Why Native Advertising Is More Effective Than Traditional Display Ads in 2022

Display ads have always been an effective way to promote products or services on the Internet. Over the years, they have evolved from static images with text to highly interactive banners that resemble websites in miniature. 

Yet, conventional digital advertising is not free of flaws, some of which can significantly impact engagement and click-through rates. That’s why marketers kept searching for a more conversion-driving form of online ads and came up with native advertising. 

If you have never heard about native ads before or wonder why they can be more effective than usual display ads, you should find this post helpful. We are going to discuss what native advertising is, how it works, why it attracts more brands every year, what benefits it brings, and highlight some other important points.  

Native Advertising Basics

Definition 

A native ad is a form of a paid digital advertisement that blends naturally into the website or social media platform where it is displayed. That is, it looks like the content that surrounds it and is perceived by visitors as being an integral part of the website or social platform. 

In contrast to a conventional digital ad, a native ad is not easy to identify at once. That contributes to a smoother user experience since the visitor continues an uninterrupted consumption of the content.

That’s the main principle of native advertising: ads should not prevent users from relishing the content, while still effectively promoting the product or service. 

Labels 

While native ads may not look like ads at all, advertisers still have to notify visitors that they are seeing paid advertisements. This is done by labeling them with specific words and phrases, such as “Sponsored,” “Recommended by…,” “Sponsored by…,” “Recommended for you,” “Recommended post,” and the like.

Types 

Native advertising has been growing and changing for some time. These days, it offers a wide array of formats to whet every advertiser’s appetite. We have listed the most common ones below. 

Custom Ads

Normally found on news sites and sites with entertaining content, these ads are positioned outside the newsfeed but follow the style of the entire site. 

In-Feed Units

As the name suggests, the place of these ads is inside the news feed on a social media platform such as Facebook or a news website. 

Recommendation Widgets

Mimicking the style of the site or platform, these are placed  either below or to a side of a piece of content, usually a post, and contain, as you can guess, paid recommendations. 

Sponsored Listings

You will usually see these on online stores. They look like ordinary lists of items for sale alongside organic listings but are labeled with “Sponsored” or a similar word. 

Apart from those formats, native ads can take the shape of click-to-watch videos, mobile app install ads, carousel ads, and more. 

Native Advertising Is a Performance Marketing Channel 

If you are in the digital marketing industry, you must be familiar with the term “performance marketing.” In a nutshell, this means that advertisers pay publishers only when they have reached their marketing goals (one of the funnel stages objectives) or when a certain event has occurred such as a click on a banner ad. 

Site or social media platform owners want to generate revenue by displaying ads. Advertisers pursue their own marketing goals like selling products.

Once a visitor lands on the publisher’s website with an area reserved for the ad, the latter’s supply-side platform (SSP) submits a bid request to a demand-side platform (DSP). The DSP responds with a bid made by an advertiser along with appropriate metadata (header, title, etc.). The advertiser who offers the largest amount, gets their ad shown on the site.  

Top 4 Reasons to Choose Native Ads Instead of Conventional Display Ads 

eMarketer projects that native display ad spending in the USA will reach $98.59 billion in 2023, which is a 12.5% growth year-over-year. In 2021, 64.2% of all display ad placements in America fell on native ads. Why this tremendous popularity? Here are the main reasons. 

1. Native ads are an excellent remedy for ad blindness. These days, websites and social media are so overloaded with display ads that users simply stop noticing them. Native ads, on the other hand, don’t interrupt the enjoyment a user is having while consuming the content. Thus native ads tend to be noticed by the target audience more frequently (over 50% more often by some estimates). 
2. Native ads are always displayed. Unlike traditional banners that a user can easily block with a browser plugin, native ads merge with the content and will be seen by the target audience in 100% of cases. Your message will always get across. 
3. Native ads come into a consumer’s view at the most favorable moment. When the content is engaging and “well-packed,” a user may get curious and want to explore further. That’s when native advertising comes in very handy, contributing to a higher CTR.
4. Native ads easily reach any audience. Since native ads are closely “tied” to the content, advertisers can target any consumer group with relevant posts. Selling hiking boots? Search for a story about a mountain trip. Offering online French classes? Find a post with tips on language learning. 

Native ads offer other benefits as well, but even these four are enough to make native advertising one of the most effective performance marketing channels at the moment. 

There’s a challenge, though. You may discover high-quality, interesting content that’s relevant to your marketing goals, but the visual appeal of your native ad matters a lot as well. However, creating an engaging native ad that mirrors the style of the website or platform where it appears is clearly not a DIY task. 

You definitely need professional developers for the job, and that’s when we can help. 

GetDevDone Crafts Top-Quality Native Ads That Fit Seamlessly Into Any Website or Social Media Platform 

Whatever type of native ad you need, our expert developers are always up to the challenge. In particular, we specialize in native banner ads – static or animated, including these varieties: 

• Native
• Push
• InPage
• PopUnder

Still undecided whether you should invest more in native advertising or keep on walking the trodden marketing path? We also offer the development of traditional banners: static, simple animated, complex animated, or interactive. And if you have no design yet, we can make it for you based on your ideas.

Write to us or reach out in any other convenient way to discuss your needs and requirements.