In recent years brands have increased the quantity and quality of content they produce, in an attempt to offer multiple opportunities for users to engage and transact with the brand. This is not to say that all brands are doing this yet, or doing it well to that matter but there are now more ways in which to market this content.
Companies like Snapchat, Periscope as well as content amplification tools such as Outbrain are helping to offer new opportunities for brands but this also increases their work load so agencies are helping their clients to lead the content revolution.
Content amplification is the process of taking a piece of branded material, usually housed on a brand’s website or owned property (YouTube channel etc.) and pushing it out to new audiences. The amplified content sits within environments such as Facebook or news sites and looks like normal editorial content (native) but is clearly marked as advertising. For instance on the Guardian, after reading and article you’ll be shown the option to browse ‘more content from around the web’. When a user clicks on this link, they are directed to the branded content and at this point the brand will pay for that traffic.
The benefit of native advertising over traditional advertising (search, display, video etc.) is that it feels less intrusive, especially when the user is directed to relevant and engaging content rather than a product page.
Content amplification and native advertising has really taken off and while the overall share of ad spend is still relatively low (9.2% in 2014) this is expected to grow to 15% by the end of 2015 and continue to increase each year. New research shows that more than half (57%) of under 34s will engage with native ads if the concept appeals to them – regardless of whether that content has been paid for or sponsored.
This form of native advertising has benefited from the proliferation of digital tools and tactics, allowing for campaigns to be easily tracked and optimised. You can now see what type of content works best; images vs video, short form vs long form, listicle vs standard editorial. By understanding what users respond best to, brands can adapt their content strategy and improve the effectiveness of the campaign. We are starting to see that once a user engages with a brand through content the value of that consumer to the brand increases, as they are more familiar and have bought into the brand.
European research has unmasks elements to success with native ads:
1. Headline text – Those containing numbers were twice as engaging as those without and those that don’t overtly mention the brand also engaged better
2. Length of headlines – Longer headlines work better, 36% engaged with headlines between 70 – 90 characters whereas only 19% engaged with headlines of 20 to 40 characters
3. Above the fold – Getting content above the fold helps engagement with it being 56% higher than those where the user has to scroll down to view
4. Unique content – 90% of video ads were simply an edit of a TV ad, brands that create bespoke/tailored content for online can set themselves apart and expect higher engagement rates
As native advertising increases there are some important changes that need to be considered:
1. Mobile - Native has been earmarked as one of the best ways to engage with users on mobile. Social feeds are a great way to distribute content and as we know, mobile is all about the feed. Making sure that your content is easily viewed/optimised and shared on mobile will be key
2. Content strategy – It will be vital to have an online content strategy in place, one that has clear themes and allows consumers to understand the brands values
3. Data & personalisation - Content will get more personalised, with the ability to tailor advertising to a user’s online behaviour and the data that the advertiser holds, therefore content will increasingly become relevant to that user, much like display advertising
4. Images - The quality of images used will become increasingly vital in order to grab that user’s attention. Research shows that we process images 60,000 times faster than text.
5. ROI – As native advertising starts to become part of the paid sphere, it’s vital that you start to track and analyse this channel alongside all others (search, display, video, social etc.). Importantly don’t expect the same results but do expect this to have a positive effect on the overall mix.
So, to answer the initial question, content amplification is very important to brands and they should definitely be taking note of it. It allows brands to engage with consumers in more native environments, which positively benefits the conversion process and ultimately increases brand engagement.
By Farhad Koodoruth, Co-Founder of Threepipe.
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