Native advertising is the next big thing in the digital marketing space, and most of the companies have already started using it to boost their brand awareness. The main benefit of this kind of advertising is that unlike the side banners on media platforms promoting brands, adblockers block the content published on the platform for the purpose of advertising.
Plus, it is more engaging, and according to SearchEngineWatch; 70% of people would rather learn about brands and products via content than the typical ads. This clearly shows how important it is. But the question is; what makes a good native ad, and how can you boost your digital marketing strategy using it? So to help you crush the competition with this form of advertising, we have some tips discussed below:
5 Tips to Boost Native Advertising Strategy:
1. Know the Platform’s Audience:
When I say ‘know the audience,” I am not talking about segmentation. We have already learned to do that in the Native Advertising Strategy Creation part. I am talking about dissecting the core of your audience and discovering what they need and what kind of value you can provide them with.
This is important because if the content of your Ad is not providing value to the audience, they won’t be interested, which ultimately means you won’t get much engagement. Let’s take a look at an example of how proper aligning of native ad with the audience looks like.
Taco Bell discovered that most of their consumers are on Snapchat. So they aligned their ad with not only the theme of the platform but also with the needs of the audience. They introduced a filter that turned people’s faces into a massive Taco. A whopping 224 million people interacted with the filter in one day.
2. Your Product Doesn’t Have to Be Under Spotlight:
It’s not really necessary for you to put your product in front because, unlike Taco Bell, not all of us have the capital to develop a filter on Snapchat. So, even if you are doing things in simple ways, like using a piece of article as a part of your native advertising strategy, you can have an impact.
The main thing to remember is that no one is really interested in knowing about your product unless they are actively searching for it. And on native platforms, no one is really searching for products. So, we suggest that you offer something of real value to the audience without praising your product.
For instance, Netflix created an interactive combination of long article + map named Cocainenomics to promote their show Narcos. However, instead of singing songs of their show, they talked about the international drug trade history and the story of infamous Medellin Drug Cartel.
3. Align Content with the Publisher’s Editorial Standards:
The idea behind the native advertisement is to put on the camouflage on your Ad matching the theme and style of the platform’s content. If you are going for a plain article format, it has to be in line with the editorial standards of any platform you choose to work with, whether it’s Forbes or Atlantic.
The mistake that many budding digital marketers make is that they think of Native Advertisement as just a ‘small part’ of their big digital marketing strategy. So they just create an average piece of content that is not up to the mark and definitely not according to the standards of the platform.
Hiring writers who can replicate the style, tone, and content quality of the platform should be #1 priority if you want the audience to read without catching any differences. An example of this can be this piece by Harper Collins on BuzzFeed, which definitely meets with the overall theme of the platform.
4. Creativity Captures More Eyes:
If you want to go big on your native advertisement strategy, then you should not hold back in terms of creativity. Being unique and creative can help you capture the attention of the audience in nanoseconds. For this, you need to go beyond the traditional native ads and create something truly engaging.
You can take the example of Taco Bell ad in this one as well, their filter had no logo or the typical CTAs, but they still received massive hits. The main reason is that they not only understood the audience, but they also created something that engaged and captivated people.
Another example is the Snapchat game created by Gatorade to celebrate 22 Grand Slam Singles won by Serena Williams. The game had 22 levels so you can imagine how long people would have interacted with the ad and how easily Gatorade’s image would’ve been positioned in their minds.
5. Leverage Native Video Advertising:
The emerging trend in the native advertising space is the use of engaging videos to compel people to watch them without thinking of them as a sales pitch. The videos are mostly shown in apps instead of publishing platforms like Forbes, and their topic is very close to the nature of the app you are using.
The interesting stories told in engaging ways naturally catch the attention of the user. And in turn, the message of brands is conveyed without appearing as a forced ad. Most of the time, these videos are being seen in mobile games where you are planning a strategy game, and you will see an ad of another similar game with the sound turned off.
The main benefit of leveraging native video ads from a business perspective is the Brand Lift that you get, which means the rise in awareness among your target market. According to Sharethrough, around 82% of Brand Lift was seen with the help of native video ads, so you clearly need to incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy.
Parting Words, Anybody can get some content done and even get successful in publishing it on native ad platforms. What separates you from every Tom Dick & Harry is the effective use of the content to create highly relevant content to your audience, brand, and the platform.
Plus, it should be engaging and offer some value so people can interact with it and ultimately start recognizing your brand. The tips we have provided in this guide will help you do just that!
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