Comparing SEA and Native Ads: Which should I choose?

You want to attract new customers. Which online advertising channels are suitable for you depends heavily on the respective objectives.

Today, we're comparing search engine advertising (SEA) and native ads.

Regardless of which industry they work in — marketing managers usually have similar goals and challenges. They want to:

• Increase the awareness of a product or service among your target group.
• Generate interest among potential customers.
• Encourage customers to take active action (click, register, buy)
• Retain customers to the brand over the long term.

There are many ways to attract customers. In the digital age, however, there is no way around online advertising. But which form of advertising is best? There is no general answer to this question, but depends heavily on the respective objectives. We've already looked at the differences between social advertising and native advertising. Today, we're comparing search engine advertising (SEA) and native ads.

Search Engine Advertising (SEA)

SEA is particularly suitable if you want to address a target group that already has an intention to buy. Conversely, this also means that the user must already be interested in a specific subject area and a certain level of product awareness is required. Therefore, only a limited number of users can be successfully addressed.

• Benefits of SEA: High conversion rate possible because there is already an intent to buy.
• SEA challenges: Only users with an existing purchase intent can be addressed and this number is limited.

Native advertising

Native advertising can include many different forms of advertising: image/text ads, advertorials, sponsored content, and more. What all formats have in common, however, is that they are adapted to the style requirements of the website and therefore look like a “separate” or native contribution to the respective website. Nevertheless, labelling as advertising is of course mandatory. More information is available in the new IAB Native Playbook 2.0 to find.

The advantage of native ads is that advertising is generally perceived more positively in familiar environments because it is less intrusive. At the same time, native ads are played out in a thematic environment, where the user's interest in the advertised content can be assumed. The reader clicks on the native ad to view the promoted content out of personal interest. User interaction and active user participation are therefore particularly high, which is why native ads can be expected to have an improved overall advertising effect.

Take a look at some examples of native ads here

• Benefits of native advertising: High scalability and improved advertising impact.
• Challenges of native advertising: The composition of advertising media strongly influences the performance of the campaign.

What do I need to consider with a native campaign?

• Reach and scalability: On which channels do I have to launch the campaign so that I can reach a high level of reach within Switzerland and reach my target group precisely?
• Brand safety: The environment in which advertising is displayed is relevant. In order to guarantee brand safety, it is therefore crucial that a premium environment is chosen.
• Targeting options: The best advertising is useless if it doesn't reach users who are actually interested in the advertised product/service. Appropriate targeting options (e.g. by region and part of country) must therefore be considered.
• optimization: Which KPIs can be optimized with a native campaign? Can this channel help you maximize specific KPIs?

Which should I choose?

Each form of advertising has its advantages and disadvantages. However, native ads are an increasingly popular way to generate attention, increase traffic, and acquire new customers.

With Yaleo's free ad manager, it's never been easier to run a native ad campaign. The native ad is recorded independently and then delivered to the desired target group within Audienzz's Yaleo network on 170 premium websites and apps throughout Switzerland.

The benefits:

• The native ad dynamically adapts to the environment of the website on which it appears.
• You define the price you want to pay per click on the ad yourself. This means that the campaigns that run via the Native Ad Manager remain easy to calculate and the advertising budget can be used cost-effectively.
• Thanks to access to Audienzz's Adconsole, campaign performance can be monitored in real time and adjusted as needed.

Sounds interesting? Try out the ad manager now and start your first campaign right away.