Monday, November 11, 2013

Picture Based Native Ads

The latest buzz in the Native Ad space surrounds the use of pictures to promote content. According to an AdAge Digital Article produced last week Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and SnapChat are all jumping on the bandwagon. The first Instagram ad rolled out was from Michael Kors, featuring a gold watch amidst a colorful array of Macaroons. Like its predecessors in the Native Ad space, it generated some mixed feedback with some users "liking" and "sharing" it and others rejecting it as an unwelcomed intruder into their carefully curated boards. You can check it out for yourself here. Taco Bell got into the mix with this ad on SnapChat. I must say, I've been impressed how the creativity of some of these new-style marketing campaigns! They are clear winners when it comes to grabbing the users attention and they sure beat some of the old flash banners from a few years ago.

Image based native ads offer additional incentive for marketers looking for better ways to measure ROI. It is easy, in some cases, to make the image a very concrete "call to action." The AdAge article points out that savvy marketers will begin using Twitter images to contain coupons or bar codes that are redeemable in store using the mobile device. And combining this with geo-targeting capabilities makes it even more powerful for local advertising.

And just in case there's any doubt that Native Ads, in general, are becoming widely popular... the Associated Press announced it will introduce native ads shortly.


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