Native advertising is the advertising du jour, the cause celebre, the going thing … and it’s bound to stay that way for awhile.
Why, you ask? Because it works.
That’s the view of Mark Rosner, the chief revenue office at AppLovin, who has taken a long, hard look at the phenomenon.
“Native ads have already taken over billions of dollars in ad spend, and as one of the fastest growing areas in advertising, they’ve only just gotten started,” Rosner opines in a recent commentary in App Developer Magazine. “Publishers like Yahoo and Facebook are bullish on native ads, and for good reason. Yahoo found that native ads get a 3.6x lift in attention over their standard counterparts, and most of Facebook’s $7.9B in ad revenue came from native ads on desktop and mobile.”
And so far, consumers like native, too (“as much as a consumer will ever “like” an ad format — says Rosner).
So how can advertisers and app developers roll the native dice and win?
Rosner offers some advice.
“Stay user-first,” he says. “Throughout every step of the native ad development process, you need to think about the user experience first. This is key to creating the native ad experience; otherwise, you’ve just given them another big banner ad to look at. Everything – from the frame to the design to the frequency to the timing – should keep the user in mind.”
What else?
Native needs to be organically developed and presented.
“In order to allow the ad to flow seamlessly in your app, be sure to frame it within your existing design and content,” he advises. “This tip might seem obvious, but it’s crucial. A good native ad will naturally mesh with the rest of the app so that the visual experience is as fluid as possible and minimally disruptive to your users. Pay attention to the details by ensuring the fonts, colors and spacing align with the visual experience.”
Other things matter, too: frequency, timing, context.
“Native ads are a massive market on mobile that can’t be ignored, Rosner insists. “Sixty three percent of companies are increasing their native ad budgets this year, and research firm Statista thinks the market could be worth $8.8 billion by 2018 (Adweek). With these tips, you can start adding another stream of revenue to your app and begin tapping into this highly lucrative opportunity.”
Want to know more? Read more of Rosner’s ruminations on native here.
