Imagine readers consuming your adverts with the same enthusiasm as articles and other content - that’s the idea behind this new thing called native advertising.
Native advertising looks like it’s part of the content the user is actively consuming, and therefore morphs into what the consumer is willing or wanting to absorb. Says Mashable, “As users move away from early digital advertising products like banner ads, native advertising has emerged as an effective — and lucrative — way for websites to bring in revenue. Native ads are typically integrated into a website's normal content, standing out far less than other forms of display advertising. The content is often tailored to the platform and can closely resemble regular articles.” Many believe that native advertising is just a way to get users to read your content in a sneaky way.
Sandra continues: “It’s about positioning your brand within the context of your audience’s sphere of reference.”
The notion that people don’t want to see your ads is true and many advertisers battle to get the message out there without being intrusive. Native advertising allows advertisers the opportunity to push products through relevant content. Consider pairing your brand with something of everyday interest and how the two actually complement one another, or at least relate.
Research shows that Millennials don’t mind consuming native advertising as long as it’s relevant. News, sport, lifestyle and food are on the top lists of what they consume on a regular basis, and if a brand is serving them this very relevant content, they really aren’t bothered about why.
For the marketer or advertiser who may be worried that the content may be “tricking” users into reading content, rest assured, all native content is clearly marked as sponsored and as long as the content is interesting, people actually don’t mind reading it.
Native advertising is really just another way in which brands are able to get people to engage with stories, to show them that they are part of a bigger picture and that the brand resonates with their lives.
John Oliver discussed native advertising - which he abhors - in his show Last Week Tonight. Watch him discuss it here:
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