Native advertising works by creating customized ads that are similar in design, color, and patterns of page content that displays them. Typically, these ads resemble the platform that they are displayed on, such that consumers believe they belong on the platform.
Native ads are hard to notice and can drive brand affinity by up to 9%, as opposed to traditional banner ads. Moreover, anecdotal accounts from consumers indicate that they watch native ads 53% more, compared to display ads.
Not all advertisements that seem to mimic the design and looks of the underlying media platform are considered native. Besides the native ad example mentioned above, here are other ones to put into better perspective.
Although it can be pretty daunting to differentiate a native ad from a display ad, the latter usually has some features that qualify them as native. These features include:
While native ads organically blend with the media platform in question, display ads are technically superimposed on the platform’s content. For this reason, native advertising can guarantee a higher CTR of up to 0.2%, while display advertising offers a lower CTR, sometimes as low as 0.05%.
Another huge difference in these types of advertisements is how they look. While native ads feel and look like editorial content of the display page, display ads stand out as paid campaigns because they tend to persuade buyers.
This includes placing ads on top search results to make them look organic. The ads are carefully assimilated into the host platform design making them look like they belong on the site.
Some native ad best practices include:
Some well-known native ads campaigns from famous brands include:
This technique involves designing the advertising message or content to appear in the publisher’s feeds. The message can be customized to the user and the placement by utilizing contextual signals and machine learning culminating in enhanced performance for advertisers.
