When devising your content marketing strategy, there are a lot of facets to think about. Native content is something you might even overlook as it’s not always an immediate concern. This can be highly valuable in driving traffic though, so if you’re not using it within your content strategy today to build your affiliate brand you should consider it now.
What is Native Content?
Essentially this is a paid form of text based advertising placed within another website’s content to look like the paid content really belongs there. It’s about engaging a wider audience with your content that is delivered in a place that is also relevant to them. This could be through link building or more visual outreach, anything that takes place on an external site. It can also be called native advertising, as it’s a form of marketing that appeals to the native readers of another site.
What are the Benefits?
There are many benefits to trying a variety of advertising verticals to see what works best for your brand. Native content can work well because it lends itself to a wider range of complimentary sectors from sports to casino, depending on how you go about implementing it and – where.
You have to be cognisant of what makes a good placement for native content – especially now that there are stricter guidelines with regards to advertising for iGaming brands and what would constitute as a waste of money. This will depend on your brand, for example a football news site would be a good partner for a sports betting affiliate, but not so much for a bingo affiliate.
Depending on how you find the content partner, you may pay a lot of money for the placement or nothing, if you can offer them a mutually beneficial arrangement. There are exchanges, directories and all sorts of other places to look for sites that will offer you a placement. Choose the one that you think will work best for your brand. Try to look for natural links, where you could place content that is relevant to both topics.
Overall, native content can bring an audience that will interact with your site, bringing up the quality metrics of the site. Bringing in the right traffic will lead to conversions, interest and an improved brand awareness for your site.
Getting Started with Native Content
So, how do you go about getting native content placements for your site? There are many ways in which you can connect with these partners, with some being more costly than others. Bear in mind that Google will be able to pick up on spammy or directory links easily, as these cards are already marked. Free for all sites generally won’t do all that much for your site either, as they’re often no follow and already saturated.
Never use native content to attempt to mislead your user, as this will end up having a negative effect. Be open and honest with your article placements, especially if you’re advertising for a gambling based site. If you’re not honest and doing your due diligence to ensure that your visitor is over the age of 18 then this could lead to a fine.
Being engaging is also important, use quizzes, listicles and more to get your brand in there in an effective way. For casino affiliates, this could be an article on the biggest casino wins or a quiz asking users what they’d buy with a jackpot. By creating content that’s engaging, you’ll create a better impression with your user and they’ll be more likely to convert with you.
The rules of the site that you use may mean that you have to mark the post as sponsored content. This ties in with the honesty aspect, as many site owners don’t want to feel like they’re deceiving their users. Social media networks and search engines have been laying down new guidelines about marking sponsored content, in order to create transparency for the user.
Think about the page or pages that you want to link within the content too, as the most obvious choice might not be the best one. Beginner’s guides and strategy pages can act as great landing pages for newcomers, as you introduce them into the site. If you’re targeting more seasoned casino or sports betting players, then you may wish to switch up your landing page as a result.
Native content can be a cost effective way to push your brand to a new user base. Just make sure you pick your content partner correctly and be aware of the advertising guidelines to create the right content fit for your brand and the users that you want to see on your site.
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