With so many brands doing content marketing, the amount of information and content on the Internet has exploded. In fact, according to Mark Schaefer’s book, “The Content Code,” in 2020 there will be five times more information on the Internet than what was on it in 2015. That’s his conservative estimate, too.

Ideal for sophisticated media buyers, clever content marketers, and progressive agencies, Storygize integrates with major native ad exchanges to buy programmatically and scale campaigns efficiently. Watch the cool pup show how Storygize helps brands to connect to new audiences, optimize against content engagement, and generate demand with programmatic native advertising. 

A conversion funnel is one of the most powerful tools at a content marketer’s disposal. Used in conjunction with buyer personas, conversion funnels create a reliable picture of how a customer feels at each stage of the buyer’s journey. Once a brand knows how their audience feels, it is possible to create content that the audience will care about.

A brand that can provide content that is relevant and interesting to its target audience at every step of the way increases the likelihood of a successful content marketing campaign, and thus a powerful native ad campaign. It is essential that content be mapped appropriately to a conversion funnel to increase the likelihood of the consumer moving to the next step in their journey.

When it comes to creating an effective native ad campaign strategy, there’s a lot to take into account. Who is the target demographic? What headlines and creative elements will draw them in? Will the ad blend suitably with publisher content? It can be overwhelming.

But undoubtedly the most important element to consider is the content that the consumer will be directed to after clicking the native ad. Campaign strategies that prioritize strong, shareable content are by far the most successful. Not all content is suitable to achieve native advertising goals. It can’t be too dry, or a blatant sales pitch, or somehow unaligned with the brand’s image; the list goes on.

Sometimes a native ad can fall flat. It might be that it doesn’t fit into the surrounding page content, and comes across as contrived. Or, it could be published alongside content that consumers consider inappropriate or off-limits, such as news content that is expected to remain neutral. 

If you’re confused by the term “native advertising,” well, you’re not alone. But you’re probably more familiar with the concept than you think. In fact, chances are you’ve witnessed some form of native advertising today. Native advertising can be an in-feed ads, an image tile within a recommedation widget, a suggested post on Facebook, sponsored content on a news site, or a promoted tweet on Twitter. Besides a small disclaimer, these ads usually blend almost seamlessly with the regular site content.

In a world filled with SEO, content marketing, and display ads, it’s hard to keep up. We totally get it, but faster than you can say “Siri, what is Native Advertising?” we’ll get you an answer! Okay, maybe not that fast, but you catch our drift.

So what is native advertising?

The quick and dirty answer: Native Advertising is a form of paid advertising where the ad matches the form and function of the content on the platform on which it appears. Of course, how can you really get to know Native Advertising in just one sentence? It’s like a first date . . . You might need to dig a little deeper to get to know the person (or ad) behind the name. Second date, here we come!

The beauty of native advertising is that the ad matches the look and feel of the content around it, blending in. The tricky part about this form of advertising is that, well, the ads blend in. Because of this, brands must compete for the attention of the consumer—a consumer who likely has an attention span of less than 25 seconds—and the only way to do so is by creating something interesting, catchy and of course, relevant. That’s where the headline comes in.