Native Advertising, the advertising that blends with the editorial

Native Advertising, the advertising that blends with the editorial

Native advertising is a new type of online advertising method where the ads blend with the different elements in the platform.An advertiser want to promote his products or service.A media reader do not want to read an advertisement.A media platform want to make money from advertising.All the three objectives converges at native advertising.Earlier there was a wall between advertising and editorials.Journalists were handling editorials and sales people were writing advertisements.Now the wall is no longer there.The editorial versus advertising divide is no more.Embedded marketing technique of placing a product within the content is the key aspect of native advertising.Promoted videos, images, articles, music, ringtones, commentary, posters etc are the some of the forms and this is actually different from traditional advertising.Contextual advertisements displayed in google adsense hosted websites as well as google search advertisements etc. are popular form of native advertisements.You would have seen Promoted tweets in Twitter, promoted stories in facebook and promoted posts in Tumblr.Sponsor funded content is placed along with editorial content and fed to users who might be interested in watching the content along with the editorial view of the media.Facebook, Youtube, google, LinkedIn, Buzzfeed, Twitter, Instagram, Huffington Post, Amazon etc. are some popular platforms employing native advertising.

Facebook Sponsored Posts

Google Adwords Search advertising

Some of the companies that employ content marketing and native advertising are from the finance, electronics and technology, automobile industry and alcohol brands.The financial companies sought to provide financial information, advice and insights in money matters to their potential clients.While auto companies provide test drives, videos of car and bike rallies organised by them as well as reviews of the vehicle by journalists.Similarly the alcohol brands are more interested in brand building.So they experiment interactive experiences.Hospitals and those businesses from the healthcare are also taking the same route.

Sponsor Content of the Atlantic

The Interactive Advertising Bureau published a report in 2013 which identified five types of native advertising and a sixth for the undefined rest of it.

1. In-Feed Ad Units

Ad units are placed in normal content feed to give the view that content has been prepared with the help of the publisher's resources to match the nearby stories.

2. Search Ads

Paid and relevant high quality advertisements are placed with organic search results and are presented with identical font, design and style with the results.A small text disclosure will be there.

3. Recommendation Widgets

They are widgets in the websites, apps etc which looks different from the content but are sourced from the related words and subject.They sought to suggest you to read related news and will be presented with provocative images so that you will click it.The disclosure would be "Stories Near You", "Recommended for You". "Today's Pick" etc.

4. Promoted Listings

Promoted Listings are present mainly for eCommerce / real estate sites or other services.The listings are presented similar to menu links present in the website.

5. In-Ad (IAB Standard)

It is an ad according to the standard prescribed by IAB.

6. Custom

All the rest of the advertising would come here.

Is Native Advertising the Same as Content Marketing & How?

Content marketing is something that is all the rage these days for advertisers as well as marketers.Native marketing though different but also uses content marketing techniques for implementation. A clear and transparent advertising is a must.It is made sure that the article does not focus on one brand.Instead the point is to provide information for the buyer.If you tell it is sponsored, then it is less native.A best native ad is to provide content with zero mention of the brand.Proper disclosure is important for native advertising.Else it would amount to deceive the audience.Original content is created and used to educate, spread information and induce the customer in to a buying decision or create desire.Providing veiled sales pitch as well as unclear declaration and publishing off brand content on an unrelated platform are recipes for disaster in native advertising.