Discover the secret to captivating audiences with native advertising. Learn from 18 top-performing native advertising examples that drive massive engagement and conversions. Boost your brand’s visibility and ROI with these proven strategies.

Native Advertising is definitely something that is becoming increasingly popular, and if you are looking forward to creating a successful ad campaign, it is important that you, too, become abreast of the native advertising examples and how they work.

Why? There are so many statistics and data out there to back them up. In fact, according to Outbrain, people pay way more attention to native ads than regular banner ads. In fact, they’re 53% more likely to look at them. Plus, native ads can make people 18% more interested in buying something.

That said, let’s dive into 18 standout native advertising examples that have mastered the art of blending storytelling with salesmanship. These aren’t just ads; they’re content experiences that leave a lasting impression.

But first, let’s understand what native advertising is.

What is Native Advertising?

Native advertising is a form of paid promotion designed to seamlessly blend with the visual and functional aspects of the platform where it appears. The key characteristic of native ads is their integration with the surrounding content, which makes them appear less like traditional advertisements and more like a natural part of the user experience.

These ads are contextually relevant and often mimic the style of non-sponsored content, which contributes to a more cohesive and engaging environment.

Native ads come in various forms, including sponsored articles, promoted social media posts, in-feed ads, and more

However, the only thing that differentiates it from other ad types is that it should be able to align with the established editorial tonality and style of the website or app and should also be able to offer the kind of information that the target audience of the website or app would typically expect. 

Why Does Native Advertising Matter?

Native advertising is immensely effective in building brand relevance and capturing your target audience. Its primary goal is promoting the services or products of the advertisers in a way that the ad content fits seamlessly into the environment it appears in and does not disrupt user experience in any way.

Native ads matter for several reasons, as it address key challenges faced by both advertisers and consumers in the digital marketing landscape:

1. Seamless Integration and Improved User Experience

Native ads seamlessly blend with the overall design and content of the platform, creating a more natural and less disruptive experience for users. This non-intrusive approach is crucial in a world where consumers often ignore or actively resist traditional display ads. By fitting seamlessly into the user experience, native advertising can capture attention and deliver messages in a way that feels more organic.

2. Increased Relevance and Engagement

Native ads are typically tailored to match the context and interests of the platform’s audience. This contextual relevance enhances the chances of capturing users’ attention and engagement. By aligning with the surrounding content, native advertising can deliver messages more likely to resonate with the target audience, leading to higher click-through rates and better overall campaign performance.

3. Better Monetization and Revenue Streams

Native advertising offers publishers and app developers a valuable revenue stream. Publishers can monetize their digital properties by integrating sponsored content that aligns with the platform’s style without compromising the user experience. This is particularly relevant for free apps and online platforms that rely on advertising as a primary source of income.

4. Adapting to Changing Consumer Behavior

As consumers become more sophisticated and discerning, traditional advertising methods become less effective. Native advertising acknowledges and adapts to this shift by providing a more personalized and user-centric approach. By delivering content that seamlessly fits into users’ online activities, native ads have the potential to cut through ad fatigue and foster positive brand interactions.

5. Cross-Platform Consistency

Native ads can be adapted to different platforms and devices while maintaining a consistent look and feel. This flexibility allows advertisers to reach audiences across various channels, ensuring a cohesive brand message. Whether on social media, news websites, or content discovery platforms, native advertising enables a unified brand presence.

How Do You Spot Native Advertising?

Spotting native advertising can sometimes be challenging because these ads are designed to seamlessly blend with the surrounding content. However, there are a few cues, indicators, and native advertising examples that can help you identify native advertising:

1. Disclosure Labels

Ethical native advertising includes clear disclosure labels or markings to indicate that the content is sponsored or promoted. Look for phrases like “sponsored,” “promoted,” or “ad” placed near or within the content. These labels are often required by platforms to maintain transparency.

2. Different Design Elements

While native ads aim to mimic the design of regular content, there might be subtle differences. Pay attention to elements like font and colours, or a small logo indicating the sponsored content. Native ads often have a slightly different visual style to help them stand out to users who are observant.

3. Unusually High Quality or Polished Content

Native advertising often involves well-produced and high-quality content. If you notice content that seems exceptionally polished or professional compared to the regular content on the platform, it might be a native ad.

4. Out-of-Context Content

If the content seems out of place or unrelated to the platform’s typical theme, it could be a native ad. Advertisers aim to make their content relevant, but sometimes, it may still appear distinct from regular editorial or user-generated content.

5. Prominent Branding or Logo

Some native ads include a brand’s logo or other branding elements. Keep an eye out for these subtle indicators, as they can reveal the promotional nature of the content.

6. Sponsored Sections or Widgets

On some platforms, native ads are presented in clearly labelled sections or widgets that separate them from the rest of the content. These sections may have titles like “Recommended” or “Sponsored Content.”

7. Language and Tone

Native ads may use a slightly different tone or language compared to regular content. They might include promotional language, calls to action, or marketing messages that differ from the surrounding non-sponsored material.

By being aware of these cues, users can better differentiate between regular content and native advertising, allowing for a more informed and discerning online experience.

Native Ads vs. Display Ads: Understanding The Differences

Display Ads:

• Display ads are essentially banner ads, which appear in the form of graphics in various shapes and sizes.
• Display ads are often considered effective in the promotion of certain products, brand building, and retargeting of the website’s visitors.
• They are designed to showcase your brand and your product going by the guidelines of the same. Also, thanks to the widespread inventory on a number of websites, they can reach people at whichever place they go to and browse.
• Marketers often act as a very important part of their online advertising strategy. 

Native Ads:

• However, on the other hand, native ads are designed to fit inside the media that they are displayed in.
• They sport an elite, editorial look and appear to be much less hard-selling or obtrusive when compared to banner or display ads.
• While using native ads, brands can go into showcasing their products or services or causes in a little more detailed form.
• The style definitely catches the attention of the viewers, at the same time giving the brands a scope to tell their story, and in a better way at that. 
• The average click-through rate is 0.3%, and native ads are actually thus a very useful way of driving traffic to the intended blog, article, website or app. 

Native Advertising vs. Content Marketing

Native advertising and content marketing are related concepts that share similarities but involve distinct approaches to engaging and attracting audiences. In a nutshell, while both native advertising and content marketing aim to engage audiences, native advertising is a paid strategy emphasizing seamless integration, and content marketing is an organic, owned media approach focused on providing valuable content over the long term.

Aspect	Native Advertising	Content Marketing
Payment Model	Paid promotion	Organic, often no explicit payment
Integration	Seamlessly blends with platform content	Part of owned media, distinct from ads
Disclosure	Requires clear labels or markings	Typically no explicit disclosure
Goal	Short-term goals, specific campaigns	Long-term strategy, building relationships
Owned/Earned Media	Generally considered paid and earned media	Primarily owned and earned media
Content Format	Various formats (e.g., articles, social ads, native video ads, etc.)	Diverse content types (blog, videos, etc.)
Transparency	Clearly indicates content is sponsored	Relies on authenticity and value delivery
Storytelling	Emphasis on fitting within platform context	Emphasis on brand storytelling and value
SEO Impact	Less impact on organic search visibility	Emphasizes SEO for organic search visibility
Longevity	Part of short-term campaigns	Part of a long-term, ongoing strategy

Common Types of Native Ads

The term “native ad” refers to a large and ever-expanding list of advertisement formats and delivery methods. 

Here is a list of the current most common types you will run into.

In-Feed Ad Units

In feed ad come integrated into the content, social platform or feeds. They are custom-made to blend really well with the content of the publisher and minimize disruption and obtrusion for the audience. They can be sponsored articles as well as ads designed to appear to be articles and match the content surrounding them.

Search Ads

These are ads that appear at the top of search engine results that appear similar to other results being displayed. The most popular search ads are Google AdWords and Bing Ads.

Recommendation Widgets

When reading an article or viewing other content, you will sometimes see near the content a section with links to related content and pages. These are usually paid advertising spots that guide the visitor to other sites and advertising.

Promoted Listings

These types of ads usually appear on e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay. They have sponsored product listings that have been paid for by the seller or manufacturer. They appear just like other product listings, but they appear at the top of listings, recommended product listings and other preferred positions.

In-Ads

Contextual text ads like Google AdSense fall in this category of native ads. They are ads that contain advertising related to the content on the page it appears or is related in some way.

There are, of course, many more forms of native ad formats, but the ones discussed above are the most popular types.

Also Read: 7 Future Trends in Native Advertising You Need to Know About

Top 19 Native Advertising Examples Publishers Must See

Sometimes the best way to understand something is to take a look at it. So let’s do just that. Let’s take a look at some of the best native advertising examples.

1) The Onion – Fun Example of Native Advertising

First one of the most common native advertising examples in the list, the Onion, one of the wittiest yet satirical websites on the internet, does quite well when it comes to native ads.

However, in this case, the Onion designed this ad specifically for the client H&R Block instead of Block just publishing their own content on the site. The content and positioning here clearly identify with Native ads, although they may be somewhat different from traditionally sponsored ads. 

Here, although the banners have been used as CTA, the original purpose of increasing brand awareness of H&R has been a success and has been possible because of this Native Ad.

2) Forbes – Informational Type of Native Ad 

Like others, Forbes has also resorted to a contributor-led model and has started to publish native advertising. This may be considered one of the best native advertising examples as although it has a clearly advertisement-based angle, it also has actual informational content.

3) UPS Infographic – Native Ad Example for Branding

This infographic may not be top-notch in its design, but it does its job alright. This is a great example of native ads considering it’s almost indistinguishable from the original content of Fast company.

The only thing that gives it away is the tine gray tag “Advertisement”, which one can easily miss anyway. The infographic also smartly uses the brand UPS’s colour scheme of brown and yellow, which further enhances brand engagement in a subtle way. It successfully sells UPS’s format of “problem/solution”, which is tried and trusted.

4) BuzzFeed – Paid Native Ad Listings

When viewing the main page of BuzzFeed, look for the yellow “promoted by” boxes. These are paid native ad listings.

5) New York Times – Native Ad for Brand Recognition

This is a paid post to increase Dell’s brand recognition.

6) Facebook – Sponsored Native Ads

Here is one of the most common native advertising examples. If you ever scroll through your news feed on Facebook, you will notice the sponsored posts that appear directly in your news feed? These are also native ads.

7) Google – Contextual Native Ads

When you search on Google, did you notice the top few search results are actually paid-for placements? These are prime examples of in-search contextual native ads.

It is obvious that planning as well as executing digital ad campaigns are indeed time-consuming and overwhelming. Here’s how native ads make it easier for you:

They are Efficient

Say Goodbye to Ad Fatigue 

8) In-Game Advertisement

As the name suggests, an in-game advertising strategy is placing your ads strategically within games that match the context plus target a niche-specific audience. For instance, oil companies can place their ads in some car racing games, whereas FMCG products can be advertised in some simulation games.

Her’s another one of the similar native advertising examples, Fortnite collaborated with Nike to celebrate each other’s market dominance. As a reward, Jordan’s Air Jordan XI Cool Gray was the pair for which many players attempted to compete. Moreover, MVPs could test each other’s abilities, try out new virtual museums, and much more.

9) CollegeHumor x Orbit

Now popular as Dropout, CollegeHumor and Orbit, both share a common target audience (Young People) as their major clients. Thus, both companies came together and gave us a brilliant native ads example.

CollegeHumor (now known as Dropout) was a popular YouTube channel that caters to teenage to young adult audiences. Whereas, Orbit has a history of humorous advertisements, happening, and poppy culture. Thus, both brands shared their expertise and delivered a fun-loving and well-strategized marketing project around Valentine’s Day.

10) Sponsored Snapchat Filters

Another one of the best native advertising examples is from Snapchat, which is pretty popular among a wide number of audiences. Therefore, companies capable of paying a hefty amount for promotions, leverage SC’s (Snapchat) huge user base. Many events, like Super Bowl, NFL, NHL, NBA, etc., launch their own special filters to spread awareness of their upcoming events.

Such native examples are only available for a limited period of time. Apart from that, these filters also help in building organic brand visibility and promotions.

11) Branded TikTok Challenges

Brands have finally figured out the potential social media holds. Thus, platforms like TikTok are regularly seen to promote various brand-sponsored challenges through its algorithm. With these algorithms, more people hop on the trend, which ultimately gives a huge boost to advertising campaigns.

Recently,  #SquidGame harnessed over 85 billion views on the applications. Out of these 85 billion views, a massive audience has visited Netflix to binge on the popular show. Similarly, many brands thrive on promoting their campaigns on TikTok, setting out milestone examples of native advertising.

12) AllBirds on The New York Times

With a noble motto of climate sustainability, AllBird is renowned for making high-quality footwear. The brand collaborated with The New York Times in a marketing campaign called “The View From Above: Why Our Future May Depend On the Fate of Birds”.

The whole campaign was to promote climate awareness along with establishing goodwill as a sustainable brand. And what can be a better platform to spread awareness other than a newspaper? 

Thus, The New York Times and AllBird rolled out a remarkable sponsored article. This example of native ads achieved huge success by displaying the priorities of the brand.

13) Native Advertisement Through Authors

Advertisers and brands use famous author bylines as a commodity to spread the word among their followers. Various blog posts or articles on the internet are actually written by authors who are somehow sponsored by a brand. These posts are generally labeled as “Paid Posts”.  To find out whether the post you are reading is sponsored or not, you can simply reach out to the author byline and check if there is “Paid Post” written or not. to take off the curtains. 

The niche of these blogs is largely correlated to the brand’s expertise. For instance, Wendy’s post shares some amazing facts about animals and simultaneously promotes its “Double Stack” for 4 in $4.

14) Volkswagen For Adventure

Here’s another one of the best native advertising examples used by renowned carmakers. Volkswagen and driving are all made for adventure. Apart from that, with its marketing tactics, the brand sets a foundation for native ad examples for other competitors to copy. A popular strategy followed by Volkswagen is that they post exciting road trips and travel guides on an online website. 

Plus, scenic views and immaculate shots of hidden natural gems are what make their platform captivating to the audience. This is how advertisers are able to make their places in travelers’ hearts. And, with the massive goodwill of a reliable name like Volkswagen, the promotion of these campaigns gets way easier.

15) Guide to Stories by Facebook

Facebook and Instagram are the uncrowned kings of social media. Therefore, according to various statistics, IG and FB are still in the good books of brands for promoting their campaigns. Knowing this fact, both platforms introduced “story features” for businesses to advertise.

However, to add meaning to the format and help businesses learn the context of the feature, Facebook sponsored various highly valued guides. These guides showcased native advertising examples, images, and articles. In the end, scraping out the valuable information becomes easier for the audience, while also experiencing the native ads. it makes it easier for the audience to scrape out the valuable information with ease while also experiencing the native ads.

16) Brand Sponsored eBooks and Reports

eBooks, reports, and PDFs are materials that only attract a highly niche-oriented audience. Take yourself as an example. There is hardly any case in which you will read a PDF or eBook unless it is for research or office work.

Knowing this fact, various advertisers and brands sponsor these resources to showcase themselves in front of the core audience. For instance, Deloitte, a business consulting firm, is sponsoring a detailed white paper on “Emerging Market Trends in the Post-Pandemic Era.” This white paper is only for professionals or someone conducting in-depth research.

17) NASA’s Native Advertising on Sky News

For all the space enthusiasts, NASA gifted them with the latest space exploration images by running one of the exceptional native ad examples. The blog was aimed to attract a niche audience that was keenly interested in witnessing the beauty captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Moreover, their aim with this native advertising example was pretty successful as hundreds and thousands of visitors came to the website.

18) KitchenAid x Vox Documentary

It must be tasteful to be a part of the culinary industry. But, according to various sources, women still have to go through a hard time to enter and build their place in the industry. This case study was another one of the best native display ad examples where Vox documentary collaborated with KitchenAid to spread a perfect ad campaign called “A Woman’s Place”.

The video covers the inspiring story of 3 women (including a restaurateur, a chef, and a butcher) who won a Tribeca award in 2021. The campaign is still there on the internet, spreading and establishing a strong brand presence with its strong message.

Now that you are aware of the multiple native advertising examples, let’s take a look how profitable it can be.

What is the Profitability of Native Advertising?

When looking at it from a general point of view, native ads can be considered a pretty cost-effective way of promoting your brand and spreading your message. Like all advertising formats, the cost depends on where it is displayed and how large an audience is.

Now, for programmatic native campaigns to be successful, it becomes handy because it lets you optimize the patterns to fit the allocated budget. If the campaign is supposed to be shown on only a premium publishing platform, CPM prices are supposed to be higher than showing the same ads on public forums, for example.

The cost-per-mille of native ads generally remains higher than that of banner ads.

In the case of a programmatic display campaign, the average CPM prices vary between $0.50 – $4.

Native ad prices can cross this threshold, going as far as $10 or $20. 

The high CPM, however, has not affected its popularity and growth. Considering its ability to drive high engagement, people often consider native advertising as a rather cost-efficient part of their marketing mix. 

Why Native Ads Are Becoming Popular Online?

Native ads are becoming more and more popular with advertisers due to several developments in human behaviour brought on by past advertising methods and ever-shrinking attention spans.

Viewers have been so inundated with ad banners that now they just mentally block them out. They are becoming blind to them, this phenomenon is aptly called banner blindness.

Some Internet users even run browser plug-ins that remove all the banner advertising from the pages they view. Advertisers are becoming aware of this and are tired of throwing advertising dollars away.

Also, the human attention span has become smaller and smaller over the decades, especially since the advent of the Internet. Advertisers are quickly learning that they only have seconds to grab the attention of a person and have to fight to keep it.

Native advertising aims, and in some cases, effectively manages to solve the above problems. It grabs readers’ attention and gets the advertising message over to them.

Native Advertising Statistics

Native advertising continues to be a rising star in the digital marketing world, and for good reason. Here are some key statistics that highlight its current and projected success:

Market Growth

The global native advertising market size was valued at USD 97.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 216.9 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2% during the forecast period (Source). This signifies a significant increase in spending on this form of advertising. 

Engagement and Effectiveness

Native ads have higher click-through rates (CTRs) and engagement rates than traditional display ads. According to Forbes, the average CTR for native ads is 0.38% on mobile compared to 0.11% for banner ads. This translates to more clicks and conversions for your advertising budget. 

Consumers are also more likely to share native ads with their friends and family, with 32% of respondents in a survey saying they would do so, compared to just 19% for display ads. This word-of-mouth marketing can be incredibly valuable for brands.

Cost and ROI

While native advertising can be more expensive than traditional display ads, it can also offer a higher return on investment (ROI) due to its increased engagement and effectiveness. The average cost per click (CPC) for native ads is between $0.53 and $0.93 on desktop and between $0.21 and $0.63 on mobile.

Video native ads are particularly effective, with CTRs as high as 1.8% and view-through rates of 55%. While these ads may be more expensive to produce, they can be well worth the investment for brands looking to reach a wider audience and generate leads.

Overall, the statistics paint a clear picture of the bright future of native advertising. As consumers continue to tune out traditional ads, brands are turning to native formats to reach them in a more engaging and effective way. So, if you’re not already using native advertising in your marketing strategy, now is the time to start.

Is Native Advertising a Safe Bet for Publishers?

Many forms of native ads blend in so well with the surrounding content and appear as articles instead of ads to many readers. This can and does cause some confusion and trust issues.

A reader could think he is reading an article or review by a third party when in reality, he is reading an ad written by the seller of the product.

So, the reader is thinking he is reading an unbiased opinion about a product when he is actually reading a highly biased opinion. See what I am getting at?

With the rise in popularity of native ads, the blur between content and advertisements is becoming greater.

This blurring raises the need for proper disclosure, so a reader understands that he is, in fact, reading an ad or sponsored content.

Simply labelling the native ad with a label such as “Advertisement”, “Sponsored”, “Suggested Post”, “Sponsored By”, or “Presented By” could easily disclose to the reader that he is reading a paid advertisement without being intrusive.

Without proper disclosure, a native ad could move into the realm of deception.

Since native advertising can be quite profitable, you will always see some marketers pushing the envelope. Just be careful that you don’t cross that fine line.

Why is Native Advertising So Controversial? 

Native advertising is controversial for several reasons, primarily stemming from concerns related to transparency and ethics.

Lack of Clarity

The seamless integration of native ads with regular content on a platform can lead to a lack of clarity for users, potentially causing them to consume sponsored content without clear disclosure. This perceived deception raises ethical questions about the boundaries between editorial and promotional material. Users may feel manipulated if they discover that the content they engaged with was paid for by advertisers, eroding trust in publishers and platforms.

Negative User Experience

Another source of controversy is the potential impact on user experience. While native advertising aims to provide a less disruptive experience, poorly executed native ads can still interrupt the natural flow of content and irritate users. If native ads are intrusive or irrelevant, they may contribute to a negative perception of the brand and the platform hosting the content. The focus on seamlessly blending with the surrounding content may also lead to concerns about the quality of the information provided, as advertisers might prioritize promotional aspects over the educational or informative value of the content.

The Ethical Dilemmas

Additionally, the dynamic nature of digital advertising and the evolving landscape of native advertising pose challenges for regulatory bodies. Establishing and enforcing clear guidelines can be difficult, creating an environment where advertisers may push the boundaries of ethical practices. The potential for exploitation, especially in sensitive industries such as health or finance, adds to the controversy. In the context of news websites, the inclusion of native advertising alongside journalistic content raises questions about editorial independence and the credibility of journalism, further contributing to the overall controversy surrounding native advertising. Efforts to address these concerns include clearer disclosure practices, ethical guidelines, and ongoing regulatory developments in the advertising industry.

Conclusion

By now, you should have a pretty good grasp of what native ads are and native advertising examples. We’ve covered what native ads are, their types, and examples of native ads. We then raised the question of whether native ads could go too far.

The bottom line is that native ads work well because they blend into the content around them. A good native ad actually provides useful content or leads the viewer to additional information about the content they are exploring.

A great native ad can entertain and inform as well as sell or bring brand recognition.

The key to writing and designing a successful native ad is to know your audience and the medium the native ad will appear within.

Frequently Asked Questions: Native Advertising Examples

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