The latest trend to hit online advertising is a new method of target marketing, called “native advertising”. Native advertising enables advertisers to gain greater consumer interest by providing content that is linked directly to the user experience thus, removing the noise and making advertising feel less intrusive. This means that the advert becomes more desirable to a particular audience and most importantly for the advertiser, is directed specifically at the right audience.
Classed as a step on from more traditional advertising such as advertorials, native advertising is providing brands with the opportunity to offer something that is of interest to the reader and to ensure the brand message is clear. Advertisers are also now investing heavily in well written highly targeted approaches whereas in the past, advertorial had received a bad reputation for being of poor content quality.
Platforms including Twitter and Facebook are split in to two categories to form open and closed environments. For example, promoted tweets on Twitter, stories that feature on Facebook or videos on You Tube are categorised as closed platforms as the advertiser is creating profiles within a closed environment. Promoting the same advert or branded content across multiple platforms is commonly known as an open platform due to the fact that content is advertised outside on other social channels and across multiple platforms.
So how does native advertising fill the gap between brand publishing and banner advertising? Over the years, banner advertising has been silenced due to the fact that the audience has become used to seeing published ads in this format. It is banner advertising that sits in the background of every web page, mobile app, social network and so on, but research has shown that the consumer now skips them as quickly as they are viewed.
As online advertising has evolved, so has a need and recognition that a more targeted approach is required. Native advertising either through retargeting based on your web and mobile interactions or on behavioural capabilities is there to make a mark on the consumer’s perception in an unthreatening environment.
Think of your native environment as a busy street in the middle of New York. All the signs, sales people, stores are your banner advertising. Although they take your attention, you also skip them very quickly. Then, within this madness you suddenly see a friend that tells you; there is a sale at a particular location and you are intrigued. This is your native advertising unit. Your new found knowledge will either make you go for it or recall everything you have been exposed to and decide if it is worth your while or not.
This is of course not to say that paid placement takes value away from other advertising mediums. All campaigns should form part of a wider marketing strategy but if the advert is targeted correctly and brings relevance to the audience, then it will add more value in the long term. This is what is so cool about today’s web and mobile environments; as one can better evaluate using technology where his or her audience are to ensure the content they see is relevant.
The challenge however lies in the cross social capabilities. Native advertising is the concept of communication and it is important to recognise that even though the campaign is heavily targeted due to the native capabilities, the advertiser must take in to account that each platform is addressed independently. It is not a one size fits all method of communication and it is important to remember that audiences differ between social platforms, be it Facebook or Twitter.
In terms of user experience, what other engagement tools compare to Native Advertising? From community Management, Conversational Trends, to organic exposure of subject matters, the whole story of Owned, Paid, and Earned Media was a focus for last year and all play a very important role in understanding the user journey and experience whilst, all native activities of a brand that are not paid for are also included.
However, the advantages of Native Advertising over other digital advertising channels are clear. Users are exposed to native advertising in a more natural way within their day to day activities whereas traditional advertising channels are proven to be less and less affective, as users tend to just “skip” actually or emotionally through the messages that are being delivered.
To get it right, it is essential that the brand works with a performance advertiser that specialises in x-social in order to target the right audience at the right time and with the right message.
By Ithamar Sorek, VP Business Development at Glow Digital Media Limited.
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