Native Advertising: What is it and why should you be doing it?
Of all the ‘Zucker’ web pioneers in the World, Ethan Zuckerman is surely the most loathed. Working for Tripod.com in the 1990s he invented the odious pop-up advertising format which has enjoyed a lucrative career assaulting the eyeballs of innocent web browsers with sponsored messages and swindling clickbait. Last year he issued a public apology for “creating one of the most hated tools in the advertiser’s toolkit” in a paper questioning whether advertising – the “default business model on the web” – could be replaced by other possible revenue models such as subscriptions, micro-payments and crowdfunding. His argument, predicated on the notion that advertising was the internet’s “original sin”, somewhat complicates the solution in search of a face-saving digital utopia. In reality, we just need ads that are better at engaging with online audiences.
In the 72Point report on the state of the digital media industry we coined the term “Citizen Editorship” to demonstrate how we have evolved to cope with the deluge of content online. Rather than acting as spectators, we have become agents in the media cycle and more powerful as a result, which is why disruptive ad formats such as pop-ups have largely fallen into disrepute. Today, browsers demand ads that complement their journey rather than detract from it, and smart marketers, publishers and agencies are moving aggressively to adjust their core strategies to reflect this.
What is It?
Native advertising is a form of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears, or, in the words of Peter Minnium, Head of Brand Initiatives at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), ads that are “so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the user experience that the viewer simply feels that it belongs.”
Sponsored search results on Google, sponsored posts on Facebook and sponsored tweets on Twitter are all examples of content that is ‘native’ to its platform, and the publishing industry is quickly following suit. Companies such as Time Inc, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today have introduced new advertising integrations that match the form and function of their editorial feeds.
Why Should You Be Doing It?
Native advertising represents a significant shift in the evolution of digital advertising. Not only does it offer a non-disruptive means of communicating brand messages, it also works seamlessly across platforms and is ideal fodder for social media channels.
Well Liked
Research shows that native ads widen the purchase funnel by 29%. Compared to traditional display advertising, there is a considerable uplift in regards to discovery (+33%), trust (+32%) and purchase (+29%). The click-through rate for native ads is 31% higher than regular ads, and in stark contrast to pop-ups and display advertising, the majority (59%) of consumers actually like native ads.
A Good Fit
Brands are spending big marketing bucks online. Digital ad spend has increased from £825 million in 2004 to £7.2 billion in 2014, an increase of 800% in the midst of a severe economic downturn. This extensive increase is thanks to new ad formats that fit around the natural browsing habits of consumers. Share through/IPG Media labs research found 25% more consumers were measured to look at in-feed, native ad placements than standard banners in a recent study that used eye-tracking technology to assess the attention of consumers. Most notably, consumers looked at native ads 2% more than editorial content and spent the same number of seconds viewing.
Changing Consumption Behaviour
One of the other big findings from our Generation Editor report was the extent to which consumers are using multiple devices as part of their browsing experience. A massive 95 per cent of the 7,500 respondents surveyed said they consume media on multiple devices, with mobile and tablet overwhelmingly popular. Content marketing and native advertising already makes up over one fifth of digital display and half of mobile display because it seamlessly fits with this change, or evolution, of consumption behaviour.
72Point Native Advertising Packages
As specialists in writing and landing branded stories within the news pages of national news sites and specialist press outlets we have always been focused on organic coverage. However the native advertising package is a great way of bolstering a campaign with guaranteed regional exposure that complements the coverage we achieve through our traditional methods.
In conjunction with Johnston Press, 72Point can offer an unrivalled native advertising package which guarantees coverage across 185 digital sites in the UK. In comparison to an industry average 0.18% CTR, our ads have been running at an average of 0.37% CTR and are as high as 1.2% thanks to its prominent position on all homepages in the Johnston Press digital portfolio.
If you would like further information on our native advertising packages, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
