Native Advertising – What is it, is it the Hot New Trend?

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You might buy niche edits and have excellent SEO, but are you into native advertising? Is native advertising the hot new trend in web marketing? Chances are, you’ve already seen this form of paid media in action, if you use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. The concept is that ad experience follows the user experience closely. Depending on actions the user takes, online text or graphical ads appear, and are labeled as “promoted videos” or “sponsored posts.” While this concept is not new, Facebook did receive a lot of attention for introducing its own version of native advertising with sponsored posts. Twitter followed in its footsteps, and even more traditional media journals like The Washington Post followed suit.

How is Native Advertising Performing?

Sponsors provide content in the context of the user’s daily routine, which allows the user to surf comfortably without having to endure “hijack” style ads that take up the whole screen, or blatant PPC/SEO ads that sometimes seem intrusive or even nonsensical. There are also opened and closed platforms, which have some subtle differences. Closed platform native advertising is what you see on more popular sites like Facebook and YouTube because all ads are confined within the platform. With open platforms, the same content is branded across multiple platforms and in a variety of native ads.

Recently, Forbes Insights and Sharethrough Research teams conducted a study involving 136 marketing executives from top worldwide brands. The study was focused exclusively on the effects of native advertising. Thirty-two percent of the CMOs polled said that they would buy native video advertising in the next half year, or have already done so. The growth of this new media avenue looks promised.

Perhaps the most interesting view of native advertising comes from the FTC or Federal Trade Commission, who has publicly expressed concern with proper representation. Jessica Rich, director of the bureau of consumer protection said, “The goal is that consumers can distinguish native advertising from editorial content.”

What Are the Pros and Cons?

The pros are obviously in higher perception of the ads, since they are directly related to the personal user experience, as well as increased brand recognition. However, the technology does come with its own drawbacks because of the highly personalized nature of the ads, they are more difficult to make and sell at a low price.

There is also concern that by mixing content with advertising, and more to the point “news,” it could have the reverse effect and drive people away from buying. Business Insider reported that Wal-Mart used the NA technology poorly and created a small scandal amongst users and advertisers.

Affecting a user’s thought processes and inducing action is the most imperative aspect here. Otherwise, advertising is an expensive failure and amounts to little more than expensive “impressions” that could be turning customers away.

In short, this is an emerging technology and that means more study and experience is required to figure out the best way to deliver content that users actually want to see and, more importantly, will associate with positive feelings and thoughts.