We’ve officially blurred the lines to the point that, on the
programmatic front, most advertisers have given up on treating programmatic
display and native programmatic as distinct entities. And there’s the problem
with that. When it comes to native, context matters a whole lot more than it
does in traditional display. With native, advertisers are buying an audience
that has shown up to a site for a certain type of content and has opted in for
that kind of content alone.
Despite its growth, marketers often overlook the operative
word of native programmatic: Native. Native advertising is designed to fit
seamlessly into the content that surrounds it. In its design, content and
writing style, the native ad mirrors the non-paid content around it, giving the
user the impression that it really belongs. In the case of targeting,
marketers are guilty of applying the same “reach-at-all-costs” strategy to
their native programmatic buys as their traditional display campaigns. The
result is that their brand message is placed without regard to the context of
the page or even the site on which it is seen.
Consider this scenario: A brand sells designer bags, and
thus is seeking to reach a female audience of high-end fashion. Certain members
of its target audience might also happen to love sports and frequent ESPN.com.
Under the traditional display regime, driven by audience
targeting, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with serving a high-end fashion
lover a traditional display ad for designer handbags on ESPN.com. When she sees
the banner over in the right rail, she gets it. That’s her ad, tailored
according to preferences demonstrated elsewhere. But it’s separated from the feed.
That’s not her reaction, however, when she encounters a
content-driven placement promoting “5 Fashion Tips for This Spring” sandwiched
between the Giants’ box score and last night’s Warriors highlights. That’s a
bad user experience — one that causes her to stop and wonder, “Wait, why am I seeing this here? I’m on a
sports site.” That’s bad for both ESPN and the fashion brand.
It’s time to get back to basics. Context matters
tremendously in the advertiser-consumer value exchange, and it is absolutely
critical when it comes to native. With native, advertisers aren’t just buying
an audience. Gone are the days of targeting a specific audience and blasting
impressions wherever those users can be found.
Advertisers must abandon the “reach-at-all-costs” mentality
that dominated during the first era of programmatic. It’s time to step back and
refine the approach, particularly as it relates to distinguishing traditional
programmatic from native programmatic.
Sourced from:
No comments:
Post a Comment