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We’ve talked about native advertising before, and how native ads are simply a more natural way to advertise your brand.
Banner ads are slowly losing their magic, and now that the industry is starting to favor ads that are value-additive and non-interruptive, more and more brands are redirecting their marketing budgets to native advertising. It’s easy to see why.
The appeal of native ads is in their non-intrusiveness, in their ability to blend in with the type of content on the platform where it lives. Because of this, native ads have also been proven as an effective solution to ad fatigue and banner blindness.
Then again, while being able to “blend in” is simply an attribute that prompts your audiences to keep their guard down, your ad must still be able to stand out from the sea of content that populates a user’s screen.
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Native ads must not read like a press release for your company. Consumers see right through this kind of thing now, so you need to be very careful about the content you produce. And, as with any other form of content, your ad is only as good as the message it conveys.
People never feel bad about consuming content that entertains, inspires, and educates them on topics that are important and relevant to their interests. That being said, you want to make sure that any native advertising campaign has an important story to tell--which is told in a language that your target consumers understand.
For example: If you’re marketing to young travelers, spark their interest with content that helps them get better at traveling. Traveloka did this pretty well by collaborating with 13 trusted publishers and influencers from the GetCraft network. The campaign sought to create unique content that appealed to the “wanderlust” of their audiences while subtly demonstrating how easy it is to use the Traveloka App.
By creating content that spoke to a wide range of audiences including barkadas, budget-conscious travelers, and impulsive, last-minute vacationers--the campaign resulted in 209% above expected performance.
Honest and relatable content never go out of style, as people are naturally drawn to content that understands them and pulls on their emotional strings. When your ad communicates a truth, it won’t be hard to convince your audience why your product or service is worth a try.
As much as possible, veer away from big claims that bait people into reading content that overpromises but fails to deliver. Instead, use plain and simple words that inspire openness and authenticity.
Oh--and don’t try to cram too many messages in one ad! People on the internet have very limited attention spans, so stick to one idea and unpack it in small, bite-sized information. This is why listicles are all the rage when it comes to native advertising; they promise you a fixed number of things, and gives you exactly that!
A native advertising campaign we helped run for Bear Brand Adult Plus leveraged on partnerships with top-tier publishers that came out with rich editorial content that effectively stretched the brand’s promise. They did so by talking about a touchy but prevalent subject among millennials: workplace productivity.
Identifying the right channels where you’d like your native ads to appear requires knowing who your target market is and what channels they use the most. It’s tempting to simply choose the most popular sites and social media channels that promise the highest reach, but it may not serve you well in the end especially if you’re not reaching the people who are most likely to engage with your content.
For example, if you’re in the business of health and wellness, your ads may not appeal to readers of financial news websites or career-oriented social networks like LinkedIn. Find out where your target customers are and place your ads there.Also remember that your ads must fit naturally with the type of content that your chosen platform produces on a regular basis, so choose a platform that regularly features content that are aligned with your brand.
Mobile adaptability is non-negotiable when it comes to native ads. Majority of your target customers online use their mobile phones for most of their internet browsing activities, which is why ads that are formatted primarily for mobile tend to work best.And because mobile also dominates in social media (Facebook alone has over 2 million monthly active mobile users that make up a huge market), making sure that your ads translate well on social feeds is crucial.
Influencer marketing is as native as it gets. When done well, sponsored posts by influencers do not feel like ads at al, and this is why manually-implemented forms of native ads are some of the best performing branded content there is out there; consumers are more likely to trust opinions of people they know.
However, you must also know how to choose influencers who naturally embody the personality of your brand. This is the only way to create an ad that is authentic and trustworthy.
Related: Influencers Are Not Billboards
The GetCraft Marketplace connects you with more than 4,500 vetted creators in Southeast Asia, including some of the most talented influencers in the industry today. Brands who are looking for the right publishers to work with can also benefit from our network of high quality publishers, from niche bloggers to the biggest media sites.
