Create a voice for your brand with native advertising this year.
First of all, I want to define these terms for you. (It took me awhile to learn them!) Sponsored content means one of your advertising clients paid for a story.
Native content means it sounds just like the other stories on your publisher’s website.
Native advertising was created because readers have come to ignore blaring banners, but still like a good story with information they want to use.
A good native story should be just that – a short story of about 500 words – that tackles a subject about the advertiser’s area of expertise and gives the reader some information he or she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
To do that, we use the same writing principles as journalism:
1. We want a catchy headline.
2. The start of the story should hold the reader’s interest
3. We want get to the point quickly.
The advertiser is mentioned as either the expert in the story, or at the end where readers would go for more advice.
But the real secret of native advertising is that it creates a voice for the advertiser, a familiar voice that makes readers want come back for more.
That why the best campaigns are regular ones – 3-6 times per year, so readers look forward to the stories. Once they have clicked on one story, they are likely to click on another one in the same topic area.
While one or two stories around an event or holiday can also be effective, the advertisers who are the most successful with native advertising do it frequently and understand the value of both the photo and the story’s voice to attract reader interest.
That’s why at Content That Works, we want to assign a writer for your native advertising that fits you. For instance, we have a former sports writer is writing about a running shoe store and a former breast cancer survivor who writes a blog for a breast surgery center.
We want to give you that authentic voice that will attract readers, time and time again, for the same brand.
So there you have it: The best reason to use native advertising in 2020 is that it brings your advertiser’s brand to life, giving it a personality. And just like making a friend, you want to visit frequently.
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