5 Tips to Boost Native Advertising Effectiveness

There’s good news for marketers when it comes to consumer acceptance of contextual advertising. Consumers have come to terms with these ads... but only if the content is relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy.

According to a study Edelman/Berland, Getting In-Feed Sponsored Content Right: the Consumer View:

» 86% of consumers feel that online advertising is necessary to receive free content online.

» 60% of consumers are more open to in-line ads that tell a story than ones that simply sell a product.

» Relevancy (90%) is the top factor in sparking interest in in-feed sponsored content, it is the top factor in the ultimate success of this type of native advertising.

Online entertainment company, Netflix has embraced the concept of native ads in a big way with a series of campaigns that has presented different content applicable to targeted audiences in varied media. It ran a contextual native ad campaign which discussed the popular TV show, “Orange is the New Black” on the New York Times website. Based on the positive results of the New York Times campaign the company decided to ramp up on native ads with an initiative on Wired which discussed TV viewing habits over the years. Netflix is using the articles to reach digital audiences looking for good storytelling—and then reinforce the message of a subscription-based entertainment service. 

Both campaigns had the intended result—shares that helped the company reach an even larger audience beyond the original viewership. And while there is some discussion over which outlet ultimately netted the bigger catch, both avenues together resulted in approximately 140,000 shares. But that is not the whole story, because the posts were also viewable on social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter. The average time spent on the ads topped a desirable 3 minutes.

5 Takeaways to Boost the Effectiveness of Native Advertising

1. Be Transparent; Own up to owning the sponsored content. There is a fine line between the “advertorial nature” of native ads and actual in-your-face in-line ads. But customers are just beginning to understand the concept of native advertising so to earn viewer trust, brands need to be upfront that the content being published, while relevant, is advertising with a message.

2. Fit In; Understand the look, feel, and format of the media you are using, so that your native ad fits what viewers expect to find on the site. As mentioned earlier, being disruptive rather than informative is a sure fire way to ensure that your native ads won’t work.

3. Keep VoC Front and Center; As in all marketing listening and understanding what customers want from you is key to delivering content that will be accepted and embraced. Fill a need with your native ads or be entertaining in a manner that fits the personality of your key customer.

4. Be a Good Storyteller; You want your native ad to go viral, so present a good story that viewers will want to share.

5. Be You; consistency across all media is key. When you are not true to your core brand message (no matter where or how it is presented) it is confusing to consumers who know you for who you are. If you are going to go in a new direction then be upfront about it so readers can go with you.

Facebook Ads: Optimize for Awareness, Not Direct Sales

The Challenge: Facebook Ads has not proven to be an effective direct sales medium. While this has led to shareholder frustration, advertisers should ignore the focus on sales and optimize for engagement and awareness.

When it comes to Facebook Ads, there's a significant disconnect between Wall Street and Madison Ave. Since Facebook's IPO in May, investors have been looking for revenues high enough to justify a multi-billion dollar market cap. They haven't found them. On Thursday last week, Facebook released their first earnings since their IPO. For investors, the results were predictably disappointing.

For advertisers, the fixation on Facebook's earnings is a distraction. The plain fact is that Facebook Ads isn't a direct sales channel; it's an awareness channel.

Earlier this month, Ad Age and Citigroup conducted a survey to determine why marketers use Facebook Ads. Overwhelmingly, marketers use Facebook Ads to, "Build awareness and sentiment for my brand." Others were trying to drive website traffic or build their fan base. Fewer than 10 percent of respondents said they were trying to generate sales leads or engage in social commerce.

The Ad Age survey reflects an important reality about Facebook Ads: while they're a powerful way to build brand awareness, they are not a strong direct sale mechanism. Of course, this doesn't mean that marketers should ignore them altogether. As Max Kalehoff recently wrote at MediaPost, “Facebook Ads, thus far, have proven to work best toward top- and middle-of-funnel marketing goals. Therefore, the fact that brand-building is the top goal is not surprising.”

When marketers recognize Facebook Ads as an awareness and engagement channel, they can optimize and budget their Facebook investment accordingly.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS

» Allocate Budget for Every Stage of the Conversion Funnel
Ultimately, your entire marketing budget is directed toward one goal: driving revenue. That said, each stage in the conversion funnel should have its own budget. Determine how much you're willing to spend at the top the funnel – "Awareness" and "Lead Generation" – and allocate a percentage of that budget to Facebook Ads.

» Define "Awareness" KPIs ("Key Performance Indicators")
If you optimize your Facebook Ads for direct sales, you'll always be disappointed. By defining "Awareness" KPIs, including "likes" and website visits, you'll be optimizing for Facebook's strengths. Measure results accordingly.

» Track Facebook Leads to the End of the Funnel
Not all leads are created equal. Determine how often leads generated by Facebook Ads eventually lead to sales, and allocate your "Awareness" budget accordingly.

Microsoft’s Innovative Use of Interactive Ads

The Challenge: Paid streaming services are gaining in popularity, making interactive ads the new norm for TV. Marketers need to respond by integrating interactivity across channels.

With the advent of interactive ads on streaming services Hulu and MSN Video Player, viewers can engage TV ads with the simplicity and immediacy of online ads. With viewers growing accustomed to interactivity, one-way ads are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

The Tipping Point: Gaming
An increasing number of TV viewers are streaming content through gaming devices like Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's Xbox. (Every month, Xbox users watch 300 million hours of video on the platform.) These devices are rich with opportunities to interact. With the imminent release of NUads, Microsoft's interactive ads platform for Xbox Live, it's time for marketers to take note.

The Promise of Interactive TV Ads
Many Xbox Live channels, including Crackle and Live.fm, are already ad-supported. So far, these have been static audio and video advertisements.

With NUads ("natural user advertising") Xbox users will be able to interact with ads using "Kinect" voice and gesture-control capabilities. The platform will be rolled out in the Fall, and major advertisers including Toyota, Unilever, and Samsung Mobile have already signed on.

With NUads, marketers will be able to add interactive elements like poll questions, sharing functionality, or browser links to video ads. Customers can respond with a simple voice command or a wave of the hand. According to Rohan Oommen, general manager of Xbox Live EMEA, NUads will "fundamentally transform television advertising."

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS
Here is how marketers can prepare for the transformation:

» Find Relevant Ways to Make Ads Interactive
With online ads, social media and, now, interactive video, every ad can be an opportunity to interact. As a result, selecting images and drafting ad copy is no longer enough. Marketers need to give customers a way to interact with ads, rather than passively viewing them.

» Only Add Interactivity if it Adds Value
Don't add poll questions or share buttons to ads just for the sake thereof. As Chris Hall wrote at Pocket-lint, "Interaction will come down to how clever advertisers are." If you aren't building creative interactions, you're just adding an additional step between users and the content they're trying to watch. Successful interactivity will require more.

» Don't Limit Interactivity to TV!
While NUads and platforms like Hulu have enabled interactivity on standard television commercials, that doesn't mean interactivity should be limited to TV. The top-performing social media advertisers give users ways to engage on Facebook and Twitter. And given new customer expectations, corporate websites can no longer be static.