When ads are woven into a site's content seamlessly, they don't seem so intrusive. Paid ads don't have to interrupt visitors or distract them from their interests. They can be even more impactful when they’re complementary to the surrounding content and fit into the site’s themes. Native ads help businesses reach customers in ways that are often more engaging and resonate with them more effectively.
However, you don't have to do it all on your own. Choosing the right fit from the native advertising platforms helps you connect with your ideal customers more effectively and cost-efficiently.
In this post, we'll discuss how to create compelling and engaging native ads and show you some examples to help you see the benefits and ease of starting a native ad campaign. Let's get started.
Native Advertising Examples and How You Can Create Them
Native ads are designed to match the tone and function of the format they appear on. It's much like you've probably experienced in a conversation with a friend, where one of you recommended a product that made a task easier. It flows seamlessly in the story and sounds like an insider tip or best-kept secret rather than a paid endorsement.
Let's look at some compelling native advertising examples.
Tell an Engaging Story
Centering your native content around telling a customer story can help you illustrate their pain points and make it easier to visualize how your product can benefit them. For example, an educational toy company might have an ad where the blogger mentions their neighbor "Pam," who stumbled upon a solution for keeping her young kids engaged that has given her some time to get her work done while her kids are learning a new language. The reader (who likely shares the same issue) can relate to this neighbor and envision how they can help engage their kids more.
Offer Solutions to Their Problems
One broom company touts its ability to pick up pet hair more effectively. They could employ native ads framed around this common problem for pet owners that their revolutionary or unique product can solve. In this case, their ad can discuss the ongoing issues pet owners face from being unable to clean up pet hair effectively, such as the increased risk of allergies or hair getting stuck on clothes. They can seamlessly incorporate these ads into a pet owner blog, veterinarian website, or even a newsletter where people can find them and think about how to resolve this issue.
Educate about Your Industry (While Showcasing Your Company)
Tell people about the industry, using your company as a focal point. For example, talk about how it was founded on the need for a better way to clean water for underserved communities and the way the founders came together to create a revolutionary process that's scalable and affordable. Using your company story to explain the industry and the need the company grew to fulfill helps people learn more about how they can benefit from what you offer or become aware of a resolution to an issue they didn’t realize they could solve.
Create Product Tutorials
Showcase unusual uses for your product. During the pandemic, there were numerous videos on how to create mermaid-style curls by using tube socks. Leaning into people's creativity and ingenuity can help your brand stand out and give you access to new markets and customers.
Creating tutorials also gives you the flexibility to present more types of content. In addition to native ads, these creative solutions allow you to sponsor posts by influencers or bloggers to get their audience to notice your brand.
Incorporate Customer Testimony
Highlight clients and customers to provide evidence for your company's usefulness. In other words, let the customers speak for themselves by incorporating their reviews into the native content to bring attention to the product or service. You can interview or survey customers and include your top quotes. You can put them together as a blog or an infographic to let your audience see the good you’re doing for your customers.
Tips for Making Your Native Ads Better
Native ads benefit from not seeming like ads. Follow these tips to make yours better:
- Focus on your objective – Choose a singular goal and use your native ad to work towards it. To increase brand awareness, you want to use humor, empathy, or inspiration to make your brand memorable. If you want to drive more sales, reinforce how you are reputable and trustworthy.
- Provide real value – You want to avoid an overtly salesy approach in favor of being useful and helpful, showcasing the level of service they can expect when working with you. Luxury car dealerships often differentiate themselves by showing how their customers can expect white glove service.
- Keep a conversational tone – Keep your writing personal, using the second person to address customer pain points and a natural, conversational tone with straightforward, concise sentences. If you want to engage your customers, speak to them as you would if they were right in front of you.
- Don't overuse your brand name – Make sure customers know your brand but don't hit them over the head with it so it doesn’t come off as a hard sales pitch. When you approach your message from the customer's point of view and show how you can help them, they'll make a point of remembering your brand.
- Provide clear next steps – Tell your customers what to do next. Show how customers can follow up with your company in as few steps as possible.
Achieve Native Ad Success with McClatchy
When you want to ensure you engage your ideal customer with your native ads, you want to choose the best native advertising platforms for your business. McClatchy has the expertise and a broad audience to help you thrive with native ads. When you work with us, you can benefit from exclusive access to our distinctive local audiences, extensive national reach, the latest innovative digital strategies, local content sponsorships, and other valuable resources.
Contact us today to learn how to see even more engagement with your native ads and reach your marketing goals.
