How mobile native ads outperform traditional print advertorials and banner ads?

(22 Nov, 2013) Native advertising is the big trend on mobile marketing. Yet the growth of native ad spending in Hong Kong is lagging behind the western countries. Some are skeptical if it is just the mobile form of conventional advertorials. So what are the salient features making it so distinctive from conventional advertorials and banner ads?

What is native advertising?
In native advertising, each ad is specially designed to imitate its publishing contexts so it appears to be the site’s organic content. It emphasizes on delivering audiences an unobtrusive experience. Examples of native ads are sponsored stories on social media and Instagram’s first ad created by Michael Kors.

Maximizing audiences’ interests
Native mobile ads focus on engaging audiences. To resemble organic content of the sites and trigger an action, native ads must be tactically crafted according to demographic features of different sites. This drives high quality content.

In contrast, advertorials in the form of product introduction articles are often product focused and consider less audiences’ interests.

High-quality content for social virality
Native ads maximize brands’ social exposure and goodwill. This is another area which advertorials cannot achieve. According to the research by IPG Media Lab, around a third of respondents would share native ads with friends on social media, creating strong multiplication effects.

Create brand loyalty 
Native ads are more potent in creating brand loyalty when compared with banner ads. 71% who saw a native ad after they had made a purchase felt that they personally identified with the brands. The figure is 21% higher than those who saw a banner ad afterward. Native ads lay the ground for earned media.

Increase purchase intent
Native ads also excel in stimulating purchase intent. More than half respondents had their purchase intent increased after seeing a native ad. Wouldn’t the ads be great vehicles for stimulating immediate direct response, especially ecommerce?

Obviously, native advertising demands more strategic, creative and high quality content to yield its persistent benefits on virality and brand favourability. It can achieve multiple campaign objectives than the advertorials and banner ads.

So what are you waiting for? Talk to your advertising agencies to obtain all the benefits now!