"Native advertising," a term first cobbled up by Fred Wilson, the popular Venture Capitalist at the Online Media, Marketing, and Advertising Conference in 2011, is no doubt quite popular among 21st-century publishers and brand strategists even now.This leads many people to assume that native advertising is a modern-day creation. However, the history of native advertising dates back to as early as the late 19th century, when John Deere published his magazine "The Furrow", the legendary 118-year old publication.
I bet you have been seeing native ads all of this time but just did not recognize them as ads at all.So where exactly are they found now and what big is unfolding with them?
The what and where of Native Ads
The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) definition of native advert seems to fall into six categories with six core questions to evaluate it but to put it simply out:
A Directly Paid Opportunity. Something very obvious and at the fundamentals of this type of advertising.It has to be paid for by somebody.
Usually, Content Based. The information is useful, interesting and highly targeted to the specific readership. So, it is not as blunt as a direct promotional piece.
Delivered In-Stream. To truly be a native ad, the user experience is not disrupted. The advertising is delivered in a way that the reader should be minimally bothered by it.
Ultimately, the goal of native advertising is to not disrupt the user experience…to offer information that is somewhat helpful and similar to the other information on the site so that the content is engaged with at a higher rate than, say, a banner ad (this is good for advertisers, and if the content is truly useful, good for consumers.
Among lot many other places and in lot many ways, you may come across them in:
-Paid search units in Google or Twitter
-Sponsored content in Linkedin or Forbes
-Video Advert you find in Youtube
-Branded content in publication like NY Times
The answer to obtrusive display ads
With user experience becoming the priority, native advertising seems to be the only answer to the ad-block phenomenon prevalent in news sites and among the under-35 ones.The limited real estate display on a mobile screen, the stream itself is the entire user experience So, your advertising option on mobile in the future may only be through the ingenious native advertising.
Borrow a little goodwill.Native advertising can leverage the credibility of a media brand, and then rub some-off it over to your own brand. The objective is to slowly build up your own reputation by being in the company of such. Century Link infographic in Forbes on the ramifications of IoT in the year of 2020 is much entertaining and shareable.
Social Media advertising is strikingly similar to a native advertisement as the sharing mechanism can be seamlessly integrated. Social companies like Facebook and Twitter have aggressively pursued native advertising dollars and have built their business models around them.
Is it not another term for content marketing?
The question here is: why should native advertising be any different from content marketing.We all understand we need the best relevant content to accomplish the end objective.
However, on taking a step back, the main distinction appears to be the goal.While content marketers are aiming to build long term trust, consistently providing value for readers without asking for anything in return, while most often the goal the native advertising is to have the reader purchase a product or service before obtaining this valuable content.The tonality of the message and the benefits to the end-consumer is quite different.
The one constant is the future is a mixture of both to reach the masses and get your message known.
The future is natively immersive
There are clear opportunities for greater transparency and efficacy through using data to improve the content and distribution.Brands will tend towards producing less content but hinge more on distribution.This is analogous to how social has been in the last few years
Visual play is in the fray.And this is precisely the reason why great native visual integrations will also have to be developed in 2017 for native ads to be more beautiful, more engaging and more dynamic. Most native ads currently stick out like a sore thumb with a marked box and promotional title.An apt example would be Microsoft’s Child of the 90’s video for Internet Explorer. It takes you back in time and only at the end when Microsoft offers to have you reconnect with the new Internet Explorer that you realize the real purpose of the ad.
Live video, 360-degree video, and virtual reality provide an incredible opportunity to give consumers an experience, and not just content to consume. They are becoming easier to produce and distribute.Those advertisers who take advantage of publishing partners' offers to do this will likely be able to create deeper and more personal relationships with their consumers and achieve an unprecedented level of transparency that those consumers really value.