As the world of digital marketing grows larger and more powerful every day, odds are that you’ve heard about the concept of native ads. Whether your business is brand new or well-established, changing the way you think about marketing can have a measurable effect on your footprint in the market – and one of the best ways to do that in today’s quick-moving, Internet-based world is to utilize native ads.
What are Native Ads?
Native ads are a unique marketing approach that seeks to incorporate advertising in a way that doesn’t necessarily look like a traditional ad. Instead, a native ad connects with potential clients via their everyday consumption of online material, whether that be through casual browsing of their favorite websites, searching for useful blogs or scrolling through their social media feed. Unlike a traditional pop-up or banner ad, a native ad seeks to advertise to the reader in a very subtle, non-disruptive manner, thus achieving an ideal balance between organic content and publicity.
There are a few broad categories of native ads:
In-Feed Social Media Advertisements
As customers scroll through their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram feeds, imagine an attractive advertisement for your business incorporated with photos and posts by their friends and family – that’s what an in-feed native ad looks like.
Recommended Content
Online news articles and blogs are more popular than ever, with many consumers browsing several articles at a time. At the end of each article, there’s often a short list of linked articles that have been recommended based on content relevance. Your content can be included on these lists, allowing you to reach a strong base of potential customers with a demonstrated interest in your products and services.
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content typically appears on large publisher website and is designed to look just like their standard editorial content. However, the primary difference is that sponsored content incorporates a subtle promotional intent, often linking to or mentioning specific products and services.
Why are Native Ads Useful?
The biggest benefit of native ads is that they allow you to better reach potential customers. As the traditionally in-your-face marketing strategies lose traction, native advertising has emerged as the smarter, more efficient way to connect with customers in a productive manner. Native ads engage customers at a far more successful rate, presenting content that is both interesting, useful and directly linked to your products and services.
To learn more about how you can use native ads to maximize your business success, contact V Digital Services for a consultation on services, including print and web-based marketing, brand management and more.
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