Native advertising is the chameleon of the advertising world

“The traditional advertising method is becoming obsolete:” So says a blog post by Rival IQ. This movement is something we have featured on our blog as well. As this shift continues and new marketing techniques rise to prominence, it is important to keep an eye on these contemporary techniques. One of them is known as native advertising.Native advertising occurs when an advertisement blends seamlessly into the foundation of an already existing space, such as a website or social media platform. As the title suggests, think of it as a chameleon in a jungle of advertisements. A chameleon changes colour to match its environment, though it is still a lizard. Native advertising changes content based on its environment, though it is still an ad. An example of this is if the website is prominently red, the native ad will change its color to match.

In addition to this nature of native advertising, there are a few other defining characteristics. These were laid out in the blog post by Rival IQ mentioned above:

• It blends in with the authentic content of the site/blog/publication
• It’s meant to advertise a product or a company in a nonpromotional way
• It’s friendlier than classic advertising
• Most consumers don’t even realize it’s an ad
• Consumers tend to interpret it as advice or a suggestion, rather than an ad
• Tries to offer value to the customer, rather than just sell a product

These characteristics tie native advertising to the larger shift in shift in marketing techniques. Traditional advertising methods are synonymous with interruptions. Think TV commercials or cold calls. Marketing is moving away from these interruptions, replacing it still with advertisements, but those that offer a more seamless integration into the activity of the consumer.

This is seen first-hand in the native advertising carried out on social media, websites for news agencies or media sites. From these examples, it can be seen that both marketers and consumers benefit from native advertising. Think about how you can create a campaign of your own and get these benefits to work for you.  We know Halloween just ended but it’s not too late to be a chameleon.