As an advertising option that has more potential to go viral than banners, and is more transparent than print, native advertising is quickly gaining popularity in the marketing world. As a concept, native advertising focuses on the idea of creating an advertisement that blends in with its surroundings. Rather than being the main focus of the content, and potentially disrupting customers, native advertising provides content in the context of the existing user experience.

The chances are that you've already seen a number of different examples of native advertising when browsing online. For example, native advertising might refer to a suggested post on Facebook, a sponsored tweet on Twitter, or one of the videos recommended to you when you start browsing YouTube.

Why Is Native Advertising Effective?

As a technique, native advertising is useful because the scalability and quality of the notion allows marketers to fill the gap between banner adverts and brand publishing. Now that we're living in a content-heavy world, native advertising offers advertisers a way to reach out to their audience without being overbearing. According to research, this means that many native ads are viewed for the same amount of time as editorial content, and native ads are far more likely to be shared than banner ads, increasing your marketing potential for going viral.

Who Uses Native Advertising?

Though native advertising is still gaining popularity, it has begun to be used by various companies, both big and small. In fact, native adverts perform well against banner ads in almost every possible way. Not only are consumers 25% more likely to look at a native advertisements, but they are also 53% more likely to actually engage with that advertisement in a positive and potentially profitable way.

With these numbers in mind, the real question isn't "Who uses native advertising?" the question is "Who can afford to ignore it?" Any company seeking to improve their market reach and improve engagement may benefit from adopting native advertising into their strategy. There's a lot to be said for the stealthy option for advertising, and many consumers prefer a subtler approach to marketing when they're browsing online.

Following are three of the most significant benefits of native advertising:

1. Native Advertising Captures More Attention

If it can't access the attention of your target audience, then an advertisement has no purpose. For professionals in the world of marketing, performance metrics are essential, and native advertising campaigns generally offer higher viewing rates, greater conversions, and more engagement than almost any display advertisement. If you're using native advertising to share content, you can even increase your chances of your audience doing the marketing for you, by sharing sponsored tweets with friends, or liking your Facebook posts.

2. Native Advertising Builds Up Relevance

The more your company engages with an audience using their own language and their own tools, the more you'll be able to access greater sharing opportunities, and develop a relationship with your target market. Today, creating a relationship that encourages trust and loyalty in your customers is an essential part of not only building a network of devoted, repeat buyers, but also encouraging the arrival of new fans into your family. When brands associate the content of their native advertisement with the target's tastes and the outlet in question, they improve their level of shareability - and there are few things more beneficial to a marketing campaign today than the possibility of going viral.

3. Native Advertising Empowers Customers

When shopping online, most customers aren't looking for a new product or service, they're looking for a solution to their problem that they can rely upon. As such, they appreciate valuable content from brands that seems to want to provide assistance, rather than simply make money. Using native advertising, it is possible to present branded content in a subtle and convincing way that offers useable and empowering information to customers. In other words, you're convincing your customers that you care about more than just their money - and they'll often reward you for this effort with their loyalty.

Native Advertising and Engagement

The primary payoff when it comes to native advertising is the engagement opportunities it offers. Like many other direct marketing strategies, native advertising provides companies with ideal solutions for interaction, thought leadership, and sharing. As a result, the main benefits of this form of marketing come from the short-term interactions created with customers, and the ability to build long-term relationships.