{"id":117143,"date":"2016-03-17T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T23:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/theartofnativeadvertising\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:40:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:40:26","slug":"theartofnativeadvertising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-ca\/insights\/blog\/creative\/theartofnativeadvertising\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Native Advertising"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Part one of this two part series will provide a working level understanding of native advertising – what it means, what it looks like and why it improves performance. In part II, we will apply this understanding to help uncover and instill best practices when crafting a native ad.<\/h2>\n

As digital marketing continues to evolve, traditional display tactics have slowly been losing their luster. Some argue that through advancements in technology and a growing negative consumer sentiment towards banner ads, their success rate has dropped significantly. Recent studies have revealed an average click through rate of approximately .07%.<\/a> As organizations demand higher ROI\u2019s on their marketing budgets it can be difficult to continue to convince buyers that the juice is worth the squeeze. In order to win back marketing dollars the industry has had to be innovative in its offerings. One such innovation is native advertising.<\/p>\n

What does native advertising mean and what does it look like?<\/h4>\n

In the early days of the \u2018wild west\u2019 that is paid digital media it was difficult to determine what this new term really meant. Without a proper definition agencies were free to slap the word on anything that remotely resembled a native advertisement. All of this action with no real direction lead to confusion in the industry. In order to give native ads a fighting chance buyers had to understand what people were referring to. So, industry experts set out to resolve this problem.<\/p>\n

In December 2013,\u00a0the IAB set parameters around what constitutes a native advertisement<\/a>. In order for something to own the title it must adhere to two guiding principles:<\/p>\n

Form<\/u><\/em> <\/strong>– native ads must match the visual design of the experience they live within, and look and feel like natural content.<\/p>\n

Function<\/u><\/em><\/strong> – native ads must behave consistently with the native user experience, and function just like natural content.<\/p>\n

There are also expectations regarding acceptable amounts of disclosure. Because the execution is intended to seamlessly integrate into its environment, it has the potential to blur the lines between editorial and paid content. Therefore it should be very explicit that what the viewer is engaging with is being promoted on behalf of a brand. This can be accomplished through the use of logos, terms such as \u2018brought to you by\u2019 or \u2018promoted by\u2019 and listing the company name.<\/p>\n

In other words, native advertisements should not overwhelm the viewer or be disruptive. They must engage the user in a way that feels like it belongs there.<\/p>\n

Why natives ads are effective (the science behind it all)<\/h4>\n

Native advertising works because of three key factors \u2013 where they lie in our field of vision, their ability to capture the reader\u2019s attention and something that I like to call the \u2018agitation factor\u2019.<\/p>\n

Our Line of “Site”<\/h4>\n

It has been proven that humans have a limited ability to focus on more than one area at a time. Static images in our peripheral view are very hard to process<\/a>. This is a key failing of traditional display ads \u2013 because they are placed on the borders of a screen it is very difficult for anyone to process the contents of an ad while focused on something else. By placing native ads in the line of sight of a reader it is more visible and therefore has a higher potential to be read.<\/p>\n

\"Whenwefocus\"<\/p>\n

The Power of Processing<\/h4>\n

When something is read vs. seen it has a greater impact on a consumer. This is another key feature of native advertising. Instead of just glancing over a display ad the act of reading it forces us to process it more thoroughly. This means that as marketers our message has a greater likelihood of \u2018sticking\u2019 with the consumer and influencing their behaviors.<\/p>\n

Pardon the Interruption<\/h4>\n
\n \n
\n
\n

\n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n

\n Get exclusive insights into digital
media's top-trending topics delivered
directly to your inbox. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n \n