Native advertising is a
content marketing strategy that pays to post content that appears organically
sourced to readers. Thus increasing user engagement. Therefore, in this
article, we will review the concepts of this type of advertising and how it
differs from content marketing. As well as seven steps to developing a
successful native advertising strategy.
Difference between
content marketing and native advertising
Native advertising is
the use of paid or third-party advertising that supports a brand and its goals.
In this type of advertising, the content matches the form and function of the
medium in which it appears. On the other hand, content marketing is the strategic
marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable and relevant
content. What is done on a constant basis is to attract and retain a
well-defined audience.
Where is Native
Advertising found?
Native advertising is
most often found on social media platforms in the form of paid ad placements.
In a way that mirrors the look and feel of regular content on those platforms.
Therefore, it does not appear to be advertising at first glance. Additionally,
critics of native ads claim that it is a way to trick users into thinking that
the content they see is not advertised.
However, when done
right, native advertising is not disruptive and misleading at the same time.
Digital Marketers prefer native advertising to more traditional forms of social
media advertising. Because it doesn't drive readers away from your online
activity.
Benefits of Native
Advertising
- They increase brand awareness and recognition of those
brands.
- Reach the target audience
- They educate the market about the products and services
your brand offers.
- They are invaluable for acquiring new customers.
What makes a good native
advertising strategy?
Native advertising is
now a more effective lead-generation tool for businesses than traditional
advertising. In fact, the United States is projected to spend $44 billion on
native advertising campaigns in 2019 alone. So when thinking about your native
advertising strategy, consider:
Who is your audience
- What you want to achieve, such as increasing brand
awareness, generating leads, or achieving sales
- What content will help achieve your goals? To do this,
think of something interesting, valuable, and relevant, instead of
forcefully selling it.
- Which platforms you will run your native ad campaigns
on. Be it on publisher sites or social media.
- What kind of native ad campaigns you will run. Such as
content discovery, embedded ads, recommendation widgets, video campaigns,
paid search, and more.
How will you measure
success?
7 steps to a successful
native advertising strategy
Trying out a new
marketing strategy is sometimes daunting, especially if you've established your
current focus. But it's easy to get started with native ad campaigns. So you
won't have to burn a hole in your budget to do so. Here are some steps you need
to follow.
1. Set campaign goals
Like all marketing,
creating a native advertising strategy starts with setting goals. Therefore, be
clear about what you want to achieve with your native ad campaigns. Typical
goals for this include:
- Generation of leads
- Getting more sales
- Acquire newsletter subscribers or site members
- Boost website traffic
- Increased brand visibility
You can also think of
your goals as performance goals that use content to drive conversions or
awareness goals. Which, analyze how many people see your content and how much
time they spend doing it.
2. Define your target
audience
The next step is to
define the audience you want to target. You may have an idea of the people you want to reach, based on their
buyer personas. Therefore, this is a good starting point. But native ads can
also show content to people who have never heard of your brand. However, they
are open to reading useful information related to it.
It is also advisable to
keep the orientation minimal at the beginning. If you don't prejudge the
result, you can see who is responding to your ads. As your native advertising
strategy progresses, you can target ads by age, gender, interests, location,
device usage, buyer intent, and more. This ensures you are targeting the right
people, with the right content, devices, places, and times.
3. Select the right
publishers
Platforms like Taboola
give you access to thousands of publisher websites running native ad campaigns.
As part of your native advertising strategy, you can choose to work with
traditional or new media publishers, or a combination of both. The important thing
is that they fit well with your native ad campaigns.
To establish this, look
at reach as the size of the audience that could potentially view your content.
Also look at relevancy, if the site's content and audience demographics match
the people you want to reach. What's more, there are filters available for
publisher sites that determine where you'll show your native ads.
4. Identify valuable
content
Content is at the core
of any native advertising strategy, but you need to change your mindset.
Instead of thinking like an advertiser, think like a reader and consider what
appeals to your target audience. Actually, if you are looking for informative,
relevant, and valuable content, you are on the right track. But if you don't
have the right content, create it and make your native ad strategy more
effective.
Content to consider
includes:
Useful content to
educate and inform people and help them learn about your brand.
Aimed at generating
leads for particular products or services. But still informative.
Content to drive sales.
5. Create engaging
creative
Once you've identified
your campaign content, it's time to create your ads. Titles and thumbnails are
key. In fact, they're your only chance to grab readers' attention and get them
to click.
It's worth experimenting
with different combinations in your native advertising until you figure out
which one works best for your target audience. The same URL may need a
different title or thumbnail image, for example, depending on your audience or
location.
6. Allocate campaign
spending
CPC, or cost per click,
is the amount you spend each time someone clicks on your campaign elements. So
start by identifying your ideal CPC and spending limit. As well as how much you
want to spend overall.
You can get useful
traffic for spending between $50 and $100 per day. But at the beginning of your
native advertising campaign, it is advisable to go for a high CPC. This puts
your content in front of more people and gives you more data to work with when
you're ready to optimize your campaigns.
7. Follow up, test, and
adjust
Whether you run a native
advertising agency or go it alone, creating an effective native advertising
strategy isn't "set it and forget it." For this, it is essential to
monitor your native advertising campaigns to ensure that they are achieving
their goals.
Check the data daily,
especially in the beginning so you can experiment if things don't work out the
way you want. You can also A/B test headlines and images to get the most
effective combination for each campaign.
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