Native advertising is the latest method of driving sponsored content deep undercover on all kinds of websites. For casino affiliates, this cutting edge content marketing strategy offers access to huge, new traffic streams that might otherwise be completely overlooked.
The key to finding native advertising success is selecting content partners who offer complimentary demographics, and lots of traffic.
Here’s a few things every casino affiliate should know about native advertising.
What is Native Advertising?
Like a lot of buzz words, native advertising, doesn’t really have a fixed definition.
The easiest way to think of native advertising is that it’s the next step in the evolution of advertorials. Branded content of this kind has to rise above the average casino review or bonus offer and read more organic, native, content.
One example of native advertising you might have seen, but didn’t ever suspect was an paid advertisement, was the Mashable series on Google Glass. The paid posting ran last year and quickly went viral.
These articles looked exactly like every other Mashable article and steered well clear of the hard sell.
Mashable is hardly the only big web publishers who’s been pushing native advertising as regular content. Other big names like Huffington Post; Forbes.com; and Buzzfeed all run a steady stream of sponsored content that’s draped in native garb and why not? If advertisers are willing to pay, publishers are happy to oblige.
Native Social Advertising
Another Internet channel where native advertising thrives is on social media, especially Twitter. Brief, and to the point, sponsored Tweets are the perfect vehicle for native advertising.
Because sponsored Tweets don’t point somewhere else, they operate on what is known as a, closed platform. Content that’s promoted across multiple venues including, but not limited to, social media, blogs and traditional websites operates on an, open platform.
The Case Against Native Advertising
Not surprisingly, traditional journalists clutch their pearls when they hear about native advertising. New Republic Blogger Andrew Sullivan told the New York Times:
I am aghast at this…Your average reader isn’t interested in that. They don’t realize they are being fed corporate propaganda.
That may be true for New Republic readers, but a would-be online gambler who logs on to Buzzfeed during a break at work, or while waiting for the bus, probably won’t care much one way or the other.
Finding Native Advertising Opportunities
The good news for gambling operators and affiliates is that any web publisher that’s all right with selling native advertising probably won’t have moral qualms about working with gambling sites.
What’s going to be tougher is finding a site whose readership has potential; and whose writers are capable of writing compelling content for your brand.
Native advertising is still a relatively new phenomenon but it’s one that’s likely to stick around for a while because it monetizes content while helping businesses – including igaming businesses – bring their brands to new audiences.
Have you had any experience with native advertising? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.