Native Advertising: Marketing Beyond the Naked Eye
Recently, while swiping through one of my favorite apps, I stumbled upon a page that was unlike the others—instead of a personal profile for a local professional, it was a recruitment ad for a nearby company. Swipe left to skip the ad, swipe right to learn more details on the company and available job openings. Impressed by the unique marketing technique, I swiped right to find out more information and was brought to the company’s website for job listings. Welcome to the modern world of advertising—where we are being marketed to without even realizing it.
This is just one example of how the marketing technique deemed “Native Advertising” is growing popularity in our endlessly evolving, tech-focused advertising world. “Native Advertising” is a paid media tactic that focuses on both the form and function of the user ad experience. These types of ads match the design of the app or webpage they are found on, and they look and feel like natural content from the site—often making them harder to spot as a paid advertisement. Native ads also match the function of the native user experience, closely matching the function of the platform itself so it seems less like an advertisement and more like a uniquely-targeted, interactive experience.
While I typically find the proliferation of advertisements in social media to be somewhat annoying, I was impressed by this app’s refreshing use of advertising with a more “organic” content look and geo-targeting capabilities to better reach individuals in their target market. Additionally, connecting 20-somethings with job opportunities through relevant advertisements that are as “fun” as they are functional seems to be a huge development in how young people are recruited for jobs—especially right out of college.
Why use native advertising?
- Native advertising has been reported to reach 25% consumers than standard banner advertising
- 97% of mobile media buyers report that native ads are very effective at achieving branding goals
- Native ads registered an 18% higher lift in purchase intent than traditional banner ads
So, next time you are scrolling through your favorite app, take a minute to notice where advertisements are placed. You may find that it’s harder to tell that difference between organic content and paid content than you think.
