By Austin Lovvorn
Banner ads seem to be the last of a dying trend, with click-through rates dropping to a record low of .09%. Let’s face it, the consumer is tired of be bombarded with “interrupting ads.” The push for native advertising models means we are entering into “post-advertising.” In a world where the consumer is in full control of their media, interruption and poor visual integrations are no longer an option. Native advertising models represent a new way to integrate content from brand advertisers into the site experience.
In other words, native ad formats need to be well integrated, user initiated and content based. How are big companies using this new trend of native advertising models to brand themselves? One of the most popular ways is through “promoted videos,” which are brand videos that coincide with user-generated content. There are a number of native video distribution platforms brands and agencies work with to distribute their videos across multiple platforms. Another way brands are using native advertising is through social media. Some of the first early success were through Facebook & Twitter, but have branched into blogs and editorial content as well.
Brands are also using promoted playlists and promoted images which coincide with branded apps. Promoted playlists are a collection of songs presented with a branded cover art image or text, which can include a link directing the consumer to a webpage. Promoted images offer brand images alongside a picture that is native to a site’s design. Websites that aren’t full of images, videos, or blog posts can be a perfect platform for native ads through sponsored listings. These ads tend to look identical to the products or services the consumer is already searching for. Sponsored listings can have a huge advantage to achieving extremely high click-through rates by because they are present and relevant to the content the consumer is already searching for.
It’s inevitable, native advertising is and will be the future of online advertising. Native inventory is definitely a permanent change for online advertising.
Recent Comments