The definition of native advertising is quite confusing. Many claims that advertisements that we all see in-stream on facebook, twitter or other social media platforms or paid searches on search engines are the best examples of native advertising but that’s not true.
Then what is native advertising?
The official definition of native advertising states that – It’s a form of online advertising that matches the form and functions of the platform on which it appears. It 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. The above-given examples (in-stream ads and paid searches) can’t qualify to be a native ad since native advertising needs to be the valuable content of a non-interruptive nature which is not the case with in-stream advertising as it interrupts the user. In the same way, we can’t consider search as native advertising since search engine can’t be considered as media.
What can be considered native advertising?
Many formats fit this definition of native advertising. Some of the most common are: Advertorials in newspapers and magazines, advertisers funded programmes and promoted or sponsored posts on social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter etc.
Why native advertising?
In today’s advertising world, consumers are smart and can sense advertising from a miles away. They understand that publishers are deliberately slapping brands on their face that too without their consent. We all wanted to ignore it at any cost. Additionally, consumers tend to view the information imparted within ads skeptically. Since someone is paying to have something printed, said, or acted, who knows how much fact checking went into the project before it went live.
Native ads are often published in social media feeds or as recommended content on a web or wap pages. It doesn’t look like a display or banner ads. The purpose of native advertising is to blend into the form and function of the content around it, it can be tricky to spot. It is non-disruptive and exposes the reader to advertising content without ruining his or her experience. It camouflages the marketing messages so that they look and sounds like editorial content.
The objective of Native Ads:
Broadly speaking, there are two primary goals of native advertising: A) Positioning a brand image in the consumer’s mind and secondly B) Driving consumers to take one particular action. Due to its format and positioning, it is considered or perceived as editorial content leading to two powerful benefits:
- Greater possibility that the ads will be watched, read and listened to
- Greater possibility that the trust that consumers have in the publisher will rub-off on the brand
- Since it has earned credibility, the consumer will initiate action
But it has a dark side as well. If an ad is not clearly marked as such, consumers will get confused and perceive that native ad’s content is an objective and trustworthy as regular editorial content. There are few independent agencies that are keeping an eye and regulating the use of native ads so that consumers are not misled. The publisher and brand owners must work together and draw a line between editorial and native ad content. Also, consumers are expected to look for and be aware of that line.
Types of Native Ads:
The original native ads on the internet was actually the brainchild of Google. There could be many but majorly, there are three types of native ads.
- Sponsored Content - Sponsored Content- Articles and videos that appear on publisher’s web/wap
sites
- Recommended Content – Recommendations made by publishers to its users or visitors
- In-feed social ads – It generally appears in news feed. E.g. Facebook or Twitter - feeds
Comments
Post a Comment