Find out how PPC marketers can benefit from native advertising. Take advantage of native ads to boost user engagement and generate leads that convert.
Native advertising defined
Native advertising is a type of paid advertising designed to imitate the look and function of the website where the ads appear. Unlike banner or display ads, native ads are designed to not look like advertisements at first glance; they blend in with the editorial flow of the website.
There are five main types of native advertising:
- Paid search ads: These appear at the top of search results pages, and they look like part of the regular results, rather than an advertisement.
- In-feed ads: These native ads show up directly in a blog post or article.
- Recommendation widgets: These ads present recommended content related to what you’re already viewing.
- Ads with native elements: You can tell that these are advertisements, but they’re relevant to the content of the website.
- Promoted listings: Also called sponsored content, this type of native advertising is designed to seamlessly fit into the page it appears on.
Why is native advertising effective?
PPC marketers use native advertising because it’s an effective way to reach your target audience while engaging them and reducing ad fatigue; this works because native ads don’t feel like an advertisement to your visitors.
Most people instinctively ignore obvious ads because they’re bombarded with them throughout the day. Native advertising allows brands to get their message through to their ideal audience and raises the chances of them clicking through the ad.
Native advertising is becoming more and more popular with PPC marketers because it offers a more direct link to their target audience. Consumers have learned to tune out unwanted ads and messages that they never wanted to see in the first place; native advertising is a way for PPC marketers to circumvent this problem and get their content seen.
How native advertising works
Most PPC marketers are familiar with the basic concept of native advertising; a brand pays to have its content featured on a native advertising platform. Similar to any type of advertising, choosing the correct platform is critical—where does your target audience spend most of their time?
After choosing a platform, the brand creates the native content to look and feel the same as the content that already exists there. Brands are basically paying to rent the platform for their own content distribution.
Once the native advertising content is ready, it gets tagged with a label that will say something like “paid advertisement.” This creates transparency on the platform but is much less disruptive than traditional banner or display ads.
How native advertising fits into content marketing
Content marketing focuses on creating and delivering consistent content that prompts consumers to perform a specific action. Thoughtfully designed native advertising campaigns deliver relevant information to potential customers while also entertaining them. Because of this, native advertising offers a huge benefit to PPC marketers: it gives you the power to drive click-through rates, encourage loyalty, and increase brand awareness.
Content marketing and native advertising campaigns both must have a clear and precise understanding of their ideal audience. When native ads naturally blend in with their surroundings, consumers will often engage before realizing that the content they are reading is an advertisement. When value is put first, the line between ad and content becomes less defined.
Native advertising for PPC marketers
A combined strategy of native advertising and PPC marketing allows you to prime relevant consumers to act. Looking at the typical sales funnel, native advertising excels for brands in the early stages where people may not know much about your brand, services, or products. The creativity and freedom of the native advertising format allow you to entertain potential customers while seeding your brand in their minds.
PPC marketers know that paid ads are excellent in the later stages of the funnel; they give people the opportunity to take action once they know they need your product. PPC advertising helps you turn qualified leads into valuable conversions, and native advertising is the best way to generate those leads. Native advertising and PPC marketing make a powerful combination.
Boost your PPC campaign with native ads
Many PPC marketers are trying out native advertising, and they’re getting exceptional results. Here’s why:
- Native advertising is received better by consumers. They are more likely to interact with native ads because of their non-obtrusive nature.
- Native advertising builds brand recognition. Since users are viewing your ads more often, native ads contribute to improved brand awareness.
- Native advertising pushes users into the sales funnel. Native advertising lets you grow your sales pipeline and generate leads that actually convert.
- Native advertising doesn’t rely as much on algorithms. The biggest native advertising platforms like Outbrain, Revcontent, and Taboola don’t have the amount of scale as sites like Google or Facebook. For PPC marketers and other advertisers, this means less competition and ad review processes that are less reliant on algorithms.
PPC marketers may feel that starting a native ad campaign will be a challenge, but Brax is designed to simplify the native advertising process to let you create, optimize, and scale your native ads all in one place. Start your free trial today and find out how native advertising can improve your lead generation and enhance your conversion rates.
