If you’re in online advertising or digital media you could probably measure your “native-ness” by whether or not you have heard of “Native Advertising”. It’s the newest ad unit in an industry that loves shiny new things to play with and it won’t be long until it’s the darling term thrown around by clients too.

In fact it probably won’t be long until it’s referred to in acronym form as well. If there is one thing digital loves more than shiny new things, it’s acronyms!

“Hey, what’s the CPM for the NA on FB? I need it ASAP, and no, we don’t do CPC!”

Anywho, Native Advertising has been around since August 2012 and seems to attract varying definitions depending on who you ask. The one I like best is:

“Native Advertising is advertising that conforms to the design, look, and feel of the platform it sits on.”

Obviously then, those standard ad units we love to use across every site don’t fall into the definition of Native Advertising. However, if you’re a true Digital Native, a couple things would have started percolating in that brain of yours.

Firstly, you’re probably thinking that traditional advertorial you sometimes use does indeed fit the above definition, and you would be right. The online advertorial could be thought of as the first iteration of Native Advertising.

Secondly, you might be asking yourself, doesn’t social media also fit the definition of Native Advertising? And yes, you would be right again. Almost all advertising on a site like Facebook fits the design, look, and feel of the Facebook platform.

Everyone from huge global brands like BMW through to the local second-hand book store all get the same page layout, the same ad units and the same ability to converse with their audience. The only real difference comes in their ability to make custom pages or apps, but even these still need to sit within a Facebook frame.

Why does NA matter then, if you’re already using it? (See that, I couldn’t help myself, that acronym just popped out all by itself.)

Well, it matters because what the Digital Natives who are at the forefront of finding these sorts of things out are finding, is that Native Advertising is more effective than traditional advertising. 

NA doesn’t come across as a typical advertisement. There is an inherent value to the audience in the content itself that goes beyond a traditional ad. This is certainly true of the good ol’ online advertorial we use and social media in general. The audience gets a value from it not necessarily related to the ad or what we want them to do or buy.

So if it’s more effective, then we should be on the look out for new and exciting ways to use it across a greater variety of sites, giving more value to the audience and more meaning to the ad.

For those of you who love a good infographic, here is a good one from Solve Media that’s on Mashable right now.

It was recently revealed that General Motors pulled its $10 million advertising budget from Facebook because they wanted to run page takeovers instead of the more typical sponsored posts and display ads. Page takeovers and display advertising achieve different results, as do interactive rich media ads, or integrated options like advertorials and social media activity. The creative execution that is right for your advertising really depends on your campaign goals. Each method of advertising has its pros and cons that work with or against your goals. Understanding the results each type of advertising achieves is important.

DISPLAY BANNERS

How display banners work well: - Display banners can be a cost effective way to buy reach, and design costs can be low. - They can work well for specific brand messages out to a large number of people. - Depending on the campaign, display banners may click better on certain websites, but this can be an ineffective measure for branding purposes. - There are a variety of ad sizes available, allowing the advertiser more choice. - Smaller international creative can often be used in larger sizes (eg, a 728X90 ads can run in a 760X120 placement), which can cut reduce deisign costs. . Things to consider: - Make sure you’re buying placements based on the audience you want to reach (following clicks may not always get you the right audience) - For performance campaigns, it is important to have a clear call to action, otherwise the display banner tends to work better for branding. - Remember, banners influence people well beyond the click. Make sure you’re monitoring post-click activity in the form of sites visits and direct google searches for your brand - Because of their limited space, keeping to the essential elements in your banner design is important.

Read the rest of this article.

Media Mind’s recent report on In-Stream video ads reveals some interesting results in comparison to standard banners. While standard banner click through rates average around 0.009%, In-Stream video ads average 2.15%. More importantly, the actual interaction of the videos are high as well, with 70% of In-Stream videos playing to the end, and 75% playing at least through the three quarter duration mark.

It’s not surprising then that Media Mind also argue In-Stream video’s usefulness for brand advertisers. While direct response advertising requires a quick message, designed to grab immediate attention, brand advertising tells a story. Because longer video ads are more effective, and have higher completion rates in comparison the shorter conventional TV-esk 15 to 30 second spots, advertisers have more time to get their brand across and tell their own story.

Adhub have released a standardised expanding video banner to take advantage of the high interaction rates that come with In-Stream video advertising. The 500X900 video ad expands out of standard ad sizes—either a 760X120 or 300X250—offering the advertiser maximum branding with a video player skin.

Battleship Expanding Video Ad on Get Frank

Pair this In-Stream video ad up with a site skin, and advertisers have premium branding around relevant content.

With over three quarters of the online population watching online video according to comScore, it’s a familiar medium for users, and with online video advertising increasing nearly 140% from 2011 Quarter 1 to 2011 Quarter 2 according to the IAB, it seems that advertisers are beginning to jump on board the online video ship as well.