PROGRAMMATIC NATIVE ADVERTISING

The Programmatic + Native Power Combo

Programmatic native advertising combines two powerful marketing practices: native advertising and programmatic advertising.  The result is highly relevant ads that can be served to targeted audiences in real time at scale. Before we dive into how these two practices work together to create a potent marketing tactic, it’s important to understand how native advertising works. 

What is Native Advertising?

Native advertisements are made to match the look and feel of the ad environment in which they are placed. Design, copy and formatting of native ads mimic those of the publisher website. For example, if you’re advertising mattresses on a sports website, you may write an article that focuses on how sleep helps improve athletic performance.

Native Ads By The Numbers

• Native advertising has been around for over 10 years and continues do well for those who use it.

• Spend on mobile native ads alone more than doubled between 2018 and 2020, reaching $45 billion in the US. [1]

• The entire native ad sector is predicted to be worth $400 billion by 2025. [2]

The Benefits of Native Advertising

Native advertising may seem counterintuitive to some. Traditionally marketers want their advertising to stand out. With native ads, the goal is to blend in. So, does it work? Yes, for a few different reasons. For starters, native ads are targeted specifically to the platform’s audience. Using our same example above, a sports fan may have real interest in how a good mattress can improve athletic performance.

Wingman’s Marketing Manager, Amber Foster, explains “native advertisements take a different, non-intrusive approach to advertising. The native ad format delivers contextually relevant content that’s beneficial to the target audience. In turn that audience is happy to engage.”  

Unlike traditional banner ads and pop-ups, native ads aren’t immediately dismissed or overlooked. As a result, readers are more likely to take the time to read the ads. Reports on native advertising trends reveal that information-rich, relevant content has the highest engagement.

In addition, native advertising is adaptable. It can work well across many different platforms, whether it’s a sponsored editorial on a website or a video on YouTube. In fact, native advertising is the second-best top-performing channel for video campaigns, behind only social media. [3]

Types of Native Ads

Native Display

This is the traditional form of native advertising with an image, headline, and body text.

Native Video

Typically placed in-feed between paragraphs or sections of an article or webpage. In-feed video may be accompanied by a headline and body text.

Recommendation Widgets

Usually found underneath or on the sidebar of an article or post in the form of a widget. They are generally contextually relevant to the content on the page, but the content is from other brands and publishers. 

In-Feed / In-Content Ads

Appear within a web article or in the feed of social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. In-feed ads sometimes blend in so well with the surrounding content they’d otherwise be virtually undetectable if the Sponsored Content label wasn’t required.

Search Ads

Appear in stream and match the format of other entries on a search engine results page. These narrowly targeted placements are most commonly used to drive a direct response such as a sale, download, or data capture. The first few listings of a search engine results page are typically native paid search ads.

Putting It All Together With Programmatic Native Advertising

Leveraging the efficiency of programmatic buying with the effectiveness of native advertising makes a powerful marketing tool. Programmatic native advertising makes it easier for marketers to find relevant audiences and serve them meaningful ads. This can help drive more conversions, clicks and engagements.

Programmatic native ads are a great tactic for reaching consumers in the mid-to-lower funnel. When consumers are in the “middle of the funnel” this usually means they’re considering your product. Native advertising helps drive the consumer down from the middle to lower funnel with engaging content; consumers go from considering your product to purchasing it and, if you play your cards right, become brand advocates.

“Native ads’ impact on mid-to-lower funnel conversions is amplified when paired with programmatic advertising’s targeting capabilities.” explains Wingman’s Programmatic Manager, Garrett Wright. ”Programmatic allows advertisers to target consumers while they’re in the mid-funnel consideration stage as well as retarget them later down the line.”

Furthermore, programmatic advertising’s wide network of publishers allow for more creative possibilities with native ads. Buying native advertising the traditional way requires advertisers to reach out directly to the publisher. As a result, there are only a handful of publishers available. The process is limited and time-consuming. With programmatic, you have many more publishers to choose from. This variety of available publishers allows you take your creative in many different directions. This is especially important with native advertising as your creative must match the look, tone, and feel of the publisher.

How To Create Great Programmatic Native Ads

Like we’ve discussed, programmatic native advertising can be a great tool, but you have to know how to use it. As with any ad, you must understand your audience. This is especially true with native ads because you’re trying to fit into their world. Once you decide what publisher you’ll advertise on, speak with them about their readers’ interest, insights, and demographics. It’s also a good idea to study the publisher’s content first to truly grasp their tone and voice. In addition, you need to find something about your brand that relates to the publisher’s audience.

As with our previous example, it wouldn’t be as impactful if our mattress brand focused on insomnia on a sports website. By focusing on sleep and athletic performance, we’re able to tie in our product with our readers’ interests. You should also match the publisher’s copy and design style. Your ad needs to feel just like any other piece of content on the publisher’s platform. 

Watch it Come to Life

Want to see how programmatic native advertising can help drive conversions for your business? Talk to Wingman Media today. We’ll work with you to develop a marketing strategy, media plan, and creative execution that will turn your campaign into our next programmatic native ad success story.