While browsing through social media, which do you likely divert your attention to, beautiful product photography with an artificial background or a man or woman using the product in action?
You likely answered “yes” to the second one.
In Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, videos and images that are unique get the most attention. The second type of visual that gets the most attention is native advertisements. These videos or images show a product or service in action.
One good example of a native ad is Emirates Airlines’ commercial airbus promotional video showing Jennifer Aniston trading her seat in First Class because it is almost as good in the airlines’ Economy Class.
Legal Things First
Native advertisements can be similar to Emirates’ example. However, the professional shots used in the commercial give the impression it is sponsored.
Native ads shot through consumer-available cameras, such as smartphones and action cameras, might make it appear that the video is user-generated. It gets better attention than professionally-made advertisements. However it creates another problem: people may expect the same results if they use the same product in the similar manner as the video.
In the United States, all businesses that use native ads, especially ones that have an amateur feel, should indicate in some way through text or any form of advisory that it is content sponsored by the business.
Some companies do this by inserting a small sentence underneath the cinematic frame. A few advertisements show a disclaimer that the video is affiliated with their company.
Placing these notifications allows your audiences to manage their expectations regarding your content and protect your brand from unwanted backlash, too.
Be Human
Native advertisements show the human side of your products or services in some way. The more honest the content, the more the audiences will resonate towards it. One good way to exhibit humanity in the ad’s narrative is to talk about the product or service’s former flaws or troubles. If you are spreading brand awareness, the difficulties, struggles, and the gritty side of the business can be great story content that helps develop your brand (if used properly).
Using your attention-grabbing ads to build an obnoxious identity that shouts about how excellent your product is or how great the company’s brand is after decades in the industry can make them memorable to your audience, but only to a point. The best way to reach into your viewer’s hearts is to resonate with their struggles. Native advertisements allow your products and services to be part of this story in a semi-realistic setting that appears too real to be scripted. One way to introduce your humanity to your market: create your brand story in an excellent way.
Short and Sweet
Not everybody has excellent memory. If you use a 10-minute native advertising video, then your audience could tire from seeing the same visuals using your product or service in real time. It can still work if you limit your brand’s appearance. Concentrating on the well-written storyline also helps. Your ad can be more efficient if you condense everything you wish to impart to your viewers in a short advertisement.
Focus on your narrative and the scenes that will help get your point across faster. However, avoid being similar to a billboard ad, which is too direct and short-lived. Native advertisements can work if they condense the message you wish to send to your audience effectively by having the product or service play a major or key role in the story.
Avoid adding unnecessary details. Make sure that each element you use has a significant role in the ad. Doing this allows you to create a truly effective story.
Focus on a Single Idea
Some advertisements tend to focus on multiple ideas such as a product being useful for different situations. A simple native ad wants to show audiences how your offers provide solutions. It could also show the way you can enhance experiences. Even if you can insert multiple narratives in a 30-second video, avoid doing this.
Instead, focus your viewers with just a single plot and struggle. It makes it easier to digest the content and avoid confusion in the narrative. Native ads work best because of the subtle appearance and application of the product or service. Presenting multiple scenarios reduces the opportunity to make a certain scene memorable.
However, certain companies can get away with using multiple scenarios when using these types of ads. Camera makers are one of them. They can show a certain character taking photos in different situations, which highlights their product’s versatility.
For most companies, applying the product or service in a single situation helps with brand retention and reduces the risk of any narrative confusion.
Use the Competitor’s Formula (at First!)
If you’re not sure about what kind of story your business can tell using native advertising, try following the footsteps of your competitors.
Look for their top-performing native advertisement-style video or image. Watch or view it thoroughly and study its nuances from the story to how it portrays their product or service. Try to see whether they were following a tried-and-tested formula or used a unique narrative technique.
Don’t be afraid (or ashamed) to copy their ideas especially when it’s the company’s first time to use native advertisements. Along the way, you’ll understand which areas you can improve.
Your first attempt at creating your native ad may or may not work very well. However, the best teacher is experience and data. With the efficient analytic tools available for marketers and advertisers nowadays, you can identify the time in the video your viewers dropped off, and you can study this in-depth. Carefully studying your target audience can help you create better media in the future, too.
Wrapping-Up
Native advertising is parallel to brand storytelling; they both require honesty and your company’s core values. It also has to have an understanding of subtly showing the application of your product or service. Doing this shows the resolution of a certain struggle or conflict in the storyline.
The best way to formulate a great video or image in this manner is to study analytic information. Your audience’s demographics, preferred topics, lifestyle, and other details can help you create a communicative ad that yields results.
You might need a dedicated team to do this for you; consider hiring professionals to help you study and analyze data correctly for the benefit of your future native advertising strategies.
