It’s not difficult to find information on
Native Advertising; ‘The rise of Native advertising’, ‘The current success of
native advertising’, ‘How native advertising can help your company’ ect.....But
before we are bombarded with this information, how would you define Native
Advertising?
After a lot of searching we have concluded
that this is the act of advertising in
which the advertiser focuses on the experience of the consumer. The advert becomes
part of the content as oppose to being displayed separately. This is essentially
the complete opposite to what is known as traditional web-based advertisements.
It is mainly displayed by communicating through content and dismays methods
such as banner ads ect.
Image
source: http://flipthemedia.com/2013/01/4-examples-of-this-native-advertising-youve-been-hearing-about/
We have all been browsing through a web
page or attempting to read content when an ad pops up, relevant or not, and it
completely interrupts what we were doing. Native advertising does not use that
method, instead it blends in, becoming part of what you are already looking at,
not necessarily appearing to be an advert at all.
A well known example of the use of native
advertising is on the website BuzzFeed. The website itself displays very visual
news stories and social media topics mainly by photographic image. BuzzFeed
also include sponsored articles on the site, however displayed the exact same
way as everything around it, yet still promoting the brand or product.
“For example, an agency looking to
promote a new horror film may publish a list on BuzzFeed of the ten scariest
scenes in the history of cinema. On this list, a viewer would find hair-raising
classics like The Excorcist and The Omen alongside
stills from the promoted film. In this way, the consumer still gets the content
that they want, but they also take in an advertisement with it. Critically,
this form of advertising doesn’t distract from media, unlike traditional
advertising, which often can interrupt the flow of content rather jarringly.”- http://tier10lab.com/2013/06/03/native-advertising-key-consumer-connection/
Facebook and Twitter have recently adopted
native advertising too with ‘promoted tweets’ or ‘sponsored stories’. These
appear in the timeline of the user, the same as normal tweets and status
updates. These will however link to a chosen product related article or a
brands website.
“In the social
context, we define native ads as ads that are seamlessly integrated into a
user's feed and are nearly indistinguishable from organic content.”- http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-native-ads-on-social-media-2013-10#ixzz2iYsjrQPC
Thanks to native advertising Brands and
Companies can partner with Twitter and Facebook ect to hold campaigns or
promotions through their social media sites. Recent examples of this are OAAA’s
#EverywhereUR campaign, run through Twitter or The Co-Op’s #Tweet4atable
campaign also run completely through Twitter. Native needs to be adapted and
tailored to the surroundings in which it’s being shown on. Some feel social
media’s use of Native advertising is not the most effective;
“Sponsored tweets and
sponsored Facebook posts reach a wide audience and enjoy high engagement, but
it’s an interruptive experience for most users.”- http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/10/22/native-advertising-requires-combined-effort-between-old-foes-advertising-and
Native advertising, depending on which
platform a company has decided to use, can benefit greatly to the credibility
of a company. An example of a decent platform is both The Guardian and The
Independent; they are both well respected and renowned for reliable services
and would create a great impression as well as a credibility boost for any
company who uses them for native advertising.
It has been suggested that native advertising
will not only become a dominant method for advertisers, but also become the
only form of advertising. The marketing world has struggled to create a
connection with consumers in the same way native advertising has. This form of
advertising is also great for the success of journalists too. It is a collaboration
of editorial skills and advertising, and so in order for journalism to survive,
advertising needs to be successful. It seems as though native advertising is
the only way forward.
“In July, Yahoo’s head
of search, Andy Jones, said
Native advertising was bridging search and display “like never before” and said the company was seeing
click-through-rates (CTRs) for native ads on its own platform driving seven
times the CTR of regular display ads.”- http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/10/22/native-advertising-requires-combined-effort-between-old-foes-advertising-and#MR04IUGKRtzRYyq5.99
What
are your views on Native Advertising? Is it the way forward for journalists and
advertisers? Let SLA know your thoughts!
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