There is nothing more frustrating for digital marketing professionals than to see their digital campaigns fall flat. All that work, all that time and effort spent trying to reach an audience and it’s wasted. However, what if you could position an advertisement alongside indexed content on a website or landing page. This means your advertisement would appear like any other content piece.
Does something like this exist? It does, and it’s called native advertising. Here are some reasons why native ads are predicted to account for 74% of ad revenue by 2021 and why your digital marketing team has to adopt this new advertising medium.
Increased User Engagement
Native ads work because they increase user engagement. The native advertisement can be listed alongside indexed content and promoted content on a given website or landing page. A small icon labeled “sponsored” distinguishes the native advertisement from other promoted content boxes. Users understand it’s an advertisement and are more than willing to click. In fact, some recent studies show that native advertisements are two to five times more likely to be clicked on.
Native Ads Can’t be Blocked
Digital marketing professionals are used to fighting for a smaller piece of the pie. Users aren’t helping by using ad blocking software. However, native advertisements aren’t affected by ad blocking software. This means that publishers won’t have to ask users to turn off their ad blocking software to access a content piece as most users would simply prefer to abandon pursuit and go elsewhere.
Adoption by Large Media Outlets and Emerging Social Media Channels
Newer players to social media won’t allow conventional text, link or image advertisements. Snapchat is one platform where only native advertisements are allowed. Some of the largest media outlets have all but abandoned conventional digital marketing and advertising. There are no banner advertisements, popups or overlay advertisements on these websites. Native advertisements have taken over.
Natural Flow of Content
Native advertisements are called native because they flow naturally within the content. An image on a landing page can have a native advertisement show up across the bottom of the image. This in-image option makes native advertisements flow naturally within the content itself. There’s no need to look elsewhere. As the user reads or views the content, the native advertisement comes up.
Less Intrusive Advertising
Digital marketing professionals need a new strategy to reach their audience. Users have become accustomed to intrusive ads. They expect to see them and are more than willing to avoid them entirely. Regardless of whether they have ad blocking software or not, users are tuning out. Popups, banner advertisements, and overlays are largely ignored. Today’s audience needs something far more engaging and far more natural.
Native advertisements fall in line with the content marketing strategies of today’s digital marketing teams. It appears natural and is accepted as such.
Digital marketing teams need something new. They need to expand their reach and come up with new and innovative ways of reaching today's audience. Native advertisements are the way to go. They're far less intrusive, flow naturally in a website's content and are quickly being adopted by social media channels and large media outlets.
Contact us if you want to better understand how to make native advertisements work for your next digital marketing campaign.
Written By: David Carpenter
