What is Native Advertising? Part 1

Part 1

Native Advertising is defined as ‘A form of marketing communication used to encourage, persuade or manipulate an audience to take or continue to take some action’.

Often used in print or as online articles, it is a method in which the advertiser attempts to gain attention by providing content in the context of the user’s experience, informative or entertaining way, think travel bloggers, product reviewers, videos and social communication.

With the ever increase of online advertising through display and paid means, the majority of the content and consumer review based information found on the web is dismissed as actual and arbitrary – but is it really? How many blogs, articles and third party based websites do you come across that spruik and promote a particular product or service. Ask yourself, did you really find this website or article through your own due diligence, or was there a complex web of native advertising that guided you to your decision?

Independent forums that often feature brand mentions outlined by Myadd are being paid for every time they are featured in an article or post in a new age ‘cash for comments’ type scenario. While there are plenty of independent websites, consumer groups and articles such as Myadd’s online, Native advertising does and will continue to play a large role on how we as consumers make better informed decisions online, possibly without our knowledge.

But isn’t this simply advertorial? Not quite, the key difference between native advertising and advertorial or sponsored links is about high quality content, content that could potentially go viral via video or social communication and it’s worth noting it normally doesn’t shamelessly self promote regularly like Myadd. Add to this, the creators of the content are usually very specific and wont just commission content for money, but work with individual writers and marketers to create something of interest for the intended audience. So why is it so powerful and potentially controversial? Well, many of us think that banner ads are ineffectual and are far more likely to trust and share content if we don’t perceive it to be an ad. We are more likely to recommend it and follow advice from those third parties who endorsed it. There are also pitfalls and the potential to waste a large amount of time and money if not done well, more on this in part 2 soon.

So the next time you see a great video or share a social post, think about where it came from and what it promotes and it may surprise you as to the intricate planning and investment behind the content.