Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst

If you’re trying to break through the marketing clutter online without annoying your customer (and who isn’t), native advertising is the best way to be seen without standing out. Counterintuitive, right? Let me explain.

Flashy and obnoxious banner ads over the years have made website users blind to the visual noise (a phenomenon called Banner Blindness). The shift in consumer reaction to banner ads resulted in the creation of ad blockers. Most recently, (February 15, 2018 to be exact!), Google Chrome enabled a built-in ad blocker on Chrome, the most widely used web browser, and the first to be implemented by a browser.

“Native advertising celebrates the market; the personality and spirit of the destination. Visitors are trying to figure out where to go on their trip. DTN highlights the personality of the destination by delivering native advertising that blends cohesively with DMO website content.” ~ Kurtis Durfey DTN Customer Success Specialist 

The result: ads with no audience. Or worse, ads that are blocked.

There is a solution!  Native advertising can regain the spotlight, increase impressions and clicks, and earn customers.

So just what is native advertising?

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) says native advertising is paid ads that are so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels that they belong.

A Destination Marketing Organization website (you might know it as your convention and visitors bureau or tourism bureau website) lends itself to native advertising perfectly. These websites are in the business of promoting tourism and travel to your destination. As a local business who provides the flavor of a visitor’s experience in your market, your services are exactly what the visitor is searching for.

“We’re about delivering content the visitor is interested in seeing,” said Tyler Bailey, DTN Operations Manager. “If what the user finds on the website is relevant to what they’re looking for, they don’t care if what they click on is an ad; they got the information they wanted.”

It’s no surprise that native advertising outperforms traditional online display ads. Destination Travel Network believes the three key reasons why are:

  1. The content appears to fit in with the website.
  2. Users typically place a higher degree of trust in editorial content over display ads.
  3. Users gravitate towards emotional content that aligns with their interests.

Visitors to DMO websites don’t want to see fast food chains on the restaurant page. They’re looking for engaging experiences that are unique to their destination. Native advertising helps to align your business with the emotional needs of visitors during their trip-planning experience.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE NATIVE CONTENT

  • Use photographs that include real people actively (and happily) engaging with your product
  • Write (brief) copy that is friendly and conversational·    
  • Refrain from turning off your reader with a hard sell

Visitors to DMO websites are all looking for essentially the same thing—unique experiences. When it’s done right, native advertising delivers just that.

“Native advertising celebrates the market; the personality and spirit of the destination,” said Kurtis Durfey, Customer Success Specialist. “Visitors are trying to figure out where to go on their trip. DTN highlights the personality of the destination by delivering native advertising that blends cohesively with DMO website content.”

If you’d like to learn how your DMO’s website is using native advertising to promote your destination, contact your DMO directly. If you are already a DTN advertiser and would like to discuss your advertising options, click here to learn how to become an advertiser.