Catch the Roving Eye

Dr. Seuss said “Why fit in when you were born to standout”. While most ad formats take this saying to heart and are made to stand out amid the neural assault of mobile design, native advertising is perhaps the first ad format which tries to conform. Today, mobile behavior has adapted to focus on snackable content fuelling the growing popularity of the feed layout. Consequently, advertising has also evolved from in-your-face post-it notes to subtle and classy native ads which are integrated into the content consumption experience. But this makes it much tougher for advertisers to catch the roving eye of the user and make an impact. In fact, a major reason why brands are still hesitant to go all out on native advertising is the lack of measurable success stories. Brands are in the news for trying out Native Advertising, not necessarily for achieving their marketing objectives through it.

Native ads have taken on 3 specific formats for the mobile feed layout — stories, videos and images with a few lines of text thrown in for good measure. Whether the advertiser’s end goal is a direct response (such as click/conversion) or awareness and consideration (which hopefully has an impact in offline purchases), it all starts with catching the attention of the user. As integrated as the ad may look to the publisher’s mobile property, advertisers can take specific actions to make the first impression enticing enough for the user to engage with it.

Let’s start with examining the different building blocks of a native ad unit — a thumbnail or icon image, a title/heading, a larger image/video, a few lines of descriptive text, a call to action and the landing page. Assuming that the context in which the ad appears, the relevancy of it to the user and the language, etc. are taken care of by the ad network, the advertiser can optimize and control the visual look and feel.

Ad Thumbnail: Thou shalt try to remove your differences. From rectangular frames and text (think Samsung, FedEx, Disney) to other geometric shapes (think Toyota, WWF, etc.), advertisers have been innovative in creating an identity for themselves. With native advertising, this identity generally needs to fit into a 75x75 pixel square thumbnail. Having square logos handy will help prepare brand advertisers to go native and also ensure users are not seeing a distorted version of the brand identity or something that looks like it was designed by a 2 year old. If you the brand has a mobile app, this problem is easily solved using the app icon image.

Ad Title: Thou shalt not take thy name in vain. The title is to the ad what the headline is to an article. It needs to convey the crux and value proposition in as few words as possible. The name and tagline for the product/service being advertised are key to catching the attention of the user. The title or rather headline of the ad needs to be exciting enough for the user to pause and give the ad due consideration (For example: Mouthwatering meals at your doorstep vs Food Delivery). General content writing tips can be useful here to market the product amongst myriad other content feeds.

Ad Image: Thou shalt make unto thee a beautiful image. The large image accompanying some of the native ad layouts is probably the first thing that the user notices about the ad. The image maybe the poster frame for a video or the actual image of the product/service/app being advertised. Ensuring bright, colorful creatives which create a sense of intrigue and convey the USP are imperative for getting the desired response. Advertisers may also want to experiment with subtle animations using GIF files to create a beautiful and distinctive experience.

Video: Thou shalt repeat thy story many times. A video is the best way of narrating the brand story, product value proposition and the user emotions in a short time. 15–20 seconds of autoplay emotive storytelling can go a long way in helping the brand catch the user’s roving eye and build a connect with him. Having videos in VAST templates is generally preferable as most ad networks build for this global standard.

Description: Thou shalt not refrain from explaining thy stand. Some native ad layouts may include space for a textual description. This is the ideal space for conveying more information about the product to the user. Depending on the feed layout itself, prominence may be given to the title or the description. Hence it is important to create interest in both.

Call-To-Action: Thou shalt guide thy way. A clear CTA button which tells the user what he can expect upon clicking — be it a redirection to the appstore (Download), a mobile website for more information (Explore, Know More) or a payment gateway (Buy Now) — helps give the user a clear idea of how he is expected to interact with the ad. A small colored button can go a long way in improving the performance of the native ad unit.

Getting the basic elements right is the first step to successful native advertising. As dear Max says, “If you have ‘em, flaunt ‘em”.