Native advertising tools and tips to succeed with your campaigns

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the growing trend of companies using  native advertising in their digital marketing strategies . Thanks to its rapid evolution and the multiple benefits it presents compared to more traditional online advertising, more and more professionals are betting on improving their results through this strategy.

Do you dare to discover it with me?

What is native advertising?

We can define  native advertising  as an  advertising technique  that consists of including  promoted content  within an online medium,  respecting the format and style  of the media where they are published. 

That is, unlike traditional online advertising, native advertising allows us to capture the attention of users without them barely noticing it, so that we can give greater visibility to our brand and generate engagement in a less intrusive and more natural way  . . 

What types of native advertising exist?

We can classify  native advertising ads into two main types :

• Closed native ads : This is advertising that is published within the limits and requirements of a specific platform, such as Facebook or Twitter, thus limiting its reach. 
• Open native ads: in this case it is the brand itself that advertises its content through any platform that allows adding native ads. As we will see later, there are platforms that allow us to spread our content on several websites, with the same theme and at the same time. 

Within these two types, we can distinguish between multiple ad formats. These are the most used: 

• Paid Search Ads  – Ads integrated into the results of Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. 
• In-feed ads  on social networks : sponsored links on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• In-content  ads  : ads integrated within the publisher where it is published. 
• Recommended widgets:  Content that is recommended based on the content the user is reading. 
• Promotional Lists : Promotion of various products related to your search on Amazon, Etsy, Google, etc.

Why should you use native advertising?

The  advantages  that native advertising provides are  many and very powerful , and they benefit both the end consumer and the brands and media where it is published. Therefore, the great success they are having is not surprising. Of all the possible benefits  , these are the ones that seem  most important to us :

1. It offers a greater user experience , combating fatigue and the rejection of conventional advertising by many users. For ethical reasons, it is necessary to show that it is promoted content, but we will ensure that users do not perceive it as intrusive by adapting it to the editorial medium in which the promotion is published. In this way, users will perceive the promotion as valuable content and will respond to it in a much more positive way.
2. It allows you to reach the audience in a fluid and less intrusive way . Unlike traditional advertising, where the audience is often interrupted with content that they have not chosen to consume, native advertising allows us to offer an active position to the user, showing them valuable 
   content related to their current search.
3. It is more effective and generates greater engagement . According to recent studies, as it is more personalized advertising than traditional advertising, native advertising can achieve 53% more views than graphic ads and increase purchase intention by up to 18%. 
4. It allows you to escape from advertising blockers  in a highly saturated advertising market, where more and more users install them to avoid negative browsing experiences. 

Tips for effective native advertising

If I have convinced you and you think it is time to add native advertising to your strategy,  I leave you some tips so that you can put it into practice and achieve success with your campaigns without making any mistakes: 

1. Prepare non-intrusive content

This is not about promoting your brand, but about attacking the top of the funnel (TOFU)  with quality content that educates the user or helps them discover a problem (pain) that you can solve.

2. Offer useful content and leave them wanting more

To ensure a good user experience, you need to be directed to a page with content when you click on the native ad.

Since what interests us is that they leave us their data so that they can advance in the funnel, offer them useful content that is incomplete to leave them wanting to know more. For example, imagine that your ad has the headline “What is the first step to increase the ROI of my advertising campaigns?”

Offer them information about this first step, but don’t forget to ask them for their email so they can discover the rest of the stages.

3. Identify and define your buyer persona

This is a crucial step so that your campaigns can be effective. It is important to know your target audience, not only to segment campaigns correctly, but also to be able to create the right message and direct it to solve the specific problems and needs of your target audience.

At this point, you will also have to identify what media or channels your buyer persona uses to consume information and how they do it. For example, a teenager consumes more visual information quickly, using platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.

On the other hand, a director of a small business usually consults more technical information, such as economic data or current news on other types of platforms, such as LinkedIn or economic blogs.

4. Define the formats and channel you are going to use

It is important that the product or service you advertise is related to the content of the website on which it will be promoted. For example, if you offer a financial planning service, post your ad on blogs focused on content about personal finances and savings.

The idea is that you manage  to integrate the ads with the rest of the page  at the level of behavior, form and content. Likewise, if you opt for the video format to make your ad native, eliminate logos or brand elements to avoid direct association with advertising.

On the other hand, if you want to effectively promote content integrated into a website, write headlines that resemble those of a news story in order to align it with the context of the platform

Native advertising tools

If you want your native advertising strategy to reach the largest number of users possible, focus your strategy on open native ads to be able to promote the same content on several platforms or websites with the same theme. To better position your ads and achieve greater effectiveness of your campaigns, I recommend using one of the following tools : 

Taboola

It has a predictive content recommendation algorithm that analyzes users’ online behavior so that advertisers can directly target the most relevant audiences. 

Outbrain

It is one of the most important content platforms on the market today, notable for offering the best average number of pages viewed by the user with the lowest bounce rate, which is known as CTR.

Native

Application that combines content analysis, monitoring and control with the aim of achieving meaningful connections with the audience.

Sharethrough

Platform specialized in managing programmatic display and video ads to make them stand out and fit the audience profile we are looking for.

Redirect

It uses a very simple and intuitive system to place native ads on websites and newsletters and get the most out of them.

Native advertising success stories

Oreo and the #GameOfCookies

Even if you are one of those who still resist watching Game of Thrones , you have surely heard about this series or seen its introduction or tune somewhere. Oreo took advantage of the popularity of the series to recreate the sequence of his spectacular introduction with nothing more and nothing less than 2,750 of his cookies. This ad clearly shows us what the essence of native advertising should be: entertaining the audience and providing valuable content, instead of focusing on the product itself.

 

 

Netflix and The New York Times

Since native advertising began to gain ground in the advertising sector, many of the large media outlets have opted for this advertising format, and The New York Times did not want to be less. One of the most successful examples that we can find is the collaboration of this newspaper with Netflix in 2014.

The producers of the popular series Orange is The New Black commissioned the writing of an article about the poor conditions and difficulties of women’s prisons in the United States. Using this news in one of the most powerful media outlets in the world allowed the producers of the series to noticeably draw the attention of their audience, without causing them a bad experience through intrusive advertisements.

Conclusion

It is not surprising that the use of native advertising is in full growth taking into account its great potential to reach users in a fluid, non-intrusive way that generates a lot of engagement. 

My tips to get the most out of this type of campaign and achieve the expected objectives are, above all, to spend the time necessary to identify your buyer persona very well , know what their needs and problems are, and try to help them with quality content .

Said content must be created in the appropriate format or formats, providing value to the user and educating them for the purchase. Another important issue is that it leaves you wanting to continue receiving more information through your email.

Of course, all this previous work will be of little use if you do not carry out a good analysis of the possible digital media where to place your ads and select those that best adapt to your proposals and your ideal audience, generating a lot of impact and maximum visibility. For this there are specialized platforms , which will be tremendously useful to you. Don’t hesitate to use one: your ads will be better positioned and your campaigns will become more effective.  

Do you dare to start with yours? If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I will do my best to help you.