Why 2013 Is the Year of Native Advertising

We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: The best way to generate referrals is by engaging with your customer base on a personal level. And now it seems the online advertising industry has finally caught on to this approach.

From Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr to Twitter’s new Lead Generation Cards, the lines between inbound and outbound strategies are becoming increasingly blurred. This means brands can no longer rely on costly banner or sidebar ads; social media marketers must go native.

But what is native advertising and why does it matter?

Native advertising utilizes branded content to create a stronger relationship with one’s customers. After all, the goal of content marketing is to elicit an emotional response among users that’s tied directly to your brand. Sure, you’re paying a bit more upfront, but the connections you form with fans and followers will pay dividends in new referrals and more loyal customers.

Native advertisements on social networks are the future of online marketing. They blend advertising and content creation into one cohesive narrative that fits right into Timelines, News Feeds, or other social media properties. This combines the most effective paid channels with the tangible benefits of a successful inbound/relationship marketing strategy.

Ready to get started building strong native advertisements? Here are two trends to leverage right now:

1. Invest in Native Ads on Tumblr

More so than Facebook or Twitter, Tumblr is a visual medium that allows brands to have more creative freedom to explore various avenues of engagement. This presents an opportunity for you to engage supporters in a story about your brand. Posting photos and GIFs that communicate your brand’s value tends to have the highest engagement rate while contributing valuable content to the broader Tumblr community as well.

The best brand to take a lesson from is Denny’s. (Surprising, right?) Check out their Tumblr blog and pay attention to the types of content and the lighthearted attitude they bring to their posts. Not only are they following and reposting user-generated content, but—and most importantly—it looks like they’re actually having fun.

2. Encourage User-Generated Content

User-generated content is one of the most effective referral marketing strategies today. Empowering your existing customers to create and share content with their social networks has the capacity to influence SEO rankings, purchasing decisions, brand loyalty, and brand awareness, all of which lead to new and more effective channels of customer acquisition.

There are a number of ways brands can take advantage of their users’ willingness to create content in response to paid native advertisements. For instance, a brand could use creative promotions such as online contests and scavenger hunts, or they could just ask their customers to submit photos and videos. Tie this story into your referral marketing messaging and watch the shares, likes, and sales roll in.

How are you using native advertisements?

Image Courtesy of www.sd-advertising.com