Native Advertising: Does It Work?

For as long as I remember, (and that’s a long time) the idea of an ad was to cut through the clutter and stand out. Now they want to blend in.

Move over banner ads, the newest way to attract attention to your product or service is to be indistinguishable from the surrounding environment. It’s called Native Advertising, and at its most persuasive when it’s barely noticeable as an ad. (Hello, neuroscience…). We’ve all seen them. Sponsored posts found on social media and editorial websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Buzzfeed, Forbes and Business Insider are all forms of Native Advertising.

For example, on Facebook one may see a status update or picture on their newsfeed from a company. Other examples gaining popularity are posts replicating the content of a Buzzfeed post. Companies are creating their own lists, aka “listicles”, or how to’s, and promoting them on the Buzzfeed page. But the trickiest are those found on editorial sites, like the UPS sponsored ad shown here.

Source: Cpcstrategy.com

Sponsored content can be easily mistaken for an article. All of these, however, state in the ad that it is a ‘sponsored post’ or ‘promoted by’, but their context mimics that of the site it’s posted on.

Source: Copyblogger.com

Believe it or not, native advertising does work, and here is why: people are pulling the content they want to read and social media has become a reliable friend (replacing real reliable friends in some cases, but that’s another story.) It can be argued that ads that blend into the user-selected formats (as in the case of UPS) are less intrusive and less likely a distraction users tune out. In this case, UPS would probably argue that they are provided valuable content in line with the content Business Insider users want.

Research indicates that consumers view native ads 52% more than banner ads. The same study also states that native ads, because they are served to the consumer based on the consumer’s online behavior and interests, are more likely to be shared with a friend or family member. Isn’t a tweet or instagram post from a familiar company on your news page a little less aggressive and a lot more interesting? Many, including me, would say no, but since so much of our decision-making is, to quote, Dan Ariely, “predictably irrational” what we think or say is not necessarily how we feel or act.

How to write effectively for social media

Social media is like this giant game that everyone plays, few master and most fail to win. Generally, people may struggle to get their ideas across in the short character limits of Twitter or have to actively attempt not to ramble on in a Facebook post.

Content-wise, the creation of quality content all stems from the Golden Rule of social media that all marketers, and even people eager to better their personal brand, should know.

The Golden Rule is this, all content should aim to do one, or more, of four things: entertain, expose, engage and/or educate. Following the rules of the four E’s will allow you to think about the content you are posting and help you to measure if it is valuable content.

We, as consumers, are selfish. We don’t want to click, comment, like or even see an ad, post or tweet that isn’t relevant to us on some level or one that doesn’t “offer” up anything for us in return. That’s what the four E’s do – they quantify that return.

If the post is for entertainment, someone may get a chuckle out of it or a story to tell his or her friend later. For expose and educate, people are offered up the opportunity to learn something – even if they don’t know they are doing it. For engage, everyone loves to hear him or herself speak – they just want a soapbox to stand on. By giving someone that opportunity, and if it’s something they feel worthy of engaging with, your content becomes valuable. With the same notion, people also do not want you to just talk all about yourself on social media – you need to ask something of them in return.

Another effective tool to keep in mind when writing and creating content for social media, is to keep your mind focused on creating a consistent voice for your product, your social media outlets. Think about who you are talking to, what you are saying and how you are saying it. This may vary from platform to platform or vary by content itself, but before you send any tweet or press that “post” button as yourself, who is this valuable to and what kind of message am I sending?

In conclusion, there are many different ways to create valuable content for your followers – but by sticking to content that will not only give your consumers something in return, but will ask something of them, you are making them want to come back and continue to engage with your brand.

5 of the best social media ad campaigns out there

There’s always that ad that you’ll watch, hear or see that just makes you stop in your tracks and say, “Well, (insert four letter word) that campaign is brilliant,” no matter what your place in the advertising or marketing industry.

At Wilesmith, we do some pretty incredible ads and try to maintain that transient advantage that so many people and our clients strive for by continuing to innovate. It’s the thinking that makes us different, I’m sure you’ve heard.

Now, social media is the newest medium out there for advertisers. It’s one that a lot of people spend a lot of time trying to “get” and very few actually end up getting. Note: it’s also very hard to limit this list to five, so there may be another edition of it.

Here’s our list of some of the best social media campaigns out there:

• Oreo’s Daily Twist Campaign
During a short period in 2012, Oreo came out with something that the world had pretty much never seen before – an entertaining, engaging and informative social media campaign that still managed to fully immerse itself in the product. The campaign used Oreo cookies to create important moments in history, sports, politics and music. From an Elvis Oreo to a gay pride Oreo, the cookies told a tale and made us all hungry for a little (or a lot) of those little black and white treats. Oreo then managed to blow us away again in 2013, with some serious real-time marketing at the Super Bowl when they launched their infamous “you can still dunk in the dark” Twitter ad when the power went out at the game. This ad ushered in a new way to advertise and we still see many similar ads today, though Oreo is seemingly the first to do it.

• Human Rights Campaign’s marriage equality Facebook profile photos
Facebook, which is perceived as a somewhat outdated social medium, managed to serve as a successful platform for the Human Rights Campaign in 2013 during the marriage equality discussions surrounding Proposition 8 and the Supreme Court. The red equality or equals sign logo went viral around the Internet with over 9 million people seeing the logo. This was a key way for a brand with a purpose to get the word out about a specific cause.

• NASA global selfie
Oh, the selfie. The definition of narcissim in a nutshell, yet somehow an everyday observance. If you can’t beat them, join them, I guess. This is what NASA did to incorporate the underrated holiday that is Earth Day and engage the general public. Alas, we got the “global selfie” an accumulation of 40,000 fan submitted photos from more than 100 countries to create a “globe” of photos.

http://www.postano.com/blog/14-best-social-media-campaigns-of-2014

• A.1. sauce rebrand
A.1. taught us marketers that there’s more to Facebook than just the day-to-day posts we see every day. Those with a link, photo, etc. A.1. for a few words has been really playing the social media game. It began in 2014, according to AdWeek, when CP+B, my former employer for the sake of transparency, created a campaign where A.1. Sauce had some “new friend requests.” They changed the name, for one, to just A.!. Original Sauce and then released an ad where the sauce “broke up” with steak and received a bunch of requests from “other foods” that were fighting for its heart. The campaign used Facebook, made it modern and attempted to attract the right demographic.

• Turnip for What
Perhaps it was just a timng issue, but before the Obama Administration there was seemingly no White House transparency when it came to social media. One of the most viral, and talked about, (but also extremely confusing and random!) campaigns of 2014 was Michelle Obama’s “#turnipforwhat” Vine post. The First Lady made a spoof on the popular Lil Jon/DJ Snake song “Turn Down For What?” in order to promote her healthy eating campaign. The first lady, essentially, danced with a turnip and received huge amounts of press for it. No matter what their initial mission was, Mrs. Obama seemingly accomplished it.

Image by mkhmarketing, mkhmarketing.wordpress.com, used under cc.

AP Style rules most PR folk don’t know

As a vibrant member of the journalist turned PR (semi-quasi-trying to be) professional, I know a thing or two about AP Style. Whether it was through my cutthroat journalism program at the University of Florida or during my reporting days at Newsweek and The Daily Beast, I had that wonderful, yet frustratingly ever-changing, AP Stylebook figuratively beaten over my head many times.

Now, transitioning into the public relations universe I’ll find myself muttering at my desk every so often about how “email” is not hyphenated or how dumpster USED to be capitalized (ever-changing, I told you). It’s both a blessing and a curse, but now I’d like to share my curse with you and I’d like to go beyond the lack of serial commas, proper time and date format (Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. FYI) and how you should really stop trying to make Facebook two words.

So, I present to you, 5 AP Style rules you may not know

• Food is just weird
Always look up all foods. Why? Get ready for these. The “Foster” and “Wellington” in bananas Foster and beef Wellington are both capitalized. Hyphenate bread-and-butter pickles. Capitalize “Brie” in all uses. It’s “Brussels sprouts.” It’s Champagne, but then it’s also chardonnay. Is my point clear yet? Always look it up. Some of them have some really interesting reasons behind why they are they way they, well, are, too.

• It’s chairman and chairwoman and never chairperson.
The same applies to spokeswoman and spokesman. It’s never spokesperson. If you do not know the gender of the person, use the word representative. For chairman or chairwoman, never just shorten to chair, either, unless that is the organizations official title for the person.

• All of those stores
This is something that can be solved most of the time with a simple Google search if you don’t have the time to whip out your handy AP Stylebook. People, in speaking, have a tendency to make everything plural or possessive and say “Nordstrom’s” instead of simply “Nordstrom.” Here are some quick hits: Gap Inc., Tiffany & Co., Macy’s Inc., Neiman Marcus Inc., Saks Fifth Avenue Inc. and Barneys New York. Also, just while we are on the subject. It’s T-shirt. Not tshirt, t-Shirt or any other millions of ways I’ve seen flying around out there.

• Hyphens are confusing. Do not trust them.
If you ever think something could be hyphenated, please check it out. If you think it couldn’t be hyphenated, hey, still check it out. Cellphone, for instance, is one word. I’ve seen it hyphened or more often it’s two words. Carry-on? Hyphenated. 7-Eleven? (The store kind not the Beyoncé kind) Hyphenated.

• Internet is still capitalized
Why? Don’t ask me. But it is.

Bonus tips? Towards and amongst are not words. Please stop using them. Also, take the time to learn the difference between podium and lectern. A podium is not what you think it is.

I am sure I don’t have to tell you why it’s so important to follow AP Style as best as you can. In the past, when I’d receive a pitch from a public relations professional, before I was one, if I saw even one part of the release that wasn’t in AP Style I’d be a little miffed. It’s much easier to sell perfection to someone, even if they aren’t looking for it, than something they have to spend hours fixing.

So get it right the first time, go the extra mile and all of the other cliché “go above and beyond” sayings there are out there. This could be the difference between getting your story placed and getting it sent to the spam folder.

Wilesmith Passes Award Baton To Colony Hotel

As the 2010 winner of the Bernays Award for a branding campaign for our great client, MorseLife, I had the pleasure of presenting this year’s Award to Ruth Young of the Colony Hotel for the hotel’s campaign to promote the 10th anniversary of its fabulous Royal Room cabaret. (If you haven’t been, go!) The Bernays Award is the most prestigious award given out on an annual basis by the Gold Coast PR Council, and the selection is made by the GCPRC’s Board of Directors to a person or institution that really goes the extra mile to support the local PR Industry. The winners in all categories were fantastic, but since branding is my particular area of interest, it was great both to be a winner last year and to honor the Colony Hotel this year.

Margaret Wilesmith presents Bernays Award to The Colony Hotel’s Ruth Young