Those wanting to invest in online advertising usually face a dilemma: should they interrupt their users to run an ad which could create an unpleasant user experience?

On the other hand, it’s essential to promote the business in order to call people’s attention to your product or service. In this context, native ads are an option to solve this dilemma!

Are you familiar with this alternative? Do you know how they work and if investing in native ads is worth it? 

No? Well, keep reading our post! We’ll explain the advantages of this practice and how to use them in order to reach your target audience.

What are the goals of native ads?

Native ads are among the options for online advertising alternatives. They are an interesting opportunity because they don’t interfere in the users’ internet experience, especially when it comes to social media.

Native ads look like the platform’s natural content. Therefore, if you have an online magazine or blog for example, the ads will have the same format and style of an article in that post. However, it will show a notice stating that it’s a sponsored page.

If native ads are run on social media — which is quite common nowadays —, they will also appear with a Facebook or Instagram post.

Therefore, users don’t view native ads as being intrusive. They don’t interrupt their experience on the platform, because their format and content are perfectly integrated to what the website proposes.

Thus, native ads promote a subtle approach, bringing visibility to the brand and increasing the chances of conversion and sales.

But if it’s still hard to understand the difference between native ads and traditional ads, let’s use a fictional example. 

Let’s suppose that you’re on Instagram. 

First, you see an ad about a nutritionist offering a weight loss method. This is a traditional ad.

However, as you scroll down the feed, you see a new post. This time, another nutritionist has posted an image that grabs your attention and under it, there’s a text with three tips on how to boost your metabolism and speed up weight loss. 

This is also paid content, but this time it offers something valuable, in a format similar to what the page normally posts. This is an example of an native ad.

What are the types of native ads?

There are a few different types of native ads. We’re going to explain each kind. Check it out!

In feed

The sponsored content appears in the normal website feed. 

It has the same layout and the brand usually produces the post in partnership with the editor, so that it can be related to the stories that are usually posted.

Native in-feed ads are quite popular due to their great effectiveness, since users don’t always realize that they are advertisements.

Promoted listing

This type of native ad is featured on websites that aren’t based on content, such as e-commerce websites. However, the ads are featured with the same layout and format as the products and services normally offered on the page. 

This way, the ad isn’t viewed as an interference of the users’ browsing experience and obtains great conversion rates.

In-Ad

In order for this type of advertising to take place, there must be a perfect combination between the page editor and the advertiser. 

The ads appears to have the standard format, but the difference lies in its context.

For example: The advertising of a condensed milk brand featured in a dessert recipe that uses this ingredient.

Recommendation Widgets

This type of ad appears in some type of widget, either at the bottom of a page, in a side column or within a frame in the middle of a text. They make a suggestion for the user to check out the content, such as: “Editor’s Pick”, You might also like” or “Recommended for you”.

For this type of native ad, it’s important that your ad be featured on a website with a similar audience. This way, they will naturally become interested in your content and will click on the link spontaneously.

Sponsored links

There are also the Paid Search Ads, which are the sponsored links. These are ads that are displayed when a user searches for a certain keyword on search engines, such as Google.

In these cases, the ads appear among the top choices of the results page (SERP). 

Users don’t see the advertising as an intrusion to their experience because it corresponds to their needs and search at that moment.

Paid ads

They also appear on search engine results pages, such as Google. However, in this case, the ads are displayed above or below organic links. 

They can be used to promote products or businesses and can also be configured to be displayed to users according to their geographic location.

What are the best types of native ads?

Actually, we cannot say which type of native ad is best. All of them have shown results and some might be more or less effective, according to the campaign’s goals, the characteristics of the target audience and so forth.

In order to obtain the best results possible with native ads, it’s essential that you have the most information about each strategy, choose the most appropriate one for your business and audience, monitor the results and use the metrics to optimize the campaigns and create efficient ads.

Would you like to start advertising but don’t know how? Don’t waste any more time! Check out our guide to digital marketing right now and learn how to call your audience’s attention the best possible way!