Native Advertising Quick Guide!An advertisers quick reference to native advertising and how it supports your business goals.!

Native ads have changed the industry. Are you keeping up?!

When it’s time to buy digital ad space, you know the same-old routine: aggressively prospect your key demographics with standard IAB, programmatic ads, while re-targeting your current user base. These tech-savvy banners don’t just follow current visitors from site to site – they also provide tailored product recommendations to potential customers. A tried and true strategy, right? Not necessarily. Though programmatic marketing reaps big benefits, it also comes with some serious drawbacks. Recent research reveals that users grow tired of the stereotypical banner ads on the web, learning to subconsciously ignore them. As a result, this unsettling trend has negatively affected revenue models, with banner profits now significantly decreasing due to plummeting CTRs and conversion rates. !

Don’t fret just yet! Native advertising can fix this problem. By capturing consumers’ attention with seamless site integration, this innovative technique creates significantly less friction between promotions and their target consumers. !

Recent research reveals that users grow tired of the stereotypical banner ads on the web, learning to subconsciously ignore them.”!

Native advertising What does that mean? !

When an ad “goes native,” it acquires the look and feel of a vendor’s website. The text, color, and spacing all match the design elements customers already love. In fact, these promotions seem so natural that it may take the user a few moments to render the item as an advertisement. By placing the ad into the pre-established user environment, your brand no longer feels foreign to the consumer.!

With the best of intentions, many advertising pros think original content marketing is the same as native advertising. This is not the case. Content marketing involves the development of original blog posts, photos, and other shareable items to generate organic buzz (earned media), while native advertising capitalizes on a “pay-to-play” model, but places ads in an environment that feels natural !

By placing the ad into the pre-established user environment, your brand no longer feels foreign to the consumer.”!

To better explain this here are some examples: !

By mimicking the size, font, and color palette of the other travel deals on the page, this ad feels right at home. Users can still distinguish the promotion from regular content. Subtle differences – like the extra orange flag or gray background – are added in to increase clarity. !

To better explain this here are some examples: !

By mimicking the size, font, and color palette of the other travel deals on the page, this ad feels right at home. Users can still distinguish the promotion from regular content. Subtle differences – like the extra orange flag or gray background – are added in to increase clarity. !

Final considerations!

1!Align Yourself with Similar Businesses. Native advertising is rooted in cross-business partnership. If you want to tap into a company’s consumer base, this is the perfect way to present your brand or products to those new customers.!

2!Break Free from the Programmatic Rut. Because programmatic ads disincentivize user engagement, they should be balanced out by native ones. By encouraging interaction, the native method works to drive conversion rates and traffic. One study even shows that consumers view native ads 52% more frequently than their banner counterparts.!

3!Boost Your Brand’s Perception. This strategy also supplies long-term, positive effects on how users view your company. New information shows that a native ad not only increases a brand’s favorability, but can also grow customers’ intent to purchase.!

4!The Terrain is Ripe. Native advertising is on the rise (and quickly). By 2017, there will be more than $4 billion spent for these ads. The potential profits can mean a win for you and your clients.!

Are you interested in learning more about how LivingSocial can help you with your native advertising? Click here.!