Publishers are constantly looking for new ways to engage their audiences and drive revenue. One highly effective strategy to achieve this end is native advertising.
Native advertising has grown in popularity with both publishers and advertisers, because native ads blend seamlessly with the surrounding content. Sponsored social media posts are a great native advertising example.
Audiences, though aware that these are ads, find these types of paid advertisement far less intrusive than traditional display ads.
Display advertising relies on showing ads that stand out from the rest of the content. For example, an article on fishing for marlin on a deep sea fishing website might be accompanied by banner ads that list popular brands of fishing rods and their prices. And yet, audiences have developed banner blindness in response to this type of advertising.
According to a recent survey from web recommendation platform and native advertising specialist Outbrain, 75% of consumers trust the content of native ads. By contrast, only 54% of consumers demonstrate the same trust in conventional ads they encounter in social media posts.
The increasing popularity of native ads has seen a growing number of native ad platforms for publishers to choose from. But there's more to native ads than simple revenue maximization.
Read on to learn more about what native advertising is, how it works, its benefits for online publishers, as well as different native ad formats.
What Is Native Advertising?
Native advertising refers to paid ads that are relevant to the content of the platform where they appear. Unlike traditional ads that stand out, native ads are made to blend in with the surrounding content, making them feel like a natural part of the user experience. This alignment ensures that the ad feels less intrusive and more engaging to the audience by visually and contextually mirroring the surrounding content.
For example, native ads can appear as recommended articles on a news website, in-feed ads on social media, or even promoted listings in search engine results. These ads do not interrupt the user’s browsing experience but rather enhance it. By integrating smoothly with the content users are already interested in, native ads are more likely to catch and maintain attention.
This is not to say the distinction between ad and content is completely erased. Captions for native video ads, for example, typically include the words "recommended by", while other native content is often accompanied by text such as "suggested post", "recommended for you" or "sponsored".
Nevertheless, native advertising's ability to blend in with the content simply makes them less intrusive, meaning the consumer feels like they're seeing fewer ads. By not risking ad fatigue, as is often the case with traditional display ads, native ads use a softer approach for their target audiences.
This is perhaps why US advertisers are expected to spend $108.83 billion on native display advertising in 2024.
Native advertising examples include promoted search results and sponsored social media posts, which provide value while promoting products or brands. Native ads come in various formats like in-feed ads and sponsored content and advertisers will use programmatic platforms to improve campaign efficiency.
How Does Native Advertising Work?
As with other forms of digital advertising, publishers supply the native ad space that advertisers bid on. A match between the two is arrived at using programmatic advertising and real-time bidding (RTB).
Here's an example of native advertising at work.
John visits a website that publishes articles on backpacking around the world. As John browses the section of the website that focuses on France, the website owner's supply side platform (SSP) submits an ad request, along with data on John's interests, to interested advertisers running native advertising campaigns.
Through ad exchanges—platforms that connect publishers and advertisers—and their demand-side platforms (DSPs), advertisers place their bids for the backpacking website's ad space. The site owner's SSP then evaluates the advertisers' bids, picks a winner and facilitates displaying the creative.
This entire process occurs in milliseconds and ends with John seeing an ad for a sponsored piece on a backpacker's positive experience with a certain type of hiking boot.
Types of Native Advertising With Examples
Native ads are constantly evolving to meet customer needs. However, there are some formats that are more widely used than others. Here's a list of a few native advertising examples.
1. Sponsored Articles
Commonly found on news websites, sponsored articles are, at a glance, indistinguishable from the other articles that surround them, making them an ideal native ad in some situations.
Let's look at some of their features.
Brand-Specific
Sponsored posts provide their target audience with interesting, often practical, information that's also related in some way to the brand that's sponsoring the article. In this sense, they can attract a target audience that extends far beyond the brand's target market.
Source: MSNAdvertorials
This type of content is somewhere between a long-form text-based ad and an editorial piece. Compared to other native ads, the advertorial's focus is to completely win consumer buy-in on the publisher's platform before sending them to the advertiser's landing page.
A great example of such content can be found in The New York Times article Why our Future May Depend on Birds, which was sponsored by the shoe company Allbirds. The article focused on the importance of different bird species and how climate change threatens their continued existence.
The article's sophisticated layout and design mean it adheres to the NYT's quality standards while promoting Allbirds' message of sustainability.
2. Social Media Ads
Another common type of native ad can be found on Facebook, Instagram and other popular social media platforms. These ads appear in the news feeds of social platforms, and lend themselves well to the constant stream of posts that fill such feeds.
Their key features include the following:
Paid Posts
An ad on someone's Facebook or Instagram feed is invariably flagged with either a “Sponsored” tag or “paid post” hashtag.
Brevity
Given the brevity of many social media posts, a native ad in someone's feed will also be relatively succinct. This will help it to blend into its surroundings.
Audiovisual Flexibility
Unlike sponsored articles and other native ads, ads in social feeds can include a variety of audiovisual material. From video footage to single images to collections of images that can be viewed in a scrolling carousel-like fashion, native content in social feeds offers consumers a variety of material.
An example of effective native audiovisual advertising is Land Rover's Dragon Challenge video. This ad is a 6 minute film of a Land Rover scaling a long staircase in China and is tailor-made for sharing on social media where native content typically consists of exciting, interesting, or unusual videos shared by users.
Source: YouTube3. X (formerly Twitter) Hashtags
Another way in which native advertising can blend into everyday conversations is through X (formerly Twitter) hashtags. An extension of social media feed ads, hashtag-based native ads are even more malleable to their surroundings, given the ubiquity of hashtags on social media.
Source: TwitterSimilar to the ads we've already mentioned, X hashtag-based ads are accompanied by a brief mention of the business behind the ad, often in the form of another hashtag or the business's X username.
Depending on the subject matter, hashtag-based ads can encourage audiences to engage with them in their own way, either by adding their comments or forwarding the ad to others.
Tequila manufacturer Patron Tequila was able to harness the effectiveness of hashtag-based communication when it launched an X ad to promote its brand of Tequila on International Margarita Day.
Using the hashtag #MargaritaOfTheYear, Patron was able to encourage Margarita lovers to vote for the best Margarita recipe of the year.
Why Is Native Advertising Important?
Native advertising's importance lies in its ability to line up with a consumer's content preferences.
Here are just some of the reasons why advertisers and publishers are shifting towards native advertising in such a big way.
1. Reduced Ad Fatigue
Ad fatigue is when consumers become tired of display ads, eventually ignoring or avoiding them altogether. In other words, banner blindness.
Native ads can help advertisers revitalize flagging consumer engagement resulting from ad fatigue by offering content that is both interesting and new, in a context that seems natural and, therefore, acceptable.
Simply put, consumers are less likely to be fatigued by ads if they feel less advertised to.
2. Cultivation of Trust
Trust is critical to any relationship, and savvy publishers and advertisers know this only too well. Much of the success of native ads can be attributed to their ability to blend quality with relevance.
It's worth noting, for example, that more than 80% of news consumers have claimed that seeing ads within a news environment increases or maintains the trust they have in the advertised brands.
3. Relationship Building
Once trust has been established, it is much easier for a business to strengthen its relationship with its customers.
Effective native ads help with this by giving customers either what they want or pleasantly surprising them. Every carefully crafted native advertisement that has been strategically positioned within a specific site on a web page is a deposit in the customer relationship account.
Benefits of Native Advertising for Publishers
We’ve seen the importance of native marketing in the previous section.But there are other, more specific, benefits that publishers can enjoy. Here are a few of them:
1. Revenue Analysis
Cost per mille (CPM) measures how much revenue a publisher earns for every 1,000 ad impressions. Programmatic native advertising's bidding process allows publishers to maximize the rates they get from advertisers. Given that native ads tend to generate better engagement relative to other ad types, this translates into much higher revenue for publishers.
2. Audience Segmentation
Digital marketing and advertising are premised on the needs and wants of different audiences. By using native content to carefully curate different parts of a website according to audience characteristics, publishers can give visitors what they want.
3. User Friendliness
By its nature, native advertising is customer-centric and, therefore, user-friendly. This means any website that uses such content and can encourage consumers to spend more time there.
Benefits of Native Advertising for Marketers
Here are some of the reasons why marketers and advertisers choose native advertising, which falls under the umbrella of content marketing.
1. User Engagement
Native advertisements have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.20% across desktop and mobile platforms, according to Outbrain, while conventional non-native display ads only have a 0.05% CTR. This means that a customer is four times more likely to engage with a native ad than a conventional display ad.
2. High Return on Investment (RoI)
Increased user engagement results in increased conversion, meaning that marketers generate more revenue for every ad dollar spent. The RoI for native ads thus is better than that for conventional display ads.
3. Variety of Placement Options
Native ads are versatile, blending seamlessly into a variety of content formats—from lengthy sponsored stories and social media feeds to individual social posts and everything in between.
This variety affords marketers and advertisers the opportunity to find ad placements that align well with their native ad campaign goals.
How to Choose the Right Native Platform
Choosing the right native ad platform can be a little daunting, particularly for those who are new to native content. But with the right pointers, it needn't be so difficult.
For publishers, there are a variety of ad networks that can help them display high-quality native ads.
For advertisers, here are three tips to keep in mind when choosing the right native ads platform:
1. Targeting
Depending on how specific their advertising content is, advertisers need to ensure that the platform they choose will reach their audience.
Some platforms, for instance, may offer narrow categories that clearly reflect the purchase intent of consumers, while others may target users of specific technologies, such as mobile device users
Then there are platforms that target audiences according to the type of ads that are used to reach them, such as interstitial ads
2. Pricing
Native advertising cost can vary considerably, so it's crucial to identify the best pricing model and then match it with the right platform.
To maximize the return on ad spend (ROAS), advertisers also need to clarify the pricing model for their native campaign, then find a platform that will offer their chosen pricing model.
For advertisers pursuing a CPC model, we’ve created this guide to the best CPC-specific platforms to choose from.
3. Reporting
Advertisers need to consider what KPIs will be used to assess the performance of paid content as well as the availability of customized reports and whether they cover in-feed ads, news feed ads and promoted listings, or only other native content.
Best Native Advertising Units for Publishers
Native advertising has become a popular and effective strategy for publishers to monetize their platforms while maintaining a positive user experience. Here are some of the best native advertising units for publishers.
1. In-feed Ad Units
In-feed ads are a top choice for publishers because they seamlessly blend with the surrounding editorial content, providing a natural and non-disruptive user experience.
2. Sponsored Content
Sponsored content involves creating valuable and informative content that aligns with the publisher's editorial style. It allows publishers to monetize their platforms without compromising audience trust and interest. Sponsored articles, videos, or infographics enhance user engagement and provide a win-win situation for both publishers and advertisers.
3. Promoted Listings
Promoted listings offer advertisers a prominent position within the publisher's website or app. They generate additional revenue while enhancing the user experience by featuring products or services at the top of relevant search results or category pages.
4. In-video Native Ads
In-video native ads capitalize on the visual engagement of videos. By seamlessly integrating ads directly into video content, publishers provide a non-intrusive user experience.
5. Native Display Ads
Native display ads resemble traditional display ads but match the look and feel of the publisher's platform. They are less disruptive and more engaging for users. Native display ads offer higher CTRs and increased brand recognition for publishers while reaching target audiences effectively.
6. Native Search Ads
Native search ads appear within the publisher's search results, aligning with the user's search query. They provide a non-intrusive way for advertisers to promote products or services while generating additional revenue for publishers.
7. In-app Native Ads
With the increasing popularity of mobile apps, in-app native ads have become a crucial revenue stream for publishers. These ads blend seamlessly with the app's user interface, whether in-feed, interstitial, or rewarded ad formats.
The best native advertising units for publishers are those that seamlessly blend with the publisher's content, offer a non-disruptive user experience, and maintain the trust and interest of their audience. By leveraging the native advertising units listed above, publishers can attract advertisers, generate revenue, and achieve long-term success.
Final Thoughts
Native ads are increasingly the medium of choice for many publishers and marketers, thanks to their ability to connect with audiences in a personalized, natural way.
As with other aspects of online advertising, the deft use of native ads requires detailed knowledge of consumer interests and an up-to-date understanding of their ever-changing interests.
Publift helps digital publishers get the most out of the ads on their websites. Publift has helped its clients realize an average 55% increase in ad revenue since 2015, through the use of cutting-edge programmatic advertising technology paired with impartial and ethical guidance.
If you're making more than $2,000 in monthly ad revenue,contact us today to learn more about how Publift can help increase your ad revenue and best optimize the ad space available on your website or app.