How implementing Native Advertising can grow your brand following

Native advertising is not a new concept though the term was first coined back in 2011, just over a decade ago. Native advertising is different to traditional advertising methods such as ads or billboards, as its key goal is to appear like it isn’t an ad… interesting, right? 

Infographic: A history of Native Advertising

What is Native Advertising?

Native Advertising is sponsored/paid content which emulates the style, appearance, trends and function of other content on the platform. By having a style of ad which blends seamlessly into the flow of a social media feed, viewers experience the content in a non-disruptive way. They may not even realise that the content is sponsored at all, and simply enjoy the content for what it is.

Where do we see it most?

We see this style of content most commonly on social media, particularly Instagram and more recently, TikTok. These platforms lend themselves to native advertising strategies as they have features such as the Explore or For You pages, that allow regular users to see popular content from different creators, regardless of whether they follow them or not. TikTok especially has had some extremely successful native marketing campaigns, both in the form of sponsored content using popular creators and audience-appropriate brand activity, such as participating in TikTok trends, which has led to indirect marketing.

Global furniture brand Ikea, released an 'A-Z quiz' on The Telegraph, that gave readers insight on how to get a good night's rest. Rather than promoting a specific product or service, this example of Native Advertising strengthened Ikea's overall brand image.

How does it help grow a brand following?

Native advertising can help grow a brand if the content they are producing is engaging enough for their audiences to come back for more. That is to say, with Social Star, for example, perhaps the content we put up on instagram which is mostly about how to be successful in marketing, becomes a really valuable content source for individuals. They may follow and continue to engage with our content even if they have no intentions of employing our help with their business. Yet our content is still advertising the type of work that Social Star does, so we are keeping a top-of-mind awareness for when they do need marketing help, or want to suggest us to others. Your company’s account can become well known for its content, instead of for the company name itself, which will increase following and awareness of the brand.

How can I implement this strategy in my social media strategy?

There are several ways to try out native marketing. You can sponsor popular creators such as influencers in the field of your product to create native content with your product. For example, a skincare line may sponsor a beauty influencer to talk through how to use their new cleansing routine products. Another native advertising technique would be to create ads for the product or service you provide, and post them on the company’s social media in the same format as regular content. From here, you can ‘boost’ posts by paying to have them appear in a particular target demographic’s feed. 

Here at Social Star, we are experts in digital media and social media communication. We have the tools and expertise required to take your native advertising dreams to the next level. Enquire today to learn more about how we can help.