Ads that Don't Look Like Ads
Projected Native Advertising Revenue more than doubles since 2013
We all know the maxim content is king.
But in a crowded social sphere, how do you differentiate your content, get targeted eyeballs on content, and convert those readers to customers?
One expanding trend for 2016 is high-end native advertising. As advertisers shy away from digital banner ads and brands shift towards becoming media companies, the native advertising market is exploding. New to native advertising? Know it is a paid media form where the ad experiences matches the look and brand feel of the platform where it is based, like an ad that looks like an article on The New York Times.
So why native advertising? Three core reasons:
Better Click Through Rates
Engagement and click through rate are key-metrics in determining the success of your marketing campaigns, and data shows native advertising performs well in both. Native-mobile ads have click-through rates (CTRs) over 1%, and desktop native CTRs average 0.15%(1), rates well above the Display Ad CTR average of 0.06%(2).
Audience Trust
Your target consumers go to top media outlets (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and more) for quality writing. Delivered in stream, native advertising content reaches readers when they are primed to consume content, rather disrupting the user's normal browsing behavior. Reached at the target time for content consumption, viewers are open and primed to embrace your message, rather than being turned off by obtrusive ads.
Quality Content
To attract brands to advertise with them, many media outlets have developed in house content studios to craft visually alluring, high-quality content features. Co-branded with the host platform, this native advertising content is great for brand recognition.
Explore these examples to see how leading brands partner with respected media companies to create top-notch engaging native ads:
Netflix for Narcos on The Wall Street Journal: Content Feature—Cocainenomics, a multimedia feature on the drug trade. Link
Air BNB on The New York Times: Content Feature—An interactive history of immigration. Link
Book of Mormon on The New York Times: Homepage Takeover—Dynamic video banner over a ‘fake’ article. Link
Boeing on the Atlantic: Behind a voyage to the International Space Station. Link
Want to dive into native advertising? Reach out and explore how TDT can help you—from partnerships at top food, arts, and lifestyle media companies to teams of talented multimedia content creators, we have what it takes to create persuasive, stunning content and position it to reach your target audience.
1. Data from Polar Media Group and Celtra, cited in Business Insider 2. Rate for both Mobile and Desktop, Data from Doubleclick (Display advertising arm of Google), Data from April 2015
About the Author
Ashley is the Director of Digital Strategy at TDT. A savvy strategist & persuasive storyteller, she lives at the intersection of art and e-commerce. She is an avid foodie, cheese lover, and lauded salonnière . She tweets digital marketing insights @panashley.