In an ever-evolving eCommerce world, one thing’s for certain— brands that capture the attention of their core consumers come out on top. Newly defined advertising strategies pop up all the time — that’s what sets digital marketing apart from the old world of traditional marketing — and some work better than others.
Today, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of native ads, a kind of advertisement that’s gaining steam for one primary reason. Despite offering significant selling potential, it doesn’t look like an advertisement at all!
The official definition of native advertising is “a form of paid media where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user experience in which it is placed.” In other words, it’s an advertisement that looks and acts as if it’s native to its surroundings.
You’ve probably scrolled through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter before and noticed a post that looks like all the other messages, but it includes small text that reads “sponsored” or “promoted.” These, as well as Google’s paid search result listings, are considered native ads.
Of course, this kind of advertising stands in stark contrast to “old” advertising methods, like traditional banner ads and pop-up ads. The primary difference is that typical digital ads are physically set apart from the on-page content that viewers find valuable, while native ads are integrated into the content that users consume. What’s more, native ads are often more relevant to the user and incorporate copy and images that pertain to the rest of the content on the page.
There are many different ways to make an ad look native to its environment. You can alter the format and design of the ad so that it appears aesthetically similar to what’s around it or by adjusting the ad’s copy, so it ties into the page’s content. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) segments native ads into six distinct categories, all of which function in one of these two ways:
Sometimes referred to as “in-stream native advertising,” in-feed units are ads placed within the feed of a website, like Facebook or Twitter. They may be stories, videos, app installs ads or product listing ads.
Example: The Instagram ad below for Flaviar, a whiskey subscription service, is designed to look like a photo posted by an individual Instagram user — it doesn’t divert much from the look of a regular post — but it’s actually a “sponsored” in-feed native ad.
These kinds of native ads appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) when a user queries a search engine. They look and behave like organic search rankings, but they are marked as ads.
Example: The Springbot ad below looks like an organic search listing, but it was published through AdWords. You can tell that search results are advertisements when they have the green “ad” image next to the URL.
Often considered the most profitable native ads, recommendation widgets use customer data to suggest similar content. They are usually placed directly onto editorial web pages — separate from the content — to entice a user to click through to other pages.
Example: The example below, taken from the Huffington Post, appears in a news story on both desktop and mobile. Advertisers may gather consumer data or use ad retargeting to remind users of a product or service they explored before, presenting it as a recommendation.
Promoted listings can be seen on shopping websites, like eBay, Etsy or Amazon. They look and behave just like standard listings, but are promoted by a specific brand. They are generally labeled as an advertisement.
Example: On Etsy, native ads often look the same as regular search results, with the only differentiator being the white “ad” icon at the top left. Advertisers may target consumers who have searched for similar products or bought from their store in the past.
These kinds of native ads look the most like typical web ads. You may see one on the side or top of a webpage. The thing that makes this kind of ad “native” is that it references something relevant to the content on the page.
Example: The Aldi ad below was placed on the page of an article with the headline “The Best Summer Appetizers.” In every way, it looks like a regular on-page ad. The only thing that makes it native is that its message is relevant to the content on the page.
Lastly, the IAB includes custom native ads in its lineup to account for the ads that don’t fit neatly into one of the other five categories. Custom varieties are often developed exclusively between a publisher and an advertiser.
Example: One of our favorite custom native ads is the integration of Starbucks advertising on the popular game, Pokémon GO. A few months after the game launched, the app turned all Starbucks locations into PokéStops, with integrated advertising that looks similar to the stops that aren’t sponsored. If you’re not familiar with the game, PokéStops are physical locations where players can go to earn items that help them advance.
Now that we know what native ads are and how they function, let’s look at why they’re particularly relevant in today’s digital marketing world. Most importantly, do they work? The research suggests some compelling evidence. According to AdRoll’s native ad survey, these kinds of ads get 52 percent more views and bring an 18 percent boost in purchase intent compared with banner ads. Here are more benefits of native ads:
But why, exactly, do these kinds of ads work? Simply put, it’s because they don’t look like ads. The biggest challenge for today’s marketer is to figure out how to develop advertisements that users aren’t inclined to tune out. The brain becomes conditioned to weed out information that isn’t useful, and consumers become accustomed to ignoring traditional ads. Native ads appear like the content consumers value, so they’re less likely to fuzz them out.
There’s also a scientific angle to consider. Sharethrough and Nielson teamed up to study how users process mobile ads and discovered that native ads receive two times more visual focus than banner ads. In other words, they capture consumers’ attention more effectively and therefore get more engagement and view time. Rather than appearing in a user’s peripheral field of vision, native ads are placed front and center, surrounded by information that’s considered relevant to the consumer.
With all this in mind, it’s clear that you should be spending some time developing native advertisements to sell your brand. Here are a few great tips for getting started on leveraging native ads to bolster your eCommerce traffic.
There is substantial evidence to suggest that this type of advertising is significantly more powerful than the old-school banner ads of the past. Native ads work — and are therefore definitely worth the hype — because they play to the consumer’s subconscious. Users have evolved to consume and digest more information than ever, and they are adept enough to be able to weed out information that’s not pertinent.
So finding solutions that keep content fresh, relevant and engaging is more important than ever. Native advertising is definitely worth the time and investment, at least until we evolve to tune it out, too.