Recently, Mashable’s Todd Wasserman outlined the top five advertising trends of 2012, giving Native Advertising the top spot. While Wasserman asserts the definition of the practice remains up for debate, he says native advertising occurs within a context. The promotional piece should be indistinguishable to consumers from the rest of online media.
To better understand how native advertising has affected consumer behaviors, Forbes Insights and Sharethrough conducted a study to assess adoption trends related to native video marketing, and its conclusions show most marketers prefer this method over other options. In fact, data shows that more than half of large brands use custom content videos in their marketing efforts, and these same brands choose native advertising to distribute media effectively. Instead of running in standard display ad formats, brands prefer to integrate content into organic site experiences, and users also enjoy this method.
“More than half of brands are now investing in brand video, and as they increasingly invest in creating original, entertaining content, they’re eager to distribute this content through integrated, choice-based formats that allow viewers to experience these videos as content rather than ads,” said Forbes Media’s Chief Insights Officer Bruce Rogers.
Native advertising adoption unveiled
The practice of using video remains relatively new when compared to other programs, and approximately 33 percent of survey respondents said they already promote video ads through native placements or envision themselves doing so in the future. When asked which features were most important for effective campaigns, marketers indicated ad formats that mirror native experiences. Sixty-one percent of respondents prefer video marketing products that resemble publishers’ sites as opposed to running on standard video players. More, 53 percent of marketers would rather publish choice-based click-to-play branded content formats over interruptive – autoplay – media.
Marketers have different goals for their native video advertisements
The data also noted marketing goals, and the percentage of professionals who use native video ads to achieve objectives. According to the report, 69 percent of marketers say building brand awareness is their main objective, while branding, customer retention and loyalty and brand lift were also priorities.
As Brafton reported, video content marketing has the biggest impact on brand awareness, with 54 percent of respondents from a DigiDay and Adap.tv survey indicating visual media improves brand lift. With 2013 just around the corner, brands should adopt native advertising practices and incorporate more visual media into their outreach programs moving forward.
