If you’ve ever wondered why your banner ads seem invisible, you’re not alone. A recent study revealed a phenomenon known as "banner blindness," where 86% of website visitors didn't even notice the ads on the page. Out of all the users surveyed, only 14% could recall what the banners were advertising. This means that most traditional ads are simply ignored.
When people scroll through a website, their eyes naturally gravitate towards the content in the top or center sections of the page. This trend is backed by heatmaps that show where users focus their attention the most.
Native Ads: Why are they profitable to work with?
With this insight, it’s clear: if you want your ads to be seen, they need to blend in with the content that users are already paying attention to. That’s where Native Ads come in. These ads are designed to fit seamlessly within the natural flow of the page, making them much harder to ignore.
Native advertising is all about delivering content that feels natural and relevant to the audience. Instead of sticking out like a sore thumb, these ads are integrated into the content itself, making them feel more like helpful information than a sales pitch. In 2023 alone, U.S. advertisers spent around $99 billion on native ads, and this figure is expected to skyrocket to $402.3 billion by 2025.
Why target Tier-1 geos with Native Ads?
When using native advertising, it’s best to focus on Tier-1 geos (wealthier regions) because the subtlety of native ads resonates better with these audiences. In contrast, audiences in lower-income regions might not fully grasp the intent behind this type of advertising, making it less effective.
Two key types of native advertising
- In-content advertising: This is where the advertising message is woven into the content itself. Think of a blogger recommending a website, a doctor endorsing a medicine, or a tutor suggesting an educational platform. These are all examples of native ads that feel like a natural part of the content.
- Native ad blocks: These are similar in format to push notifications, but they’re embedded within a webpage. They provide information about a product or service in a way that feels like expert advice or a personal recommendation.
Why Native Ads are a win-win for advertisers and affiliates
- Harder to block: Traditional ads are often blocked by ad blockers, which can significantly reduce traffic. For industries like cryptocurrency, gambling, and dating, losing a third of your audience to ad blockers can be disastrous. Native Ads, however, are integrated into the content and are much less likely to be blocked;
- Highly targeted: Native ads deliver content that’s genuinely interesting and relevant to the audience, making them more likely to engage. This is especially effective in Tier-1 geos, where consumers are constantly looking for high-quality products and services;
- Betters product perception: Native Ads often include testimonials or success stories, which can enhance the perceived value of the product. When a product or service has a positive reputation, it’s much easier to generate leads and drive conversions;
- Flexible format: Native Ads can be delivered in various formats, from videos to text, giving advertisers the flexibility to choose the best approach for their target audience. This versatility also helps in saving on production costs.
Getting started
To kick off a Native Ads campaign, it’s recommended to start with a budget of $800 to $1,000. If your manager can provide a list of whitelisted and blacklisted sites, you might save $100 to $200. This budget should cover several test campaigns, allowing you to refine your strategy and scale up gradually.
The main costs you need to consider are the creatives (the ads themselves) and a tracker to monitor performance. You might also need to set aside a small amount for purchasing domains if your tracker requires it.
Which verticals should you promote with Native Ads?
When it comes to Native Ads, certain niches consistently perform well in Tier-1 geos. The top three are e-commerce, finance, and nutra.
If you’ve ever come across ads featuring home improvement tips, pet accessories, or quirky car gadgets, you’ve likely seen Native Ads in action. These ads are tailored to resonate with specific audiences. For instance, ads targeting women might focus on household tips and life hacks that make daily tasks easier.
To make these ads effective, it’s crucial to use lively, emotionally engaging photos, especially if people are featured. Avoid stock images — they tend to come off as impersonal and can reduce the authenticity of your ad.
Native Ads work exceptionally well for financial products like credit cards, investments, and insurance, particularly in Tier-1 geos. These audiences have grown weary of hard-sell tactics, so your job is to offer detailed, valuable information about the product’s benefits. Highlighting features like low interest rates, easy loan approvals, or cashback rewards can motivate potential customers to take action. Sharing success stories of people who’ve benefited from a particular financial product can also be very persuasive.
Finance is one of the most lucrative verticals, but it requires careful optimization to maximize returns. You need to constantly monitor which offers are converting and adjust your strategy accordingly. While managing a single campaign is straightforward, handling multiple ones requires meticulous attention to detail — overlooking a small aspect could result in significant financial losses. If you prefer a more hands-off approach, consider using a fully managed service like MyBid, where your personal manager handles campaign management and optimization.
The nutra vertical is another strong performer with Native Ads. The strategy here involves drawing attention to a lesser-known health issue in your headline, then diving deeper into the topic within the content, and finally, offering your product as a solution. By positioning your product as a way to maintain health or improve well-being, you can effectively persuade your audience.
How to run profitable Native Ads campaigns
Launching a successful Native Ads campaign requires a similar approach to push notifications, but with a more subtle touch. Here’s how to ensure your native advertising efforts pay off:
- Craft a compelling title: The title of your ad is crucial — it sets the tone for how readers perceive your content. The number of characters, choice of words, and even the presence of a verb can all influence its effectiveness. Research conducted by BuzzSumo on platforms like Facebook offers valuable insights into the types of headlines that perform best. Their team regularly updates this data, so it’s worth checking out;
- Write an engaging description: To capture your audience’s interest, you need to understand their preferences and characteristics deeply. Without this insight, your Native Ads won’t resonate. Use statistics, forum discussions, and even direct conversations with your target audience to build a detailed profile of your ideal customer. This will help you craft descriptions that make readers think, "This is exactly what I need," even before they finish reading.
- Use authentic images: The essence of Native Advertising is authenticity. Readers are more likely to trust content that feels genuine, which means avoiding overly polished, stock photos. Instead, request real-life images from your advertiser — pictures that look like they were taken in everyday settings. More than 70% of people are visual learners, meaning they evaluate the image before the text. The success of your Native Ads heavily depends on the quality of these visuals, so be prepared to sift through multiple creatives to find the ones that truly convert;
- Choose a reliable network: The success of your Native Ads campaign also depends on the quality of the network you choose. It’s best to work with a network that owns its own websites, ensuring that your ads reach a real, engaged audience instead of bots. MyBid, for example, operates its own sites with high-quality traffic and employs an advanced anti-fraud system to ensure the reliability of its partner sites.
Conclusion
If you’re new to Native Advertising, consider using spy tools that offer free trials. While these tools might not allow you to search for specific ads, they can give you a general sense of the strategies that work. When creating your ad creatives, involving people — especially a photo of a person making direct eye contact with the camera — can significantly boost conversions, as humans are naturally drawn to other humans.
