Learn what native targeting is, how it works in advertising, and its impact on audience engagement. Discover key tactics to maximize your marketing efforts effectively.
When native and targeted advertising work together, marketers can enhance the performance of campaigns
In a competitive market, marketers must leverage multiple strategies to reach their audience, such as native ad campaigns or advanced targeting. What happens when such strategies combine? This guide will explore native targeting and its place in the programmatic ecosystem.
Want to dig deeper? Check out The Complete Guide to Understanding Targeting in Marketing.
What Are Native Ads?
Native advertising is a type of advertising that seamlessly integrates with a platform or website’s content, providing a natural user experience. Its purpose is to deliver ads that are visually and contextually similar to surrounding content. For example, instead of deploying web ads through banners, a natural ad might take the form of an in-feed post or search engine result. These ads would deploy through the programmatic ecosystem normally within a format that reflects local content.
Types of Native Advertising
In-Feed Videos
In-feed ads are a common type of native advertising that seamlessly blends into a website or social media platform's content feed, matching the format and style of the surrounding posts.
Promoted Posts
These ads are similar to regular social media posts but are labeled as "sponsored" or "promoted" content. Promoted posts often integrate visually and contextually with the platform while targeting a specific audience.
Content Recommendations
This type of in-feed ad suggests related articles or content that might be of interest to the user. These recommendations are often displayed on news websites or blogs, providing readers with additional value.
Advertorials
Advertorials are campaigns designed as editorial content. They blend seamlessly with a publisher’s blog or featured articles, allowing advertisers to convey information in an editorial tone.
Why is Native Advertising Important?
Native advertising is a crucial component of modern marketing strategies due to its unobtrusive nature and appealing format. Unlike traditional advertisements that disrupt a user's online experience, native ads seamlessly blend with the surrounding content, making them less intrusive and more easily accepted by users.
Moreover, native advertising has been found to achieve higher engagement rates compared to other forms of advertising. When presented in a format that blends seamlessly with the platform, native ads attract the attention of users, resulting in increased click-through rates and conversions. This higher engagement can drive more traffic to a website, enhance brand awareness, and ultimately lead to higher sales and conversions.
What Is Native Targeting?
Within this advertising context, native targeting is the strategy of delivering native ads to the most relevant audience. By ensuring that native ads reach people who intuitively see the value in their products or services, marketers can gain the benefits of both native and targeting ad formats. On the other hand, failing to pair native and targeted strategies can result in wasted ad spend and ineffective campaigns.
Some effective native targeting strategies include:
Identifying Your Target Audience
Start by clearly defining who your desired audience is. Determine their demographics, interests, behaviors, and online habits. This will help you tailor your native ads to appeal directly to that specific audience.
Utilizing Audience Insights Tools
Native ad platforms provide tools that allow you to learn more about your target audience. Use these tools to gain valuable insights into their online behavior, interests, and preferences. This data can then be used to refine your audience targeting strategies.
Performing A/B Testing
Experiment with different ad creatives and messages to gauge the response from your target audience. A/B testing enables you to compare different versions of your native ads and optimize them based on the audience's preferences and feedback.
Leveraging Behavioral and Contextual Targeting
Native ad platforms offer advanced targeting options, including behavioral and contextual targeting. Use these features to your advantage by targeting users based on their browsing history, search queries, or the content they engage with. This precision will increase the likelihood of reaching the right audience.
Monitoring and Optimizing Campaigns
Continuously monitor the performance of your native ads on the platform. Analyze key metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and engagement levels. Based on these insights, make data-driven optimizations to your campaigns to improve their effectiveness.
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