Well, it happened. The world is now officially online. People are increasingly connected with each other, and the average user is now spending more than six hours per day online. However, just because life has moved online, that’s not to say that everyone is thrilled with the experience. People consume content at higher rates than ever, but they are also crying out for a better experience. In fact, more than 50% of online users want more engaging virtual experiences to replace their traditional online interactions.

As users spend more time online, their preferences and desires change the landscape. When they don’t get it on one platform or website, they go somewhere that can provide it.

This is why the competition for online audiences is intense and varied. Publishers are doing whatever they can to give users what they want. And this is the situation where native advertising comes under the spotlight. Whatsmore, this precise context is a huge part of why so many businesses are investing in native advertising campaigns. Native advertising is a growing force in the digital landscape, but how is it influencing the digital marketing space? Let’s find out.

#1. A less disruptive approach to advertising

Browsing the internet in 2022 can be challenging. There are so many banner ads, pop-ups, and other types of bothersome digital advertisements. The most annoying part is that so much of the ad content is intrusive and irrelevant to what the user wants. The growing number of people using AdBlock and other similar software demonstrates just how much people want to avoid being bombarded with online ads. Native advertising reduces these challenges, which is a big part of why users rate it so highly. Perhaps the most significant benefit is that native ads allow for a far less disruptive type of advertisement than flashing banners and intrusive pop-up ads.
In this respect, native ads are setting the bar for digital marketing. They're less pushy and far more aligned to the consumer's intent. In short, they're the type of advertisement that users respond to.

#2. It helps brands diversify their digital spending 

Digital advertising platforms are increasingly adopting a "pay to play" approach. In short, if you want high visibility, you need to purchase ad space. As a result, organic marketing content has lost some of its effectiveness. The result is that a growing proportion of marketing budgets are going toward traditional approaches that don't always get the best results. Despite all of this, traditional and programmatic paid media are still popular advertising models. But they have drawbacks that can hit your marketing budget's ROI. Banner blindness — when users unconsciously ignore banner-like features on a page — and unreliable placements can cause these models to produce poor results.

The world of marketing is crowded and confusing. Smart marketing teams are looking for novel ways to diversify their budget. As a result, content marketing using native ads has become an increasingly popular part of big brands' marketing strategy. It's worth mentioning that native advertising typically gets higher conversion rates than other forms of online advertising, like display ads. Whatsmore, native ads are guaranteed to grab users' attention. Advertisers rate these impressions two to four times higher than traditional ads.

#3. Transforming the brand association process 

Online publishers stand and fall on the strength of their reputations. These reputations, which are directly based on the perceived trust in their brand, are hard-won. This juncture is where native ads can help breed trust in your brand or product. Unlike traditional banner ads, native ads are perceived by the user to be part of the host publication because the ads blend in alongside regular articles.

By running your ads in publications that people trust, your brand gets a boost purely by association. This gain comes hand in hand with a rise in brand awareness from posting the ad. Positive brand associations are essential for fostering brand equity and differentiating yourself from competitors. As a result, native advertising platforms usually give advertisers the option to run their ads in specific publishers. This process offers brands the chance to share in the afterglow of a reputable publisher and boost their brand association.

Readpeak gives advertisers this chance by allowing them to select which online media they want to run their ads in. This feature allows you to run a more targeted campaign and significantly boost your brand associations.

#4. Influencing the post-pandemic purchasing intent 

As we all know, the pandemic has dramatically altered consumer behavior. Increased time indoors leads to a considerable boost in online shopping and content consumption. As a result, e-commerces thrived during the pandemic, and so did native advertising.
This was no surprise, the two disciplines are tightly linked.
Therefore, native advertising is completely re-shaping the online purchases decisions by providing a subtle alternative that is even more important in the age of mass digital media. In fact, 70% of users prefer to learn about products through content rather than traditional advertising methods.

Native ads:

● Have a click-through rate (CTR) eight times higher than traditional banner ads.
● Have a 25% higher conversion rate than banner ads
● Are 18% more effective at increasing purchasing intent

#5 Changing the privacy regulations landscape 

As we all know, every ad we see on websites and apps is highly targeted. This process makes advertising more relevant and typically results in higher ROIs for advertisers. Additionally, it should also benefit consumers, who can be exposed to products and services that are more likely to be of interest to them. However, all of this comes at the expense of privacy. Many users appreciate targeted advertising, but just as many are worried about what it means for businesses to hold their data. Google will slowly phase out third-party cookies over the next few years. Apple has already introduced AITP laws to let users opt-out of third party data. This so-called "death of cookies" is one reason why some native advertising platforms are gaining traction and re-shaping the landscape.

In the future, brands and marketing teams will be oriented towards platforms offering cookies with less targeted options. So, considering all of this, what are the specific benefits associated with Readpeak's platform? Readpeak offers an alternative way for brands to continue to target audiences with high accuracy but without causing privacy issues for consumers.

Conclusion: 

Native advertising will continue to grow in popularity and become more dominant in the marketing landscape in the coming years.
With this in mind, we suggest you jump on board and learn how to use Readpeak to improve the way you launch and manage your native advertising campaigns.