What better time to think about all of the things we’re thankful for than Thanksgiving? Whether you sit on the advertising side of the table or the publisher side, there has never been a better time to be in digital and appreciate new opportunities like native advertising. Like a moist, juicy roast turkey on Thanksgiving, native is the one thing both sides seem to be eating up. Let’s look at five reasons why native is so delectable. We promise you won’t feel sleepy after consuming this list.
1. It’s Appealing – When it comes to any form of advertising, consumers don’t exactly jump for joy when encountering these messages. However, native advertising, specifically messages delivered within a readers’ content feed, happen to be more appealing and less intrusive than other forms of advertising like banners and pop-ups, according to a survey of over 5,000 consumers conducted by the IAB and Edelman Berland. Now that’s an appealing stat.
2. It’s Mobile Friendly – As mobile media consumption continues to explode, both advertisers and publishers are looking for ways to engage users on these devices. Enter native. Whether it’s content or visuals, these ads are better suited for smaller screens and lend themselves to better overall experiences that are actually effective. According to a recent report by the Rubicon Project, native mobile ads deliver five-times higher yield for publishers and six-times greater conversions for brands and marketers over traditional banner ads.
3. It’s Complimentary – The ultimate goal of any successful native advertising campaign is to deliver relevant and engaging information without disrupting the user experience. According to LinkedIn, 70 percent of consumers want to learn about products through content rather than through traditional advertising. Native offers advertisers the opportunity to integrate brand messages in the environment users are expecting, without distractions. For publishers, this means they do not have to worry about ads cluttering their site and tarnishing the overall quality of their site design.
4. It’s Fueling Industry Growth – Let’s face it, without continuing innovation, would the digital advertising industry continue to thrive on the banner ad alone? Native advertising is proving it is not just a fad, but is in fact a serious strategy that is here to stay. Spending on native advertising will continue to grow, gaining fast on traditional display advertising. All forms of native will see increased investment, especially native display, the ads served in-feed across sites. These ads will top $5.7 billion in 2018, up more than five-fold from $1 billion in 2013, a five-year CAGR of 42 percent that will likely keeping everyone in the industry busy for years to come.
5. It’s Scalable and Programmatic – Not all forms of native are created equal. While it is true sponsored content is not easy, or even ideal, to scale, other forms of native like in-feed are perfectly scalable. With the right technology behind it, these ads can be formatted to fit the unique look and feel of hundreds of different sites. What’s more, these ads can now be bought and sold programmatically, in a real-time environment, just like banner ads.
Do you agree with this list? These are some of the reasons I am personally thankful for being in the native advertising space. But at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter what we in the industry think. As long as consumers are pleased that they are experiencing a less intrusive and more relevant form of advertising, then that is the biggest reason to be thankful.