Native advertising can be a good alternative to Facebook Ads because both share similar strategies thus making it easier to adapt creatives, copy, and offers. You´ll face many challenges with a new traffic source but you can minimize risks by amplifying what´s already working on social and avoiding the common pitfalls on native.
Thinking about running away from Facebook?
You´re not alone.
A recent report from the tech mogul shows an unusual decline in daily active users. For the first time in its 18-year history, Facebook saw a drop of one million daily active users in Q4 2021, compared to the previous quarter.
Users are running from the platform, and advertisers are to follow.
Here, we´d like to present to you the ins and outs of what some consider the best Facebook ads alternative and why it might be time for a change.
Social Media Lost Credibility
Social ads are trusted but not as much as you might think.
Low barriers to entry on social ad platforms have led to a flood of “not so ethical” businesses entering the ad auctions.
Consumers are not stupid and they´re typically very skeptical about social ads.
What it means for your brand or advertiser, is that on social, you have to work extra hard to earn people´s trust.
Research studies show that only 41% of American consumers trust Facebook.
Twitter is at the bottom of the list with 33%. Not surprising, considering the number of spam accounts on the platform.
On the other hand, premium publishers, such as Time, CNN, and Wall Street Journal are 24% more trusted than the most popular social media platforms.
These premium publishers often have exclusive placement deals with leading DSPs and native platforms – Taboola, Outbrain, or Yahoo, to name a few.
With high trust levels, ads on premium publishers drive 18% higher purchase intent. Furthermore, these are 31% easier to understand compared to social ads.
Single Platform Reliance Is Dangerous
It´s more than obvious the impact that privacy changes have had on many brands.
I´ve heard stories of businesses that relied purely on Facebook for business growth, whose revenue streams got cut by 60 and 70%, overnight, without notice.
Hopefully, you were not one of those folks.
The truth is no business should rely on just one traffic source or advertising platform. You must diversify your media mix.
If you would consider sticking to social media advertising, this chart also presents a few other Facebook ads alternatives.
However, keep in mind that social platforms are the least trusted. That being said, let´s explore another alternative outside the scope of social media.
Native: Your Next Best Traffic Source?
The concept of native advertising was first heard in 2011.
But the history books tell us that native ads are as old as the cowboys. In fact, the first-ever ad appeared in 1885.
Modern native advertisements still show up in newspapers. The difference is now everything happens online.
One day, Facebook might not exist.
By that time, major publishers like CNBC will still continue to produce content and give brands an opportunity to reach their audiences.
Publishers love advertisers. That´s how they monetize their content.
Native Advertising Benefits
Exploring a new traffic source can be a bit scary.
Let´s have a look at some of the benefits of native ads so you can have more confidence should you decide to add them to your media mix.
1 – More Trusted
As we´ve seen before, premium publishers are, on average, 25% more trusted than the most popular social media platforms.
Trust is critical, especially online.
Native ads on premium publishers naturally inherit these sites´ social proof and credibility.
2 – Reach Engaged Audiences
People who browse online publishers are typically in what we call “discovery mode.” They want to discover interesting content to read or watch.
So, this makes these audiences a lot more engaged.
In fact, studies show native ads get between 20 to 60% higher engagement rates than display banner ads.
3 – Brand Safe Environment
Not all publishers are created equal. Some have content that could hurt your brand´s perception.
That´s why networks such as Outbrain or Taboola, have pre-bidding safety controls, in partnership with the most advanced ad fraud solutions, such as DoubleVerify or IAS.
These controls allow you to only show your ads on content that aligns with your brand values.
4 – Positive User Experience
We all hate intrusive advertising. Poor ad experiences not only annoy users but can also damage your brand´s perception, long-term.
The poorest of the ad experiences is the famous “pop-up” with a 74% disapproval rate amongst consumers.
Native ads blend in with the publishers´ content, making them not even look like ads. Consumers actually have a hard time distinguishing sponsored content from editorial.
5 – More Scaling Potential
When you advertise on Facebook, you´re pretty much limited to the audiences on the platform.
I often say, “with native ads, you´re limited by your budget.”
Considering the minimum recommended daily ad spend on most native platforms is $100, you can see how it suddenly becomes unattractive for most advertisers.
You can easily spend six figures or more per day on native platforms without worrying about the problematic ad frequency that often kills Facebook ads.
6 – Less Cookie Dependent
Widget technology used by native networks on publishers´ sites is less reliant on cookies.
Top native advertising platforms allow you to use first-party data and server-side tracking. This can help you avoid tracking nightmares, such as iOS updates, and give you more accurate data.
For example, with Outbrain, you can even use Google Analytics data to optimize your campaigns´ bidding strategy.
7 – Almost Immune To Platform Changes
You can buy Facebook ads only on Facebook.
Here´s a short list of top networks where you can buy native ads:
If this feels a bit overwhelming, I´m not even including platforms where you can run native ads programmatically, such as Zemanta, Google Display & Video 360, MediaMath, or TradeDesk.
No wonder why most advertisers stick to Facebook.
Numbers Don´t Lie
This is not an extensive list of benefits. There are certainly more reasons to add native ads to your media mix.
Statistics can also provide you with deeper insights into the value of a specific ad platform. So I´d recommend you take a look at this list of native advertising stats.
A disclaimer: these might convert you.
Best Facebook Ads Alternative: Summary
As you can see by now, there´s no shortage of native ad networks and alternatives to Facebook ads.
I´m not suggesting you drop Facebook ads completely. Even though that´s a choice many brands have already made.
If Facebook is still working for you, you can keep it but also try other traffic sources. Native advertising is one of the best alternatives since it shares similarities with social.
It can be a rough journey though if you´re new to the game. Before you dive into deep waters, beware of the most common native advertising mistakes.
Advertongue partners with leading native platforms to put brands in front of their ideal audience at scale, on sites they trust.
Reach out and let us know about your goals.
