With so many different types of digital advertising, it can be difficult for publishers to prioritize. What’s more profitable? What’s more user-friendly? What’s in high demand right now?
Native advertising is an answer to all those questions. Our article talks about native ads, what’s different about them, and why publishers shouldn’t overlook them.
What is native advertising?
As you’re probably well-aware, native advertising is paid branded content that looks and feels like the editorial content on a website. As opposed to standard display ads, which are essentially banner ads, native advertising campaigns aim to be more relevant, less intrusive and bring more value to the users.
The different types of native advertising include in-feed ads, in-article ads, recommendation widgets, sponsored products, etc. It could also involve branded or sponsored content. Last but not least, there is native video advertising.
Why are native ads good for publishers?
Native presents a good opportunity for publishers due to several reasons:
Revenue
Native advertising is a preferred tool for advertisers in creating brand awareness and building customer relationships. As brands generate more native content, the demand for native ad inventory grows. So does the competition. Therefore, publishers can enjoy CPM rates reaching $10 or even $20.
Engagement and viewability
Native ads are considered the cure for ad fatigue and ad blindness. They generate CTR rates that are 8.8 times higher than those for standard banners. In addition, users view them over 50% more often than display ads. And good ad campaign performance is sure to keep advertisers pleased.
User experience and user sessions
With intrusive ads, you risk driving your users away. Gone are the days of irrelevant creatives or annoying pop-ups that interrupt the users. Native ads provide a better user experience, with many users saying they don’t mind them. If you’re focused on maximizing your ad revenue generated per user session, you want to increase the session duration, pages per session, etc.
Ad-block friendly
If your overall revenue has taken a strong hit from ad blockers, native advertising can help you make up for some of the losses. Of course, not all native ads are impervious to ad blockers. But some are seeing native as a way to win back customers who use ad-blocking by focusing on responsible, high-quality ads.
Relevance
Via contextual targeting, native ads are delivered to the right target audience segment. This gives users relevant content in a location that makes sense. Naturally, something that is interesting and provides value to users creates a positive attitude. Not only that but timeless, informative branded content can stay relevant for a long time instead of quickly going out of date.
Control
Native advertising gives publishers more control over the content on their websites. Although programmatic display ads come with advanced targeting and ad quality mechanisms, with native, publishers can have the final say in terms of overall tone and style, as well as relevance. Of course, it’s always important to ensure sponsored posts are clearly marked as such. Some studies suggest that as little as 2-7% of people can tell that a piece of content is a native ad, so transparency is crucial.
Building trust
A 2022 study shows that people are trying to steer away from social media, with 75% of users saying they trust online content on editorial sites compared to 54% for social media. Also, ads on premium publisher sites are reportedly 3 times more effective for brands. Clearly, for publishers alike, investing in quality content and a strong online brand pays off. That’s all the more reason why editorial and monetization strategies should go hand in hand.
Wrap Up
If native advertising does not play a rightful part in your monetization strategy, now is a good time to delve deeper into it. The growing demand for native, its superior performance, and the trust it conveys makes it a potent tool for publishers. It doesn’t come without potential pitfalls, but when done right, it can maximize revenue potential.