For a long time, content marketing and advertising were treated as two mutually exclusive strategies.
Both may have the same goal — to get more brand exposure and to attract more site visitors — but they do so in very different ways. Typically, marketers have used content to create general brand exposure, while they have relied on advertising to snag more direct sales.
Yet it’s much more effective to combine the two so that you are performing mobile content marketing via native advertising. Here are a few reasons why:
People Hate Ads
No one likes ads. In fact, people do everything they can to avoid them.
More and more people are installing ad blockers so that they have to see as few ads as possible. Primarily, people are installing those ad blockers on their mobile devices.
Native advertising doesn’t look like advertising. Therefore, the ads won’t be filtered by ad blockers, and most people won’t even know that they are looking at an ad.
Native advertising is usually identified by a line in the content, such as “This post is written by…” or “This post is sponsored by…” Sometimes, the word “advertisement” will appear somewhere in the header or footer of the content. However, many people overlook these identifiers and just read the post like any other content on the site.
By using native advertising, you’ll get your content in front of more people.
Get More Reach
So why not just focus on content marketing on your own site?
Putting your content on a site that has a larger reach than yours or higher authority than yours can help you get more viewers. Yet most large, authoritative sites don’t actually take guest posts, and they surely won’t let you post your content just because you want it.
You’ll need to pay.
Instead of paying for advertising, you can pay to have your content posted. You’ll show your target audience the kind of value you offer in your content, rather than badgering them with traditional display ads that will only annoy them.
Once users get a taste of the quality content you offer, they are more likely to click through to your site and to read more of your other content. They may not want to buy anything from you right away, but they can get hooked on the quality content that is the cornerstone of your site. That will bring them back again and again, which can secure a relationship and lead to sales in the long run.
This kind of advertising will also lead to repeat sales since it helps to create loyal customers.
Mobile is Huge
Mobile search is quickly overtaking desktop search as more and more people rely on their mobile devices for everything from surfing the web to tracking their health.
It’s not enough to optimize your site for mobile users. You need to take advantage of every opportunity that you can to reach mobile users.
Native advertising on the top mobile sites helps you to reach more of the mobile audience specifically, and it helps you to avoid the ad blockers that are so popular amongst mobile users.
It is important that you have these specific strategies to reach mobile users, in addition to the strategies you would use on your desktop platform.
Tips for Success
Now that you know why mobile content marketing via native advertising is so important, you need to put a strategy in place.
It is important that you target the largest and most authoritative sites that allow this form of advertising. Of course, you may not have the budget to afford their rates, but you need to start with this list first. Work only with sites that are in your niche or that are relevant to your target audience, and use quantifiable metrics to identify their reach, such as monthly page visitors, social followers, or email subscribers.
Next, you’ll need to identify the best content creation strategies. What topics are most appropriate for that site and for the target audience you are trying to reach? What types of posts are most likely to stand out on the site or to get the engagement you want?
Use formatting that is appropriate for mobile users, such as shorter and eye-catching headlines, bolded words, and bulleted lists. Keep your images and videos to a minimum so as not to slow down load times. But do be sure to include images that are optimized for mobile so that your visitors aren’t looking at a wall of text.
The more you can do to make the content targeted at mobile users, the more successful it will be at engaging readers.
You can also use CodeFuel’s advertising platform to find the best placement for your native advertising. Our platform identifies the right platform for your content, and optimizes it for mobile users. You’ll get more engagement by reaching the audience you want.
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