One reason for the growth of native advertising is its effectiveness, especially when compared to more traditional forms like banners and display ads, but also when compared to Facebook and LinkedIn.

The effectiveness in campaigns is highlighted at several different levels. One of the parameters is, of course, CTR (click-through-rate). It's typically 2-8 times higher for native ads than for traditional display ads with a similar placement. The second is the reading time the campaign brings to your site. Reading time is how long a person stays on your site after clicking on an ad to get there. People who visit your pages through a native ad, on average, spend more time on the site than through traditional banner ads. The third factor is the conversion rate on your website. Here, too, native advertising holds its own.

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Understanding reading behaviors

We shall explain this by highlighting the behavior of readers visiting digital media and news sites. 

Here are some of the reasons:

1) People consume content, not ads

Visitors to news sites are looking for content that is interesting and current. Even if a banner ad is targeted and relevant to the reader, they will rarely interrupt their reading experience in order to navigate to the advertiser’s website.

On the other hand, if the products or services are presented in a content format, for example as an intriguing blog post, the reader may become very interested in it, click on the content ad (i.e. the native ad) to read more.

Because a native ad is clearly presented as an interesting reading experience and clicking on it leads to a landing page where one can read the entire content, the number of people who click on native ads has multiplied. When a native ad campaign is built the right way, the content brings added value to the reader.
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2) Visitors skip banner ads but notice native ads

Most visitors to websites quickly notice ad slots and learn to avoid them with their gaze. The phenomenon is called “banner blindness.” For this reason, the attention-grabbing and effectiveness of traditional banner advertising has declined dramatically over the past eight years.

At the same time, visitors do notice content-based ads. According to a Yahoo survey, 93% of visitors to the site notice native advertising, at least at the headline level.

This means that 93% read the title of your native ad. This is the first step in deciding whether to click on the title and read the entire content on your site. If they don’t even notice the ad (banner blindness), you won’t get any traffic to your site. 

One of the main reasons why native advertising has generally a higher CTR is because visitors on news site observes them, reads the headline and can react on the headline.

3) The power of content ads

The traditional saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is not so true in marketing. It can be difficult to demonstrate the benefits, services or technical features of a company’s products with a single image in a banner ad.

You also need text that clearly highlights your strengths, benefits, and offer so that the customer has the information they need to make a purchase decision. With the help of textual content, the reader becomes interested and hooked without the message being perceived as coercive or even advertising.

Of course, images also play a significant role in native ads and native advertising campaigns. But the strength of native advertising lies in the journalistically appropriate image, combined with a skillful and engaging headline and standfirst.

And now you have attracted  the reader to your content. Then things start to happen.

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4) People remember what they have read

When a potential customer clicks on a native ad and ends up on the company’s home page, the content does the work. Generally the reader will spend an average of 1 to 4 minutes on the content, that’s several minutes of your brand strengthening in their mind.

Good content is tailored to help the reader understand your message, product, or service. It educates and challenges the reader, leaving a positive impression of your business that will be remembered for a long time.

When the need to buy becomes current, the reader will remember what they recently read about the company’s products or services. Useful content can be the first and most important step in the process of making a purchase decision.

In summary, the effectiveness of native advertising is due to the fact that it corresponds to the natural reading behavior of the reader.