A quick example will demonstrate how this works: A bank has a mobile app. When a customer logs in and taps the button to check his or her account balance, branded content is served that informs the customer that their bank offers multiple checking account options with a call-to-action to learn more and a button that offers 'maybe later' or some other option. The customer reads the brief content, makes a choice, then goes directly to her account balance. This kind of advertising can be tailored to any app UX, improving user engagement and increasing conversions. This guide goes into detail about several advantages of native app advertising and how it can help you grow your business. 1. Provides content within the context of the app's UXAll native advertising is written within the context of the app user's experience. You could say that native advertising is contextual, serving up ads that are in the same or similar context as the task the user is performing. This could be checking an account balance as noted in the introductory paragraph above, or it could be something completely different! Maybe you have a grocery app. As your customer creates a grocery list, your app can track the items added, and if they match three or more items in a recipe, that recipe can be served to the customer, offering to automatically add the missing ingredients to his grocery list. The biggest advantage of native app advertising is that it can be laser-focused within the context of the user experience providing content that the user will likely be interested in. 2. Ad transparencyNative app advertising offers the freedom of transparency in advertising. You can market the other products and services you offer through branded content that provides information that empowers users by making them aware of choices they didn't know they had. Users of your app will appreciate that your are up-front with them about what you have to offer, instead of hiding behind marketing content that is presented as a blog post or other marketing content that isn't clearly branded.3. Absence of Ad Blockers in native appsThis is huge for advertisers seeking to access more users. Native apps don't have ad blockers built into them, so your ads are served without being blocked. The vast majority of legitimate ad-blocking apps that exist in app stores are paid apps with prices that run up to nearly $4.00 US. It is interesting to note that many ad blocking apps are for various mobile browsers, and are not designed to block ad content in mobile apps. In the long run, we may actually see a major shift away from browser-based advertising to native app-based advertising. 4. Users prefer native advertisingUsers view native ads 53% more than browser-based banner ads. By nature, native ads are less obtrusive because they are designed as a seamless part of the user experience. Native ads deliver up to 6x the conversions banner ads get. The dramatic increase in conversions alone should make native advertising a first choice for mobile app developers. 5. Native Advertising is mobile-firstBy nature, mobile advertising is mobile-first, due to the fact that native ads are designed to run inside of mobile apps. Ads are optimized to load quickly and display properly on most smartphones, with content that is designed to seamlessly integrate into the mobile app's UX. Because of this, more genuine value is added to the user experience -- value that the user appreciates and often prefers. 6. Native ads are more relevantUsers tend to perceive native ads as more relevant than traditional banner ads. This is important for advertisers looking to boost conversions and increase revenue. The key to successful native ad campaigns lies in the creation of natural content that is written for the specific context within which the user will see it. As such, writing relevant native ad content is a bit more demanding than writing similar content for a company website or blog post. 7. Higher user engagementConsumers engage native ads up to 60 percent more than banner ads. This means that advertisers have a readily available, powerful alternative to more traditional advertising channels. While it may take more work to create a native ad campaign strategy, the ROI is well worth the additional effort. Native advertising is quickly coming into its own as a viable, even desirable alternative to digital marketing that is designed around the likes of Google and Facebook. More care has to be taken with native advertising, but the increased user engagement and conversions will more than make up for the extra effort.
