What is Native Advertising for Financial Advisors?
Native advertising is a form of paid media where the ad experience blends in seamlessly with the surrounding non-paid content. Native ads should match the visual and functional design of the media used, meaning that users might not know that they are advertisements at first glance.
Native advertising has been around for a long time, but is gaining increased traction with the rise of social ads, sponsored publication content, and more. Native ads generate more engagement and drive more sales than traditional ads, and may be a great option to consider as a financial advisor. Here, we will cover some of the most common types of native ads and how to get started on your own sponsored content.
Types of Native Advertisements
Depending on the industry and media form, there are many different types of native advertisements. Some of the most common include:
- Promoted articles on a news site, such as Investopedia or Investment News. Often times, these posts are written in a similar voice as the publication and sport a small “sponsored” tag.
- Sponsored social media posts, which disguise themselves as a regular share or post. An example of this is when brands create social media campaigns around an article written by a third party that features their company.
- Content that subtly references a company without being solely dedicated to being about their products. For example, a recipe might feature a certain brand of butter or flour.
- An influencer paid to mention a product in a blog, video, or other publication.
Native ads range in cost, depending on the viewership, traction, and type and there are always new types of native advertising emerging. It may be worth getting a few quotes on native advertising opportunities in your area or online.
How to Get Started
Native advertising doesn’t have to be an expensive, cumbersome process and there might be some great avenues right in your backyard. First, think about the types of ads your budget and bandwidth can handle. If you are looking to post regular sponsored blogs on your local financial magazine’s website, for example, you will need someone to write those blogs or dedicate time yourself to do it.
If you want to stick with social posts, set a budget for promoted Twitter and Facebook posts, see how far it takes you, and adjust accordingly. There are also many services that can place native ads for you, which might be a good option if you don’t have any media contacts you can utilize.
Qualities of Effective Native Advertising
While native ads are great for getting in front of more prospects and clients and working around ad trackers, if done wrong they can come off as sleazy or tricky. Like most content marketing, the best native ads don’t draw all the attention to themselves, but instead offer valuable content and insight to the reader.
Native ads should also seamlessly blend into the content around them. One of our advisors, Jagruti Panwala of Wealth Protection Strategies, regularly blogs for a financial services magazine. The audience is one of her niche markets, hotel owners, so the information she shares is fitting and relevant to the publication.
Native ads have higher levels of engagement than traditional ads, further your content marketing strategies, and reach a broad range of audiences. But as always, check with your broker-dealer or home office on their regulations with advertising and published content.
Which is Best for You: Native Advertising for Financial Advisors or Content Marketing
A few years ago, native advertising was new on the marketing scene and very few marketers were knowledgeable about the topic. Content marketing was early in its heyday and overshadowing just about every other form of marketing. Today, while content marketing still ranks at the top for effective marketing efforts, native advertising has climbed the ranks. The two are similar, but they’re not interchangeable. One or both methods may work for your business, depending on your goals and budget.
You Have a Very Small Budget
If you don’t want to invest any money in your content efforts, skip native advertising and stick to content marketing. Native advertising is the child of content marketing and digital advertising, and requires you to pay the third-party site to sponsor your content. For content marketing, you would create a piece of content, such as a blog article on your website, and then share it on social media and through email. There is no additional spend to create this content, making it a great marketing tactic for small businesses.
You’re Willing to Invest
Native advertising isn’t as expensive as traditional forms of advertising, making it a great option for advisors on a budget. You can start for just $10 per day if you use a platform like Outbrain or Taboola. With these platforms, you can submit a blog post from your website, and your article will appear as “Sponsored” or “Recommended” content on various websites, from news sites to sports websites, depending on your target audience. You can also pay to boost your content via ads on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, which will drive traffic back to your site.
You Want to Be a Thought Leader
Native advertising is still a form of advertising, and the best way to become a thought leader is through organic growth. If you want to become a thought leader in your industry, focus your energy on content marketing. Along with blogging on your website, publish posts on LinkedIn’s publishing platform and contribute articles to other blogs and local newspapers.
You won’t have to pay to contribute these posts, but you’ll need to have a well-written piece that matches the caliber and tone of the publication to which you’re submitting. As you can imagine, you have to put more effort into content marketing, as with native advertising you can pay to post just about any article or content piece.
You Want to Grow Your Audience as Quickly as Possible
If you’re focused on numbers — from website traffic to post likes — native advertising will provide greater satisfaction than content marketing. By putting a little money behind your posts, you can potentially reach hundreds of thousands of more people than you would with your blog or social media pages. One of the great things about native advertising is that it comes across as the most authentic form of advertising. You’re providing informative content, but you’re paying to promote it so more people outside your current network can see it.
If you’ve wanted to dabble in advertising but still keep your message compelling, native advertising is a great place to start. Use native advertising and content marketing together to educate people within and outside of your network so you can gain valuable leads to convert into clients.
Why Native Advertising Works for Financial Advisors
According to the Huffington Post, people view native advertisements 53% more than banner advertisements. The Harvard Business Review states, “Native advertising has been proven effective in drawing higher click rates than traditional banner ads and other outbound marketing methods.” This is because native advertising is seemingly less intrusive than traditional marketing ads.
Clients are looking for valuable and insightful content online and in print. They need useful information that provides advice about investing and financial health. With thousands of publications constantly aiming to promote valuable and actionable information to prospects, these online editorials are the perfect places to integrate native advertisements.
The Harvard Business Review also reports that “70% of people say they’d rather learn about products through native advertising [than] through traditional advertising.” Knowing this, financial advisors can create branded content that addresses the challenges prospective clients face and still provide information about their services using native advertising.
To learn more about native advertising and other powerful marketing tools offered by FMG Suite, request a demo and start making your marketing dollars work harder.
