“I don’t remember what it was about or who it was sponsored by.”
This is what 62% of consumers surveyed by HubShout said about sponsored content or native advertising. According to the report What is Native Advertising and How Does it Impact Consumers, consumers just aren’t tuning in to this type of content.
This could be a big problem for the 73% of online publishers that are currently offering space on their properties for native ads. And with native ad revenues of more than $2 billion in 2013, there is a vested interest in making this a profitable and growing enterprise.
But here’s the rub:
“Two-thirds of readers surveyed have read a native ad, but almost an equal number didn’t remember what it was about or who the advertiser was,” writes Lucia Moses in Digiday.
“Still, half of the respondents stated that they find equal value in sponsored and non-sponsored content — and only slightly less felt native ads had the potential to be relevant,” Moses continues.
The findings are interesting. Most (67.5%) say they have read a “sponsored” or “promoted” article on the Internet, but only a quarter of those remember what it was about. Far fewer (7.3%) remember what it was about and who it was sponsored by.
Twenty percent feel that sponsored content builds trust between them and the brand, although close to half (43.2%) feel it can help them learn more about the company, the survey indicates.
The potential pitfalls in native advertising are huge. Building trust is so important in this always-on consumer-driven marketplace. If what you are doing isn’t memorable and doesn’t build that relationship, why are you doing it at all?
Which phone were they using for this shot again?
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