Native advertising – much like advertorials in print magazines – are digital ad campaigns that look, read, and feel like the editorial content it is placed next to. Native ads fit seamlessly into the website (or app) context, providing an unobtrusive user experience.
You’ll find native ads in many places across the online publishing world. That might include recommended content on a website, across social media platforms and even on specific apps on your smartphone. Whatever the platform, native ads will be labeled as ‘sponsored’ or ‘branded’, but will otherwise blend into the content and environment in which they’re published – making them appear more natural or contextual and less interruptive.
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Trust makes native advertising more powerful
Native advertising is so successful because it plays on the trust built between an audience and a respected publication. If a consumer enjoys reading a website’s content, they are more likely to enjoy the native ad, because it is delivered in the editorial tone and voice of the publisher.
This supposition is backed up by recent research that surveyed 4,770 consumers, using eye-tracking tech, to assess the public’s visual attention in the context of native ads. The results were then compared with more traditional formats, such as banner ads.
Unsurprisingly, native ads performed significantly better than traditional formats, and approximately 25% more consumers viewed in-feed native ad placements compared to display ad units.
Furthermore, 32% responded that a native ad “is an ad I would share with a friend or family member”. Only 19% of the research participants said the same about display ads.
The evolution of native advertising – and why it matters
Native advertising is a form of marketing that inherently appeals to the human condition. As a result, it has existed since the dawn of history, and you can find examples that date right back to ancient Egyptian scrolls and cave paintings. Today, native ads appear across most media channels, including TV and movies in the form of product placements.
In 2017, it was predicted native advertising would drive mobile internet expansion and, judging by today’s landscape, we appear to have reached that point. The average consumer is exposed to thousands of ads a day, and ad blindness is becoming a very real problem for digital marketing. Native advertising neatly sidesteps this issue because the creative is subtly integrated into the online experience; people want to read these ads because they are relevant to their interests.
Indisputably, native ads drive high brand engagement with audiences. In fact, consumers are 53% more likely to view a native ad than a traditional display ad, which is why they boast an 18% increase in metrics such as purchase intent.
Challenges in native advertising
Despite being a hugely powerful form of digital advertising, native does present marketers with a small handful of challenges. For one, it is moderately expensive in comparison to traditional formats. Producing high-quality, native ad creative requires time and investment.
It is also important to ensure that an ad doesn’t go too far in mimicking the editorial surroundings in which it is placed. As with all digital advertising, optimization is key, and brands don’t do enough of this when it comes to native advertising.
Similarly, campaign mismanagement can have a particularly detrimental effect on native advertising. If the ad is poorly placed, for example, it quickly becomes ineffective.
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The role of AI in native advertising
Mitigating some of these issues has become much easier with the use of AI, which hugely impacts campaign management, especially when it comes to efficiencies.
AI is also useful beyond simply pushing efficiencies and can be employed for everything from optimizing the buying and bidding process to creating personalized campaign creative. It is especially useful in optimizing ad placements in real-time, and this ensures that only the most relevant ad placements are secured, minimizing ad wastage in the process.
Careful use of AI means that solutions and platforms such as Preciso are able to provide engagement rates of over 70% – that is in comparison to the 70% bounce rate standard display ad formats offer. So the performance benefits are clear: native enables marketers to reach more users, boost brand visibility, and optimize their spend.
Putting smarter targeting into action
There’s no doubt consumers are switching off from disruptive ads, and ad blindness is a growing problem. Marketers need a new, fresh narrative to target consumers, and native advertising provides a content-led approach that will resonate with an audience. Smart targeting and enhanced integration make native advertising an interesting prospect in 2025, and with AI’s help, native ads are likely to drive the future of the industry.
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