just like the First Long video series did for Nike;
2. Urging consumers to take a specific action, similar to the search engine ads.

Why is Native Advertising Beneficial?

In today’s world, where ads are everywhere, consumers have become incredibly perceptive. They can spot advertising from a mile away, and except for ads during the Super Bowl, they tend to avoid them like the plague.

Furthermore, consumers often view the information presented in ads with skepticism. Because someone paid for it to be printed, spoken, or acted out, who knows how much fact-checking was done beforehand to ensure its accuracy?

I want to talk to you about native ads. See, these ads were created to solve a couple of problems. They’re designed to blend in with the content around them, so you might not even realize you’re looking at an ad.

• One benefit is that people are more likely to actually pay attention to these ads. They might read them or watch them because they don’t immediately look like ads.
• Another advantage is that when these ads resemble the content they’re placed next to, you start to trust the advertiser a little more. It’s like the publisher’s credibility rubs off on the brand.

But isn’t that a bit sneaky?

Some people argue that native advertising is deceitful. They say it’s meant to trick you into thinking you’re consuming regular content, not ads.

There’s a big discussion happening right now about the ethics of native advertising.

• It’s worth noting that these ads are usually labeled as Promoted or Sponsored to let you know they’re not regular content.
• I’ve noticed that labels like Promoted and Sponsored are often overlooked and they keep getting smaller. This can lead to confusion for consumers and sometimes even deceive them.
• Native advertising doesn’t really benefit publishers because it erodes the trust consumers have in their regular content, making them feel like the publishers have sold out.

Author Aside

Let me share an experience I had early in my career that might help settle this debate. When I was a young public relations account executive, I attended a special event called Meet the Press in New York City. There, the editorial staff from major publications each took turns telling us the best way to pitch our client’s stories to their publication.

So, this one time, I was attending an event, and this guy from a really radical publication started going off on us, accusing us PR folks of working against the greater good. He claimed that only those who could afford our services had their stories pitched to the media. But he didn’t stop there. He also blamed the media for being just as guilty because they would print our news releases without making any changes or fact-checking.

• Here’s the thing, publishers need to be upfront and clear about native ads being paid-for advertisements. This way, consumers won’t get confused.
• And brands, well, they need to provide useful information in their native ads while also making it clear that there’s a commercial goal behind it all.
• Hey, folks! It’s crucial for us consumers to know what’s real news and what’s an advertisement. Don’t worry, though! If the rules are being followed, native advertising should always be clearly labeled. Just look out for those Promoted or Sponsored tags.

So, what’s the deal with Content Marketing and Native Advertising?

Now, you might be wondering, Hey, isn’t native advertising just like content marketing?

Well, my friend, welcome to the never-ending debate about native advertising.

Both content marketing and native advertising use helpful content to promote a brand and get people to take action. But, really, that’s where the similarities end.

A wise person named Joe Pulizzi made a great point in a Content Marketing Institute post. He said:

“I hate to state the obvious, but let’s talk about native advertising. Native advertising is when a brand or person pays to have their content shown. If you didn’t pay for that spot, it’s not native advertising. Now, I know that brands sometimes choose to pay to promote their content, but that’s not the same as advertising. You don’t have to pay to create or gather content for your own platform. If you are doing that, you should really stop right now.”

The Ethics of Native Advertising: Navigating the Gray Area

Native advertising has become really popular in marketing because it blends in seamlessly with other content. But it also has some people questioning if it’s ethical. The big question is about being transparent and building trust with consumers.

Your Role as a Consumer: You also have an important role to play in this ethical dilemma. It’s crucial for you to actively differentiate between editorial content and native ads. By paying attention to the “Promoted” or “Sponsored” labels, you can make informed choices.

The Role of Publishers: Publishers have a responsibility to clearly distinguish native advertising from editorial content. If they fail to do so, it erodes the trust consumers place in their platform and can harm their reputation.

Understanding the Differences between Content Marketing and Native Advertising

In the world of marketing, it’s easy to get confused between content marketing and native advertising. Although both involve using content to promote a brand, there are significant differences:

Content Marketing: In content marketing, I create or find content for my platforms, like blogs or social media, without paying for it to be shown. It’s all about giving you valuable and interesting information.

Native Advertising: On the other hand, native advertising is different. With native advertising, brands pay to have their content shown alongside other content on someone else’s platform. But don’t worry, they have to let you know it’s an ad by using words like Promoted or Sponsored.

How to Tell if Native Advertising is Working

It’s important to know if native advertising is actually effective. So, let’s talk about how advertisers measure the success of their native advertising campaigns:

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR): When you see a native ad and decide to click on it, that’s called a click-through. CTR measures the percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. If lots of people are clicking on your ad, it usually means that it’s connecting with the people you want to reach.

2. Conversion Rate: When someone not only clicks on your ad, but also takes a specific action like buying something or signing up for a newsletter, that’s called a conversion. The conversion rate measures the percentage of people who do this after clicking on your ad. It shows how well your ad is getting people to do what you want them to do.

3. Engagement Metrics: There are a few things that can show how interested people are in your ad. For example, how much time they spend reading or watching your content, how far they scroll down the page, and how many times they share your ad on social media. If people are really engaged, it means that your content is interesting and connects with them.

5. Return on Investment (ROI): When I calculate the return on investment (ROI) for native advertising, I’m looking at how much money I make compared to how much I spend on the campaign. If I have a positive ROI, that means the campaign is making a profit.

6. Native Advertising Platforms’ Analytics: The native advertising platforms I use usually give me a bunch of data to analyze, like how many people saw the ads, how many clicked on them, and how engaged people were with the content. This information is really helpful because it helps me tweak my marketing strategies and make them better.

7. A/B Testing: When I do A/B testing, I’m trying out different versions of ads to see which ones my audience likes the most. It’s like an experiment where I change one thing at a time and see how people respond. This helps me figure out how to make my campaigns more effective and get better results.

Conclusion: Uncovering the Secrets of Native Ads

Let’s wrap things up and dive into the fascinating world of native ads. We’ve covered some key aspects that can help us understand their effectiveness and how to make them better. Now, let’s explore a few more ways to measure their success.

8. Customer Surveys and Feedback: It’s like talking directly with customers who have interacted with native ads. They can give us valuable insights and thoughts about what works and what needs improvement. Listening to their experiences is a goldmine of information!

9. Content Performance Metrics: Examining metrics related to the content itself can be very telling. We can look at things like bounce rate, pages per session, and scroll depth. These numbers help us understand how well the ads engage users and keep them interested in staying on the page.

10. Sales and Revenue Metrics: For businesses focused on selling products or services, tracking sales and revenue directly linked to interactions with native ads is a clear way to gauge success. It’s a direct measure of how effective our ads are at bringing in the bucks!

11. Quality Score: Some platforms, like Google Ads, play an interesting game with ads. They assign a Quality Score based on factors like relevance and performance. The higher our score, the more likely we are to pay less for ads and secure better placement. It’s like a secret recipe for success!

So there you have it! By utilizing customer feedback, examining content metrics, tracking sales, and keeping an eye on our Quality Score, we can unlock the potential of native ads like never before. It’s a world full of possibilities waiting for us to explore!

• When ads are presented in a native format, there is a higher chance that people will actually pay attention to them and engage with them.
• Additionally, using native advertising can lead to consumers trusting the publisher more, which can benefit the brand being advertised.

However, it’s important to recognize that there can be a negative side to native advertising. If an ad isn’t clearly marked as such, it can confuse consumers and make them think they are reading unbiased editorial content.

In the end, it’s up to both publishers and brands to clearly distinguish between editorial and native ad content. It’s also the responsibility of consumers to be aware of this distinction. When everyone takes responsibility, native advertising can be a win-win-win situation for all parties involved.