Looking back on the days when people would chronicle their lives in a diary filled with physically bound pages and lines of ink, we can see how much our world has evolved. Our daily living is now immortalized through social media posts and other digital means. With just a few clicks on our mobile devices or desktops, we publish our whereabouts, activities, thoughts, and interests. In an era where we spend half our time posting and the other half reading others’ posts, businesses can no longer ignore the power of web content.
It used to be that the attractive banner ad on the side of our screens could entice us to further investigate a product or service. Now, many people find them to be plain obnoxious or so common that they automatically ignore them. We don’t want to be dazzled by flashing moving pictures. We want to be engaged by content that interests us. Enter Native Advertising , a new form of advertising that caters to this increasing consumer demand for more.
Native advertising could be described as business-sponsored content relevant or “native” to a user’s experience. An example of this could be a recently posted BuzzFeed article called “14 things about your family your phone has made worse” presented by Virgin Mobile. This article has humorous text screenshots of conversations with family members. The subject matter it addresses appeals to frequent text users who could either become a Virgin Mobile customer and / or share the BuzzFeed post with friends and family who can also relate to the content, increasing Virgin Mobile’s brand exposure. The main thing to consider in this native advertisement is that it is both relevant to a user’s interest and the product or service the company provides.
The big question to ask is whether or not this new method of advertising is effective and if so, why?
According to a study conducted by sharethrough and IPG Media Lab in May 2013,
- consumers looked at native ads 53% more frequently than display ads
- 25% more consumers were measured to look at in-feed native ad placements (the most common editorial native ad format) than display ad units
- Native ads registered 18% higher lift in purchase intent and 9% lift for brand affinity responses than banner ads
- 32% of respondents said the native ad was an ad they would use to share with a friend or family member versus just 19% for display ads
This study definitely comes out on the side of native advertising, which should come to no surprise. It’s no secret that successful products or services are those that consumers will value. If the content an ad is providing is of value to someone they are more likely to feel like the company sponsoring the ad will bring them further value in the product or service they provide. Another advantage to native advertising is the fact that publishers (like BuzzFeed) who partner up with these advertisers are basically endorsing this product. This adds another layer of trust between a consumer and the brand.
This sounds like a new breakthrough for advertising, but the fact of the matter is that we are just beginning to grasp the concept and attempt to categorize it. If you Google search native advertising, definitions vary from site to site. Reading through, you’ll find the definitions begin to resemble those of advertorials. The question to ask, is then, what the difference between native advertising and advertorials is if any?
This is still a speculation across the board so why not ask one of the main native advertising players?
Jonah Peretti, the CEO of BuzzFeed was interviewed for a sparksheet Q&A. His word for native advertising is, “social content marketing.” Peretti explains that advertorials and word-of-mouth have been around for decades. The difference, he notes, is that he does it online and you can bet your bottom dollar that combining the two has already proven to be successful for publishers. Peretti claims it makes up 100% of BuzzFeed’s revenue.
It’s safe to say that we can expect to see exponential rises in native advertising in the near future. Our way of communicating through technology and social media has seemed to already create a larger demand for it. Whether you’re a business or a consumer, we should all take heed from the content around us in the cyber world of marketing and keep our eyes peeled for the next direction native advertising will take.
photo by Donovan Shortey
