Nail down your target audience
Those that are aware of their potential audience are most likely to achieve great results with native content. It’s important to consider your audience’s demographic factors. If you aren’t sure where to start, creating audience personas can help guide your content creation strategy. When it comes to native advertising, personas can help you determine the type of content your audience will most likely engage with while eliminating a lot of the guesswork.
For instance, you can figure out what types of online publications your personas read the most and what topics they will most likely engage with. Do they prefer long-form blog posts or would they rather watch a quick video? Is your audience local or worldwide? Personas can help you determine these factors. Native advertising is all about reaching your ideal audience. Personas can help you pave the way for content ideas that would otherwise be difficult to pinpoint.
Address the specific needs of your audience
Whether your goal is to drive awareness or sales, it’s key to keep in mind the specific needs of your audience. Many brands are quick to focus on the bottom of the funnel, otherwise known as the purchase stage of the buyer’s journey. However, It’s important to lead consumers down the funnel before presenting content in this stage. Rather than immediately pitching your product in your native content, think about how you can educate, inspire and entertain your audience. Are they already aware of your brand or product? Do their specific needs or interests match what you’re offering? How can you teach your audience something new?
Instead of writing your native content as a sales pitch, focus on creating content that can add real value.
Create native content that inspires users to take action
Whether it’s getting users to subscribe to your newsletter or sign up for your services, your CTA is the key to getting users to take action. Effective CTAs are personalized to your specific audience and provide a unique value proposition. Your call-to-action should clearly lay out the benefits that users will have for following through with the action.
It’s important to keep in mind that your CTA should always match the content that it appears on. You wouldn’t want to create a bottom of the funnel CTA such as “Sign Up Today” on a top-of-the-funnel blog post. For instance, if your content is educational and meant to build awareness, you wouldn’t want to push a promotional CTA that drives users away. Instead, think about how you can inspire your audience to engage with your content.
