A breeding ground for customer acquisition and interaction, native advertising is currently the hot topic in digital advertising. With response rates often performing at more than 25x better than display ads, it’s a smart place to spend your advertising budget. And on average, marketers are doing just that—spending a little more than 60% of their total social ad budgets on Native Advertising. So, here’s the question, if response rates are outperforming most digital advertising channels, why isn’t every brand participating? For many marketers, the answer is resource constraints. Sound familiar? Join us as we dig into the topic and offer solutions to some of the biggest content hurdles brands face.

1. Native Advertising
A breeding ground for commitment and sharing
Amanda Frazier
Sr Marketing Manager
Native Advertising
!1
@eZdia

2. eZdia.com!
More than a content churning machine
We paired our own cutting edge technology with
the passions, skills and resources of our expertly
curated team of writers, researches and editors.
!
!
Our content creation platform configures easily
to the needs of our customer and each unique
project, so we can deliver a cost-effective,
scalable content solution that is spot on every
time.
Native Advertising
!2
@eZdia

3. Our mission:
To make the web more readable,
engaging and enjoyable by connecting
growing eCommerce companies with
the world's most motivated writers.
Native Advertising
!3
@eZdia

4. Native advertising is a new term, but
the approach and concept is not new
at all.
!
The elements of native advertising
are included in the foundation of
advertising.
1.
show an
engaging ad
Native Advertising
!
2.
to the right
audience
!4
at the
3. right time
@eZdia

5. “Advertorial stretches as far back as the late 19th
century when John Deere created “The Furrow,” a
magazine to teach farmers how to make more money
using John Deere products.
– DigiDay
Native Advertising
!5
@eZdia

6. Native Ad Examples
•
•
Tumblr Spotlight
Promoted Images
on Instagram
•
•
•
•
•
Promoted Tweets on
Twitter
Branded Captcha
Paid Discovery on
StumbleUpon
•
Promoted Pins on
Pinterest
Promoted Videos on
WordPress blogs
•
Targeted Coupons
Sponsored Stories
on Facebook
Native Advertising
!6
@eZdia

7. Benefits for Advertisers
•
Reach a targeted audience
•
Amplify content
•
Drive revenue through new
customers, conversions, and
actions.
Native Advertising
!7
@eZdia

8. Benefits for Publishers
•
Create new revenue
opportunities
•
Promote engaging content
•
Increase time-on-site
through pages/visit
Native Advertising
!8
@eZdia

9. Native Ad Forecast
Advertisers Expected to Spend $4.57 Billion by 2017
!
•
69%
68%
$4.57
63%
Ad dollars spent on native
advertising is expected to account
for 71% of the total social display
ad dollars in 2017
Increased ad spend in Native Ads
has been driven by Facebook &
Twitter sponsored posts.
$3.98
60%
$3.40
$2.85
40%
$2.50
$2.36
20%
0%
!9
$3.75
54%
$1.63
$1.25
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Native % of total
Native Advertising
71%
$0.00
native spending
@eZdia
Native Ad Forecast in US Billions
•
$5.00
66%
Native ad spend is forecast to grow
to $4.57 billion in 2017, up from
$1.63 billion in 2012
% of total display ad spend
•
80%

10. 3 Primary Reasons for Native’s
Rapid Growth
•
Native Ad’s strong response rates vs the sinking
response rates of display.
•
Very effective channel to reach mobile users
•
Publishers looking for new, enticing ways to
continue selling more premium-priced placements.
Native Advertising
!10
@eZdia

11. Native Advertising
Landscape
Promoted posts
Promoted Video &
Images
Promoted Places &
Listings
Promoted links
Closed Networks
Open Networks
Open Networks provide opportunity to create
and promote the same piece of branded
content across multiple native ad platforms.
Closed Networks create and promote content
within the confines of the publishers ad platform.
Native Advertising
!11
@eZdia

12. Response Rate Comparison
Native vs Display on Facebook
Display Ad
Avg CTR .04%!
Avg CPM $0.24
Avg CTR 1.2%!
Avg CPM $5.48
In-stream News Feed Ad
CTR & CPM data source: InternetRetailer.com!
http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/10/17/facebook-ads-click-through-rates-soar-q3
Native Advertising
!12
@eZdia

13. Shareable Advertising
Native vs Display
32%
vs
of survey participants
would share a native ad
with friends & family.
19%
surveyed participants
would share a banner ad
with friends & family.
Source: Eye-Tracking and Survey-Based Study by Sharethrough and IPG Media Lab
Native Advertising
!13
@eZdia

14. Native Ads are
Content Hungry
Content created for native advertising must be relevant
—to the customer, audience and native ad publisher.
Native Advertising
!14
@eZdia

15. Golden Rule of Content Marketing
Reuse your content …
again and again and again.
1. Take inventory of your
current content.
2. Refresh & build onto your
best performing content.
3. Refresh content, write fresh
headlines and call-to-actions.
Native Advertising
!15
@eZdia

16. 2nd golden rule: !
There is power in repeating your message
“Delivering your message
in different ways, over
time, not only increases
retention and impact, but it
gives you the chance to
describe what you’re doing
from several angles.” –
Seth Godin
Native Advertising
!16
@eZdia

17. Native Content Effectiveness
Do!
Don’t!
•
match style and layout of the publishers
web site
•
use rich media, expandable units or
animation.
•
use similar call-to-action style as publisher
site
•
secure placements similar to standard ad
locations used by banner ads (right rail, top
& bottom of page)
•
encourage user interaction
•
create content that doesn’t match your
brand style/voice/purpose.
•
publish content that is a stretch between
your purpose and concepts in the content.
•
create killer content
•
make sure your native placements are
labeled as advertisements properly.
Native Advertising
!17
@eZdia

18. Content Strategy:
Find Trends & Topics
Build hot topics into your content plan. Here are a few tools to help.
!
Google keyword planner!
find the volume of searches by keyword.
!
Topsy.com!
track and monitor trends in social media and drill down to tweets,
images, videos, links and even influencers.
!
Postris.com!
customize your own dashboard based on your interests. Also helps
find what’s trending on a category level.
!
Frequently Asked Questions!
right under your nose, your customers are telling you exactly what
they need to know more about.
!
HashTag.org!
shows which hashtags are trending on twitter.
!
Whatthetrend.com!
Find what’s trending on twitter and why.
Native Advertising
!18
@eZdia

19. Content Strategy
Align Content with Objective
Customer stage
Content types
sponsored articles, ad banners
that accompany native content,
social media posts, infographics
Buyer’s guides, gift guides,
white paper, forums
Top 10/best of editorial lists,
product reviews, finders
Product use guides, product
reviews, free trials, testimonials
Product/accessories updates,
how-to’s, blogs, community
forums
© 2013 eZdia.com - All Rights Reserved.
Native Advertising
!19
!19
7
@eZdia

20. Create Content
Identify Resources
Out-Sourced!
In-House!
complete brand voice
experience!
“If brands begin to provide
truly valuable content, then
consumers will begin to view it
as something more than
advertising and form a real
connection and that’s where
you want to be.”!
- Dustin O’Dell
•
•
•
vs
brand training required!
•
protects limited in-house
resources !
•
•
easily scalable
leverage current
resources !
scaling dependent on HR
Native Advertising
!20
@eZdia

21. Content Quality
Higher quality = stronger response
!
The performance of your Native Ads are dependent
on the quality of your content.
Incentivize Writing Team!
!
Build incentives for your
writing team. In-house or outsourced to help boost longterm quality & voice excitement
in all content. !
!
eZdia has built in workflow and
incentives for every stage.
Native Advertising
!21
@eZdia

22. Content Cost
resource hours x hourly rate
Content development can be expensive. Each piece of
content can involves many team members: topic & keyword
research, writer, editor, QA and creative design.
tips for controlling content creation costs
Content Creation Platform!
can serve as a:!
!
•
•
•
workflow tool!
process manager !
version control
Native Advertising
Use an Outsourced Partner!
!
An outsourced partner can help
provide scalable resources, with
budget controls and subject
experts beyond your own team
bench.
!22
Workflow Tool !
!
can reduce management
costs by 30%
@eZdia

23. Content Scalability
peak at the eZdia content creation platform dashboard,
illustrating current project queue status
1 + 1 (doesn’t always) = 2.
Native advertising requires more than just
a few pieces of great content.
!
Complex content strategies require more
than 1 or 2 dedicated resources to
achieve the content creation process.
Improve response, boost effectiveness and budget efficiency.
Native advertising is a great channel to test content. Easy to test headlines, call-to-actions
and landing pages. Start with:
• writing alternate headlines (5-20 versions work best)
• crafting unique call-to-actions (aim for 3-7)
• testing 5 different landing pages.
Native Advertising
!23
@eZdia

24. Content Testing
!
Version Results:!
1) Native Advertising: the land of opportunity or sea of risk
2,000 impressions | 11% response rate
2) Native Advertising: the land of opportunity and risk
2,100 impressions | 11.5% response rate
3) All You Need To Know About Native Advertising
2,100 impressions | 5% response rate
4) Native Advertising: The future of digital advertising explained
2,000 impressions | 6% response rate
5) Native Advertising: The future of digital advertising dissected
1,900 impressions | 10% response rate
Native Ad Series Headline Test: !
!
Goal: Find most effective
headline for Native Ad Series.!
!
Test guidelines: !
!
•
•
•
6) eZdia’s Native Ads Series: the future of digital advertising
2,000 impressions | 9.5% response rate
•
•
planned 7 versions of the headline !
delivered all to the same article!
targeted same audience demographics !
ran same number of impressions!
allocated qual budget for all
7) eZdia’s 6-Part Series: the future of native
2,000 impressions | 4% response rate
Winning Title: Native Ads: Land of opportunity or risk?
Native Advertising
!24
@eZdia

25. Optimize & Re-Allocate
campaign objective: paid conversions
90 day campaign:
!
•
no optimizations for first 30 days.
Control cost by daily budget
•
Optimize into placements with strong
response and low-mid cpc
•
Keep small number of impressions
allocated for minimum & max cpc/
cpm placements. Good prospecting
grounds
Native Advertising
!25
@eZdia

26. Optimize & Re-Allocate
campaign objective: brand visibility
30 day campaign:
•
!
Run campaign based on max
impression exposure
•
Optimize after day 7.
•
Optimize into placements with
strongest response
•
Turn off campaigns as response drops
below minimum response rate goal.
Native Advertising
!26
@eZdia

27. “The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads
ads. People read what interests them.
Sometimes it’s an ad.”
– Howard Luck Gossage
Native Advertising
!27
@eZdia

28. Thanks for Attending!
!
Get in touch anytime
!
twitter.com/teammanda!
!
www.eZdia.com!
linked.com/ezdia!
twitter.com/ezdia!
!
Native Advertising
!28
@eZdia