The dealership (brand) pays for the placement of their content on content websites (platforms, e.g., CNN, ESPN, etc.) of their choice.
The brand creates content to have the same feel and look at the content on the platform that surrounds it.
The brand is “renting” the platform for amplification and distribution of their content. The ability target the content using a custom audience of prospects is also available.
Once the content is approved, it’s tagged with an “Advertisement” or “Paid Advertisement.” This allows for transparency on the platform, yet the content does not disturb the user experience the way a television commercial would. For the consumer, it’s a seamless experience.
What Native Advertising Allows Brands To Achieve
Native advertising is content distribution and amplification that allows a brand to place their content and videos in front of their target audience.
Native advertising helps eliminate that guessing game f attempting to reach your target audience; it puts your content directly where your audience is most likely to engage with it.
Examples of Native Advertising
Good native ads are content that’s about the reader or video watcher. Ultimately there’s an actionable goal for the advertiser, like opt-in to get a free report, a discount, sign up for a test drive and similar.
Below are some examples of native advertising.
Each appears to present content in a meaningful way to the target audience and reader, and are clear examples of advertising. It’s a subtle distinction, but it’s noticeable once you understand the native advertising process.
Online advertorials
For example, IBM on Atlantic:
The content is labeled as “Sponsor Content.” Other then the header and navigation bar, it is embedded among other IBM content. This is sponsored or branded content and has no clear call to action included.

Online video advertorials
Naturally, you can’t talk about online advertising and not talk about videos.
The video below is “sponsored” by Cricket Wireless, surprise, it’s not about Cricket Wireless.
The purpose of this video and similar like this to promote a brand image. They are created to convey your company’s personality. By aligning your brand with a cause you believe in, you are telling your audience what you stand for. These videos are raw, organic, and relatable to your audience.
Native videos are usually longer than typical video advertisements; they can be several minutes long while still engaging the consumer. Cisco’s 2016 VNI study found that “Mobile video traffic accounted for 55 percent of total mobile data traffic.” Another reason to invest in native video advertising.
Native advertising is a cost-effective way to show your brand and its values. This type of video tells viewers that you care and make your brand appear personal and relatable.
Take advantage of the creative freedom that native advertising offers and create videos that reflect your brand.
In-feed ads
You’ve seen these widgets that recommend content from “Around the Web.”
A good example is how Slate manages their in-feed ads:

All these links do is push you to content on other publishing sites, with a few ads mixed in.
Advertisers only pay for the clicks on the content.
The following in-feed ad, however, is different. It has clear commercial intent.

The headline matches the editorial style of Slate, yet it is labeled “Sponsored.” If you click on the link, you will land on a British Airways branded page with videos that shows the evolution of the best in class airline.
Sponsored or Boosted posts (Facebook)
Below is an example fo a Facebook boosted post.
The drawback of boosted posts include the ability to check or uncheck an Instagram placement; desktop and mobile Facebook newsfeed placements are a given. Where as Facebook ads let you choose placements including Facebook newsfeeds and side ads, Instagram feeds, Instagram stories, instant articles, messenger ads, and audience network ads. You also can decide if you’d like your campaign to be shown to mobile or desktop users only.
Boosted posts can still work in your favor in specific circumstances where you want to maximize visibility of a post that you’ve published on your timeline. You may want to build social proof or brand awareness. For example, boosting a post that is shared user-generated content (UGC) that you’ve reposted, which can help win over customer trust and earn you new followers.
More on Sponsored posts can be found here.
Promoted Tweets
Pretty basic stuff here. Nice one from the same company who created Twitter.

Learn more about promoted Tweets here.
Native Advertising and SEO
Does native advertising impact search engine optimization (SEO)?
Online or digital marketing is evolving with content marketing being a valid method for generating brand exposure. As Google and other search engines increase the use of AI and machine learning, we see a move to semantic search, and an ever so slowly move away from explicit link-building, and more towards a content marketing based approach.
Native advertising is another branch of your online marketing toolkit; it is not a be-all, end-all approach. It should be one of the tactics in your arsenal, but not the entire marketing strategy.
Native advertising is similar to guest posting, without the benefit of link building.
It gives you the ability to place your content into the hands of your target audience.
Native Advertising FAQ
Does native advertising replace content marketing?
No, native advertising has advantages, it’s not meant to replace content marketing, but to complement it. Native advertising is a great way to introduce yourself and your business to your target audience and to give them a reason to dig deeper into what is it you offer.
Content marketing is a long-term marketing plan; it is not instantaneous.
Content marketing solidifies a brand’s reputation and creates an opportunity for an ongoing relationship with customers through different media and channels including native advertising.
What are there different native advertising formats?
The different formats of native advertising include:
- In-feed ads: sponsored content is seeded into regular content
- Recommendation widgets: appear at the end of articles in the “sponsored content” or “recommended for you” sections
- Promoted listings – used to encourage sponsored products and appear with other listings
- Paid search ads – similar to promoted listings, but appear at the top of search results
Do ad blockers block native advertising?
Native ads are not blocked by ad blocking software since they’re served along with on-page regular content.
Most ads that do get caught by ad blocks are ones that have been classified as overly annoying or intrusive. However, in February 2018 Google began to block some types of ads in their Chrome browser, including some native ads.
Is there a way to measure native advertising effectiveness?
Yes, you can measure impressions, click through rate (CTR), clicks, etc. There are tools explicitly created to track your native ad analytics, two common tools used are SpyOver and Parse.ly.
Can a user tell if they’re clicking on a native ad?
Not necessarily. In fact, studies have shown that consumers often identify native ads as articles. That same study revealed some other interesting facts about native ads:
- Consumers often are not able to identify the brand associated with a piece of native advertising (this varies)
- Consumers who read native ads that they identified as high quality reported a significantly higher level of trust for the sponsoring brand.
- 48 percent have felt deceived upon realizing a piece of content was sponsored by a brand
Native Advertising in the Future
Native advertising is exploding in popularity.
I think that most brands can benefit from using native advertising as a tactic, but it shouldn’t inform your whole online marketing strategy. Anything that allows you to get your content in front of the right audience is something I think you should embrace.
Ready to get started with content marketing and native advertising? Let’s talk about how Outsell Digital can add value to your marketing program.