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Why Native Advertising Just Works

10 December 2019 - 4 mins, 28 secs read

Before we get into the why, let’s tackle the what. What is Native Advertising? 

Have you ever heard a radio presenter talk favorably about a product or service they use? Ever been scrolling through Facebook and seen an ad for Indomie right in your news feed?  Ever read an article on GhanaWeb.com that highlighted what a particular company is doing in the community? 

…that’s native advertising. Native Ads are ads that match the look and feel of the content on the platform where they appear. In fact, viewers typically don’t even notice the difference between a native ad and a normal Facebook post for example.  

But why should businesses consider doing native advertising? And why does it work so well? Let’s explore a few reasons together: 

Advertising is Going Inbound

Traditionally, advertising tends to have a “push” approach. You push out content in the direction of prospects and interrupt what they are doing with a billboard on the side of the road, or an ad in the middle of their favorite television show.   

Due to multiple reasons (that’s a whole other blog post), this approach is becoming less and less effective and advertisers are having to find creative ways to meet the prospect where they are… without interrupting them. 

The new inbound or “pull” approach means providing easily accessible, relevant content where the prospect is so that when they’re ready, your brand is the first to come to mind. 

Advertising is Going Digital 

That’s right, advertising, like everything, is going digital! Why? Because that’s where the people are! People are now spending more and more of their day in front of a screen. 

In fact, “in the 25 years since mobile was established in Ghana, the industry has connected 67% of the population, which amounts to 19 million individuals. To date, it has connected nearly half the population to the internet through their mobile phone.” ~ GSMA Country overview: Ghana

And so, as more people gain access to the internet, laptops and smartphones… screen time will only increase. If you want to meet the people where they are, you need to be on their screen, right? 

Not only do you need to be on their screen, you probably need to be on their smartphone screen, and even more specifically in their social media feeds. Why? Two reasons: 

That’s important because native ads are made for mobile and social media. They are designed to match the content that surrounds them and so appearing on mobile phones or in your news feed is in their nature. (And in case you didn’t realize…advertises like mobile marketing because the screens are smaller on a phone so it’s easier to catch your attention!)

Advertising is Being Blocked

Do you use an ad-blocker? If yes, you’re not alone. In fact, 47% percent of internet users across the world now use an ad-blocker. Why? The most common reasons people use an ad-blocker include “too many ads”, “annoying or irrelevant ads”, and “intrusive ads.” 

Have you ever been talking to a friend about a new product they just started using…and then you see an ad for that product in your news feed later that day? Whoooaaaaa. Yeah that’s why.  

But really, people are demanding more control over what they would like to see on the internet and they are pushing companies and advertisers to be more responsible and intentional about waht they are showing them. If not, BLOCKED!  

The Stats

If that didn’t convince, then let’s look at some more statistics. The numbers will tell us that consumers look at native ads 52% more frequently than banner ads, and native advertising generates 85-93% more clicks than banner ads. Remember every time someone clicks on your ad, they are presented with a chance to purchase your product or service or see your brand. 

Compared to traditional advertising, brand recall is 59% higher after engaging with sponsored content. Additionally, consumers are 14% more likely to seek out more content from or more information about the brand. Finally, as consumers feel like they are learning something from the content, sponsored content is perceived more positively than display ads.

And the number one rule of marketing is to know your customer: Who they are? Where they are? What they desire? What do they actually care about? Meet them where they are. 

So if you haven’t tried native advertising yet, maybe it’s time to give it a go! If you want to get in front of small business than you may want to access the largest database of small businesses in Ghana. 

OZÉ is a mobile platform that helps small business owners in Africa (starting in Ghana) to make data-driven decisions to improve their performance, tap into networks, and access capital. Entrepreneurs can track their sales and expenses, who owes them money and who they owe money to, see their profits on a dashboard, send receipts and invoices, and even access a business coach. Interested? Click here to try it today!


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