Digital Media News

Is Programmatic Native Advertising The Answer?

Written by Tim Nichols | Jan 3, 2017 3:46:42 PM

The blend between native advertising and programmatic ad delivery could represent a powerful solution to many marketing problems. There are already a range of companies such as the New York Times, and Grupo expansion who are unlocking new mobile experiences to help advertisers offer better user experiences to their customers across different screens.

This adjustment is important, as every day 68% of smartphone users check their phones within minutes of waking up. At the same time, consumers across the world are using mobile devices to catch up with their family and friends, read new information online, and check out entertaining videos. That means that if you want to find your place within the current market, and sell more products, then you need to think about introducing smart, responsive websites and marketing schemes.

Up until now, the disconnect between ad experience and content experiences on mobile has stopped advertisers from taking advantage of incredible opportunities to engage their audience. However, programmatic native advertising could be the answer.

The Programmatic Native Advertising Solution

The feature that makes native advertising so powerful in the marketing world today, is the fact that they can fit to almost any function and form - depending on the platform they're presented within. In other words, they blend into the user's existing experience of a website or application.

Native ads provide users with positive experiences, and marketers see the results of this in things like better ad performance, and increased engagement. One example of this development can be seen in the suite of native ad formats launched by the New York Times. This suite was called "Flex Frames", and it includes a range of responsive units that can be used within Times website pages and apps. With the customizable frames, publishers also have the opportunity to adapt specific ad formats, based on what their users are more likely to respond to.

This strategy is already having a positive effect. For The Times, click through rates have increased by 6 times, compared to the equivalent banner ads used for marketing, and viewable impressions have jumped up by 4 times. In a similar vein, the company for Mexican publishing "Grupo" have enhanced the viewability of their advertising by 25% on mobile web, and 36% on desktop simply by employing native ads.

The Value Of Programmatic Advertising

Since we already know how valuable native advertising can be by allowing for marketing efforts to blend seamlessly with the surrounding styles and content of their platform - it's time to consider the extra benefits that programmatic solutions afford. Programmatic buying allows marketing experts to take even further advantage of the benefits that are offered by native ads, by leveraging contextual signals and machine learning to ensure that ads are tailored both to the placement, and the user. In other words, the combination of programmatic and native advertising makes for a more relevant marketing solution for advertisers, and a better browsing experience for website users.

Unlike most advertising opportunities where the focus is entirely on getting results for the marketer, programmatic native advertising offers a win/win solution to getting mobile engagement. When they are designed and implemented properly, these types of advertisements can lead to numerous advantages.

Building Your Native Advertising Campaign

If you're new to the concept of native programmatic advertising, the following practices should help you to upgrade your experience:

  1. Offer a number of valuable assets - including headlines and images for the same element, as this will give you a greater amount of versatility, and ensure that you have something to show audience members for all formats.
  2. Combine contextual targeting strategies with your native advertising solutions to make sure that you only show ads that are relevant to the content of any given page. The last thing you want is for your target market to be annoyed by your advertisements when they show up on a page that has nothing to do with your brand or what you're trying to sell.
  3. Measure the performance of native ads alongside other advertisements to make sure that you're getting the most out of your programmatic campaigns. Remember, any advertising strategy should be constantly assessed and tested if you want to make sure that you're getting the best possible results.