US Marketers increasing spend on native advertising

Native advertising spend in the US is set to substantially increase as marketers rapidly invest in the technique, according to the ANA's (Association of National Advertisers) 2015 survey report "Advertising Is Going Native." Sixty-three percent of marketers are planning to spend more on native advertising over the next year, indicates the report.

Native advertising involves marketers integrating their messages into the context of the user's experience. The ANA survey of 127 client-side marketers, which took place in the fourth quarter of 2014, examined marketers' native advertising, utilisation, budgeting, interior and exterior implementation, measurement processes, and importantly their perspectives on disclosure and issues of transparency.

Key findings from the study include:

Budgets for native advertising are increasing
Native advertising is one of the hottest and most controversial trends in the industry. Almost three in five (58%) say their company used native advertising during the past year. Concurrently, spending on native adverting is increasing.

Past year budgets increased for 55% of respondents.

In 2015, 63% of respondents expect to increase budgets allocated to native advertising.

Despite the spending increases, native advertising currently accounts for a small percentage of overall advertising budgets %u2014 5% or less for 68% of respondents.

Native most commonly associated with digital and social
Native advertising is most commonly associated with digital/online and social media, and usage is highest across both. Eighty-five percent of respondents who engage in native advertising do so via digital/online publishers, and 71% through social media.

Disclosure and ethics are key issues.
Two-thirds of respondents agree that native advertising needs clear disclosure that it is indeed advertising. Only 13% feel that such disclosure is not needed. Both the publisher and the advertiser have a responsibility to ensure disclosure. Three-fourths of respondents feel that there is an ethical boundary for the advertising industry when it comes to native advertising. Disclosure/transparency is the single biggest issue about native advertising that keeps respondents up at night.

Contextual relevance main benefit
The main benefit of native adverting is the ability to create extremely relevant associations between the brand and consumers via content. Given today's media landscape where consumers can increasingly avoid ads, advertisers look to native advertising to get their messages noticed.

Broad supply chain expertise
Many external resources have roles in helping marketers manage native advertising: media agencies, media owners/publishers, creative agencies, specialized digital agencies, public relations agencies, and content marketing agencies. Media agencies have the highest incidence of usage and are identified as the "most valuable" resource.

Measurement concerns
Measuring the impact of native advertising is a challenge. Multiple metrics are employed but no metric stands out as "most important." There are concerns that measurement challenges could impede the further growth of native advertising. The industry needs a deeper relevant set of metrics that provide greater insight for native advertising effectiveness.

Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA, commented: "Native advertising is proving to be a win for marketers, consumers, and publishers. However, consumers must be able to tell the difference between native advertising and editorial. As such proper disclosure is mandatory. Marketers have a responsibility to be transparent to maintain trust and they must play a lead role in working with publishers to ensure proper disclosure."