Native Advertising THE BUSINESS JOURNALS A DIVISION OF ACBJ

Transcription

1 Native Advertising THE BUSINESS JOURNALS A DIVISION OF ACBJ

2 What is Native Advertising? The Native Advertising Institute defines native advertising as paid advertising where the ad matches the form, feel and function of the content of the media on which it appears. Branded content is a form of native advertising, and describes content that appears on an publisher s site and has been paid for by an advertiser. Branded content should also fit with the look and feel of the publication, but must be clearly and correctly labelled. As opposed to traditional forms of advertising, branded content should add value by educating and informing the reader on a given topic or industry. Due to the nature of its placement, it usually requires a deeper relationship between brand and publisher to generate credible, relevant and authentic content. Traditional ad PR Sales messaging Includes offers or incentives to purchase Describes product/service features and imagery Directly highlights the benefits of a product or service Usually coverage of another activation such as an event or new product launch Can sometimes take the form of a product review by an editorial team Heavy promotional messaging Advertorial Usually drafted by the brand with little input from the publisher Look similar to editorial content of the publication, but have distinct differences in look and feel to differentiate the content Branded Content Matches the form, feel and function of the publication No promotional or marketing messaging; brings thought leadership Drafted in partnership with the brand and publisher Editorial Completely unbiased journalism with no brand input or influence No labelling No payment of any kind takes place, including free products or services Native Advertising 1

3 What does good Native Advertising look like? Branded content should always be on a topic your brand has an authority on and aim to inform and educate the reader. It s a great opportunity for brands to position themselves as thought leaders in a given industry. A good piece of sponsored content should also be relevant and targeted to the audience of the publication on which it appears. A branded content campaign might seem complex and can be overwhelming to marketers that are used to creating more traditional formats. But it s mostly about one thing: creating insightful content that integrates well into the style of the platform you re posting on. Keeping this in mind will help you craft an impressive end product, alongside these tips. PLANNING The first step is to define your goals. What are you trying to achieve with this content? It can be tempting to repurpose existing content, especially if you have a company blog or similar, but don t reuse it just because it exists. Think strategically and be specific with both your goal and your intended audience. To help our clients think strategically, The Business Journals Content Studio provides a template that helps structure their content. 1. Define your goal w Clearly state the goal of your article. w Ask yourself: What is the one takeaway I want from readers when they finish this article? w Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve from a business standpoint with this article? 2. Define your audience w Are you writing to an audience that knows your business well or a top-of-funnel audience? w Are you writing to existing or prospective customers/business partners? w Write a short description that defines your target audience and what topics would interest them. 3. Choose topics of interest w If your goal is to establish brand awareness, you may consider an article about a trend in your industry or where you think your industry is headed in 5 or 10 years. Perhaps you want to focus on a particular sector of your industry. w If your goal is more about driving immediate business interest, you may want to consider teaching your audience through an instructional how-to article or a list-based article. w Avoid writing directly about your own product or service. Instead, try to solve a problem in your industry and provide value for the reader. Native Advertising 2

4 4. Develop three main points w We suggest selecting only three main points. It is better to have three important points that engage readers than multiple, less critical points. If you need more than three points, you may need another article. w You will want to substantiate your main points, as much as possible, to increase credibility. Quoting another industry expert and/or pointing to industry research are common tactics. 6. Come to a conclusion w Link your story back to the headline. If a question was posed, ensure it has been answered. w If your content is part of a series, include a tease to the subsequent or previous content. w This is an opportunity to include a Call to Action, discussed further below. 5. Research, research, research w Ensure any research is cited. This can be done via linking to the original content piece, or by using footnotes or credits. w Double check any quotes included in your content. Be careful when paraphrasing. w Avoid using any video or images that you do not own the rights to. OTHER ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER Headlines Headlines are crucial to the success of your content. In the digital world, the headline of an article is often seen on home page news rivers, competing for a reader s click. Headlines are often what is shared in social media, and they are critical in terms of ranking well in search engines. In short, a headline is the gateway to your content. Tone Good branded content doesn t simply address the audience of the platform it s published on it also preserves the tone of that platform. Take the time to familiarize yourself with other content from the publisher and ensure yours matches not just in subject matter, but also in style. In the most recent Business Journals subscriber survey, 78% of respondents said they would like to see more branded content. Melding the advertiser message with the brand tone is key. Brand mentions In a recent study by native advertising agency Pressboard, articles that included a single brand mention performed best in terms of active reading time, at an average of 69.9 seconds. They also performed best in terms of scroll depth, at an average of 80 percent. Keep in mind when drafting your opening paragraph, that the best performing articles included brand mentions after the 300-word mark. Articles with a brand mention in the first 100 words reduced average active reading time by up to 12 seconds. Native Advertising 3

5 Call to action When looking to engage a reader further, a CTA can be a crucial element of your campaign. While many visitors may perform a certain action without additional encouragement, a strong CTA serves as a timely reminder after a reader has finished consuming your content. A good CTA should be short and to the point, often including an actionable verb that encourages people to perform a desired action. Usually placed at the end of an article or video, it should follow the same tone as the content and not be overly promotional. Pitfalls As with any advertising medium, a poorly planned campaign can have negative impacts. If information is not strictly vetted, a brand risks losing credibility. If a piece is too promotional, a brand can lose authenticity and trust with their audience. On a basic level, if an article is too long or not optimized for mobile devices, reader engagement will be low. By employing the tools in this ebook, brands can create content that is relevant to their audience, position themselves as thought leaders and gain long-term brand loyalty. FTC Guidelines and Labelling The FTC outlines the correct treatment of branded content, including the content itself and anywhere else it may appear, for example on social media. The overall mandate is to avoid situations where there is material misrepresentation or omission of information that is likely to mislead the consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances. The Business Journals Content Studio ensures all of its clients content and promotion has proper labelling. If a publisher is negligent with FTC labeling, fines are possible and brand trust is violated. Native Advertising 4

6 What is the impact of Native Advertising? What goals should Native Advertising be used for? w Brand positioning and changing perceptions w Awareness - to a useful and relevant audience w Industry thought leadership w Education What metrics should you be looking at? w Page views w Engagement with content - view through rates, dwell time (time on page), scroll depth, social engagement w Brand lift w Sentiment w Website visits Metrics by content type w Article - scroll depth & time on page w Video - view through/completion rate w Social - engagement (likes, comments, shares) Benchmarks It s difficult to give definitive benchmarks for branded content, as this varies by format, placement and industry. As you progress in your content marketing efforts, the most useful measure of success is your own historic data. Looking back allows you to identify your baseline, and where you are improving. In terms of the market as a whole: w Average active reading time for a piece of branded content increased from 66 seconds in 2016 to 73 seconds in 2017 w The average reader reads 74% of a branded article w Sponsored Content has a 1.15% conversion rate (clicking from the content back to an advertiser s site) - over 2x the average click-through rate for display advertising in the US* *Pressboard Native Advertising 5