What Are the Top 5 Native Advertising Formats?

Native advertising has become a crucial tool for modern marketers who want to increase reach and improve conversion rates in a world where consumers often avoid traditional ads. Native ads blend into the content of the platforms they appear on, making them less intrusive and more appealing to users. Recent data shows native advertising spend continues to grow rapidly, highlighting its effectiveness and increasing popularity among brands.

Key Statistics on Native Advertising Performance

Here are a couple of statistics to help understand how well native ads are doing:

• Native ads are viewed 53% more frequently than display ads.
• Native ads have a 9% higher lift for brand affinity and an 18% higher purchase intent, compared with regular banner ads.
• Over 32% of people would share an interesting native ad with friends, family members or social media followers.
• Close to 90% of younger internet audiences from Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X prefer custom digital content, including native ads, instead of traditional ones.

Native Ads are all around us and you may not even realize it. Unlike traditional ads, this type of digital advertising is designed to match the look and feel of a media source and provide a better user experience. The key to native advertising is that it’s non-disruptive and pretty much exposes the reader to advertising content without sticking out like a sore thumb.

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How Can You Identify Native Ads?

As shown by various statistics native ads work. On top of that native advertising done right will most likely look just like all other articles and pieces of content around it. There are a few basic ways web users can identify native ads and all of them include words like Ad, Advertisement, Paid Advertisement, Sponsored Content tagged and highlighted next to the advertised content.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, unfortunately it’s not really that easy. Native ads can be quite confusing as they take on a variety of shapes and sizes. Depending on the marketing objectives, brands reach out to different types of content creation for different channels and media placements.

In this handy guide, we’re going to outline the 5 most popular native advertising formats to help you get your creative juices flowing and learn how you can get the most out of your native advertising campaigns. Let’s go through it together!

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What Are the Main Types of Programmatic Native Ads?

Here are the five most common types of native ads used today and some of their benefits:

1.  What Are In-Feed Native Ads?

This is probably the most popular format of native advertising. You can spot in-feed ads in articles and content feeds. They are created according to the publisher’s requirements in order to harmoniously match the surroundings of the site design. Basically, they don’t disrupt the user experience, but allow readers to view them naturally and with little effort.

The main advantage of in-feed ads is that they are not placed below the article, but within the flow of reading. Based on the research, only 30% of web users will scroll to the end of a page, hence in-feed ads have high visibility and increased brand perception. They not only bring higher CTRs, but also boost conversion rates. 

2. How Do In-App Native Ads Work?

As stated by Statista, mobile ad spending amounted to $190 billion in 2019 and that figure is expected to increase to more than $280 billion by 2022. In fact, native ads for mobile make up an important part of the app monetization ecosystem. Such ads are non-intrusive and highly-effective, as they mimic the characteristics of an app font, shape, as well as graphic style. They simply blend into the look and feel of the underlying app environment.

Since most users have their mobile phones with them around the clock, apps offer a unique opportunity for marketers to reach them at times when other marketing channels can’t. Plus, as app usage can often be a daily habit, in-app native ads are more likely to engage an already-invested audience. Result? Higher credibility that drives sales.

3.  What Are Native Content Recommendation Widgets?

Otherwise known as content Discovery Ads or Content Recommendation Widgets. These are native ads that are typically found below or alongside publisher content, such as an article or in a feed. Content Recommendation Widgets cleverly imitate real referrals from a webpage and get web users to read more without feeling forced. Usually, they are located in blocks labeled as “recommended for you”, “you might have missed” or “from around the web”.

Just think about it for a second. You read an interesting article and discover a notification near the button, revealing: “you also might like”. Doesn’t it look like something you would like to click on? Well, you’re not the only one. Content Recommendation Widgets are definitely more trustworthy than search and social advertising.

4.  What Are Sponsored Ads in Native Advertising?

Also called Paid Branded, Sponsored or Custom Content. This ad format is commonly represented by articles, which are created by publishers in partnership with brands. Therefore, the content itself is a part of the native ad buy and can be promoted by In-Feed Ads or Content Recommendation Widgets. You can easily find examples of Sponsored Ads in the New York Times, The Atlantic or other famous news portals.

The Content Marketing Institute reports that 70% of consumers would rather learn about a product or service through content rather than traditional advertising. In fact, when Sponsored ads offer readers useful and empowering information, they build credibility and trust, and at the same time satisfy brands’ long-term goals.

5.  How Do Native Email Widgets Work?

There is no question that email is one of the best performing channels to distribute content.  Native Email Widgets fit seamlessly into the content promoted by the publisher’s newsletters. The powerful combination of valuable, high-quality content delivered by a trusted publisher through a consumer’s favorite digital channel makes native email ads a revenue-driving machine. 

Additionally, this ad format eliminates impression waste because the ad is served only when a user opens the email. Not to mention the fact that users can interact with the content in the message, save it, or forward it to friends or relatives. In effect, email Widgets significantly increase the chances of a conversion and have the highest possible ROI.

Why Add Native Ad Formats to Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

How Do Native Ads Capture User Attention?

Consumers don’t want a sales pitch. They hate it. They’re usually more willing to engage with the ad when they’re not aware someone is trying to sell them something. Unlike annoying, flashy banners and dodgy pop-ups, good native ads integrate perfectly with the rest of the website’s design and act as organic content. Thanks to its undisruptive nature, native offers an excellent way not to irritate your target audience and avoid ad-blocking softwares.

Do Native Ads Attract More Qualified Visitors?

One of the best benefits of native advertising is that they often pre-qualify potential customers. Since they are shown alongside similar content, web users viewing the ad will most probably have a real interest in the product that you are advertising. For instance, if they are on a fitness website, they most likely would be interested in a native ad that seems like an article about nutrition products and would probably enjoy being redirected to the blog of an online supplements store. 

Do Native Ads Encourage Content Sharing?

As native ads are woven into educational, emotional, entertaining, or visual content, they have a great potential to go viral. Users typically shy away from sharing content that looks promotional, but when they find it interesting or fun they will happily share it with friends or social media followers. This way, native advertising is giving small businesses a chance to expand the reach and improve brand awareness across different online channels.

Why Are Native Ads Considered Effective?

Last but definitely not least – native ads result in higher views, increased click-through rates, and greater conversions than almost any display ad. Based on Business Insider study, native ads can have up to 4x higher CTR than non-native ads. Not to mention the fact that generally, users who decide to click on native advertisements spend as much time reading the click-through content as they would on the average publisher site. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Why Is Tracking Essential for Successful Native Ads?

So, while you’re thinking about making your native ads more effective and eye-catching don’t forget that even the best effort could be minimized by the lack of…tracking. Yes, yes, here it goes again. Scaling and improving your campaigns without concrete data could easily result in ads that are not profitable. Voluum offers comprehensive tracking and analytics to help marketers make data-driven decisions in their native advertising campaigns.”

But by gathering information like number of conversions and where your customers come from you’ll be able to target your ads better,boost and scale what works or not. 

Voluum will let you do all of that and more from one platform. Plus, if you’re using our automation tool, our tracker will take some manual work off your shoulders so you can focus on making money. 

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Are Native Ads Worth Using in Your Marketing Strategy?

Definitely! Native advertising has been shown to be an effective approach to performance marketing. Especially in times when advertisers are trying to overcome banner blindness and ad blocking. 

Just don’t make the mistake of running ads before you plan out your goals. By analyzing your business objectives, you can then decide which native ad format best suits your needs and start your native advertising journey.

Voluum is here for you to reach your goals!

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is native advertising and why is it effective?

Native advertising is a form of digital advertising designed to match the appearance and feel of the content around it, making it less disruptive to users. This approach results in higher engagement, better brand perception, and increased conversion rates compared to traditional display ads.

Question: What are the top five native advertising formats?

The main native advertising formats are: In-Feed Native Ads, In-App Native Ads, Native Content Recommendations, Sponsored Ads, and Native Email Widgets. Each format offers unique ways for brands to reach and engage their target audiences.

Question: How can users identify native ads?

Native ads are often marked by labels such as “Ad,” “Advertisement,” “Paid Advertisement,” or “Sponsored Content” close to the content. They blend in with surrounding material, making them less obvious than traditional ads.

Question: Why should I add native ad formats to my digital strategy?

Native ad formats can draw more attention, pre-qualify high-quality visitors, encourage greater content sharing, and deliver higher click-through and conversion rates compared to standard display ads.

Question: How can I track and optimize my native ad campaigns for better results?

To maximize effectiveness, advertisers should track key metrics like conversions and user sources. Platforms like Voluum offer advanced tracking and analytics to help advertisers optimize campaigns, target ads more effectively, and scale successful efforts.