Native ads may have the attention of marketers, but consumers aren’t all that savvy to them, according to a recent survey from Ask Your Target Market (AYTM). Asked if they had ever heard of native advertising, fully 85% of respondents answered in the negative, leaving 5% professing to know what native ads are, and another 10% having at least heard of them. A much larger 72.8% reported having come across ads that tried to look like the content around them (i.e. advertorials). Last year, a study from MediaBrix found a significant proportion of respondents saying they find native ads to be misleading.
Among AYTM respondents who had ever come across ads that tried to look like the content around them, 7% found them to be very effective, and another half saw them as somewhat effective. Many weren’t swayed, though, with the remaining 43% finding them not very effective (33.9%) or not effective at all (8.8%).
Even so, about one-quarter of respondents said they would be definitely more likely to pay attention to ads if they provide some kind of valuable content, and another 57% would probably be more likely to pay attention to them. That suggests that while the format meets with some resistance from consumers, good creative (as always…) helps.
A recent study conducted by IPG Media Lab and Sharethrough that compared banner ads and native ads found that consumers were 25% more likely to see native ads than banner ads (25% vs. 20%), also looking at the native ads 52% more frequently (4.1 times per session, compared to 2.7).
About the Data: AYTM’s survey was completed on May 21, 2013, and was conducted among 400 respondents.
