Digital MarketingThe impact of native advertising across the consumer journey

The impact of native advertising across the consumer journey

Strengthen your advertising with tactics that influence consumer behavior across every stage of the purchase journey.

30-second summary:

  • As native advertising becomes industry table stakes, recognition of its value as a full-funnel strategy increases exponentially.
  • Research indicates native advertising impacts purchase decisioning more than standard display tactics.
  • Nativo’s exclusive Native Article format centers on a “click-in” approach that facilitates a seamless user experience, keeping consumers actively engaged on a publisher’s site.

When native advertising appeared on the scene in 2011, it posed an important question: Why not create an advertising experience consumers enjoy?

Since then, native advertising has evolved from a consumer engagement tactic to a powerful tool that influences behavior across the decision-making process.

With marketers devoting almost two-thirds of their display budgets to native ads in 2020 according to a 2019 eMarketer study, native ads will be an essential tool for marketers’ in the decade to come.

Nativo commissioned Comscore to assess how native advertising and Nativo’s exclusive format, Native Article, influence purchasing decisions across the consumer journey in their white paper, “Native Advertising: A full-funnel approach.”

Content produced in partnership with Nativo.

Native advertising as a full-funnel strategy

Native advertising is often thought of as either a top of the funnel or bottom of the funnel approach, when in reality, it’s both – and more. 

True native ads match the design, layout and experience of its environment. When consumers are presented with branded content in a highly organic, non-promotional manner, they’re more likely to engage and eventually convert than when presented with standard display content.

The proof is in the data. Nativo commissioned Comscore to evaluate brand metrics from 25 national campaigns and over 110 million viewable impressions to determine the impact of native ads on the consumer journey. 

Compared to an unexposed control group, Native Article created significant lift across five brand metrics throughout consumers’ entire journey, including awareness, ad recall and purchase intent.

Given the data, it’s imperative that marketers be strategic in their deployment of native advertising. A strong strategy leverages native ads to reach, engage and delight consumers throughout the funnel to ultimately drive purchase.

The native article approach: Click-in vs. Click-out

Most marketers are familiar with the “click-out” method of native advertising: A reader is on a familiar site, sees a native ad unit and, upon click, is taken off site to engage with the branded content advertised.

Nativo’s exclusive Native Article format diverges from this standard practice by utilizing a “click-in” approach. Users engage with a native ad on a publisher site and, upon click, are taken to a content landing page built directly within the publisher’s site. 

Native Article enables advertisers to scale branded content across thousands of publisher sites, matching the look and feel of each one, every single time.

This unique “click-in” mechanism creates an organic and seamless experience, increasing user engagement and influencing brand perception. When paired with conversion-driving messaging, users engage in an organic advertising experience up to the second they’re ready to purchase.

Developing a full-funnel strategy

As brands increasingly leverage native ads, it’s important that they invest strategically to maximize return.

Be relevant

Native advertising – especially Native Articles – shouldn’t read like a sales pitch. Create relevant, informative and useful content for consumers. Nobody enjoys clicking on misleading advertising.

Set specific goals

Every business is different, so focus on the specifics of your industry when establishing performance expectations for your campaign. Consider length of sales cycle, sales volume and other business factors when developing your strategy, and set your key performance indicators accordingly.

Focus on all stages of the funnel

A full-funnel strategy only succeeds with equal priority across all stages of the consumer journey. If you’re focused solely on conversion tactics versus upper-funnel consideration, your strategy may suffer. Make sure your messaging adequately engages and educates before asking users to take action.

Native advertising delivers value across all stages of the purchase funnel, and it’s important to tailor content and ads to each phase of the consumer journey, maximizing results at every step.

Maximize your native advertising strategy in 2020. Download Nativo’s white paper, “Native Advertising: A full-funnel approach” here.

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