How to create a Native campaign from scratch in just 5 steps with ExoClick

According to Outbrain, Native advertising is expected to reach $98.59 billion by the end of 2023. This is a widely popular format because it is non intrusive, flexible, and brings lots of creative possibilities for advertisers to convert their offers. Native ads do not look like ads, but instead they mimic the website content they are surrounded with, catching the end user’s attention with their snappy titles and compelling visuals, persuading them to click. This is why it is important to properly follow the ExoClick platform’s cropping and sizing guidelines when uploading your creatives during the campaign setup process: So that your ad seamlessly fits in with the content on all websites it displays on, maximizing your campaign’s results. Keep reading to find out what is Native advertising, how to create a Native ad campaign from scratch on the ExoClick native advertising platform, from your Admin Panel, and lastly the top benefits of this ad format!

What is Native advertising and how to create a Native ad campaign

As mentioned above, Native ads look and act like the content on a website – For instance, if a publisher has a video website that features video thumbnails that have a specific sizing, they can set up their Native ad zones so that advertiser creatives have to match this exact size. Native ads contain an image (max 300×300), a title (max 50 characters), a description (max 90 characters) and also a brand name (max 30 characters). Native ads are fully responsive to show seamlessly on all devices (mobile, desktop and tablet).

There are different widget zones to display Native ads such as the basic 1×1 widget, and the 1×4 widget – Here’s a high converting Native advertising example for Dating and VOD on a 1×2 widget:

As you can see, the Native ads on this widget look very similar to the other content on the website – The only difference is the ‘Ad’ tag as well as the advertiser’s branding below them.

If you want more information about Native, the Native advertising flow, the best traffic sources and verticals, and to obtain more creative tips to make the most of this ad format, read our blog about how to successfully create a Native ad campaign here!

Now, let’s get into how to create a Native campaign from scratch, step by step:

How to create a Native campaign on the ExoClick native advertising platform in 5 simple steps

Step 1 – General: To start creating your campaign, from the main screen on your ExoClick Admin Panel, click on ‘Campaigns’, and then ‘Campaigns List’. Select ‘New Campaign’ to start the 5 step process. Make sure to always follow our advertiser guidelines to make sure that your campaign gets approved in a timely manner. During this step you will need to add general campaign details such as the campaign name’s, group, and category, as well as selecting the ad format that you wish to use (which in this case it will be Native, of course!), as well as the zone type.

Step 2 – Ads: This page manages the URLs you will be promoting through your campaign as well as texts and creatives. You will also be creating landing page variations, you will be able to add dynamic tokens to the titles and descriptions of your ads, with items such as {country}, {region}, or {city} – To explain how the dynamic tokens work, if you choose the token {city}, the city from where the end user is viewing your ad will be detected and shown on your ad’s texts. E.g, ‘Offers in {city}’ will turn into ‘Offers in Barcelona’. You will also be promoted to go ahead and add assets to your variations, selecting distribution algorithms, and more.

Remember: When uploading your assets, the maximum image dimensions are 300×300 and the max weight is 150KB. Text: title 50 characters, description 90 characters, brand 30 characters max.

Creative crop settings: When you are uploading your creative assets, you will be asked to select a specific section of your image to crop it to fit ad zone dimensions. As you can see in the image below, the darkened selection area corresponds to the area that will be shown in the final version of your ad on an ad zone that has been set with specific sizings by the publisher. You can move the arrows up, down, left, right in order to make your preferred selection.

Note that your image will ONLY be cropped in ad zones which a publisher has set up to fit the specific sizings of the creatives on their website. Your ad will still display its original size on all other zones with regular Native sizings, so don’t worry: You can still show your ad in all its splendor!

We understand that you probably prefer for your creatives to show full-size everywhere (At the end of the day, you have most likely spent some time creating them!). But this step is important because the more your ad looks like the content on the website it is placed on, the higher will the CTRs and Conversion Rates be, and this includes the size of the creatives too, even if they are smaller than your original images – So make sure to choose the best and most striking section of your creative to make them show their best on all websites, whether they have custom sizings, or not!

Step 3 – Targeting: During this step you will be choosing your targeting option, following criteria such as locations, devices, operating systems, languages, browsers and mobile carriers. You will also be able to select the exact time you want your campaign to run, as well as the time zone, and play around with other settings such as retargeting options, keywords, IP ranges, and Virtual Reality.

Step 4 – Pricing & Limits: In the Pricing & Limits tab you set the Pricing Model. You can also set up your preferred frequency capping, and set up limits on spending or impressions to control the spending and traffic intake of the campaign. The pricings available for Native advertising are CPM, Smart CPM, CPC, and ExoClick’s brand new pricing model Smart Bid.

Step 5 – Zones: Lastly, you can set which websites and zones you wish to target and which ones you want to exclude. By default, all websites and zones are targeted, but you can use the filters to set up whitelists or blacklists of zones and websites. You can filter by traffic type (For instance, RON, Premium, Members Areal), and include partner networks. You can choose to block and enable zones and websites in bulk automatically or manually.

Test out ExoClick’s Responsive Display Ads

Also, by using Native on the ExoClick native advertising platform to you can choose to target Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) zones. A Responsive Display Ad (RDA) is a Banner ad that automatically adapts its size, format and appearance to fit any standard IAB Banner display ad placement. RDAs are used by Advertisers and Publishers on Google Ads and now they are available on ExoClick’s platform. RDAs are created automatically from an Advertiser’s uploaded assets: images and texts (title, description and brand). ExoClick’s system then combines and adjusts them so that the final Banner creatives fit all of the following Publisher Banner display ad zone specifications (160×600, 300×100, 300×250, 300×500, 728×90, 900×250). Read more about the RDA format and its benefits here.

For more information about these steps on how to create a Native ad campaign any other information about the ExoClick platform and advertising tools, check out our Documentation.

Top 7 benefits of Native advertising: Why use Native advertising with ExoClick

Wondering with use Native advertising with ExoClick? Here are the key 7 benefits of Native advertising:

#1 Huge volumes and reach: Native advertising can help you reach massive volumes of audiences, across all GEOs. Because the ads look like editorial content on a website, you have many creative ways to appeal to a website end user with valuable information to entice them to click.

#2 Inexpensive bid prices: Wondering how much does native advertising cost? Prices for Native CPM bids tend to be very cost effective because bid prices are less expensive than some other formats. Which makes this format perfect for test campaigns to gather lots of data before launching full campaigns. Additionally use Native in conjunction with other ad formats to support your campaigns with retargeting your offer to end users.

#3 Highly creative: You can play with many different creative tools within your Native ad campaign, for example experiment with the text for messaging or click bait style texts and images. This extends to the landing pages, testing out different editorial styles of content to get conversions. Also, you can use emojis to help you get an emotional response from the end user!

#4 No more Banner blindness means higher engagement: Native ads will not be ignored because they are designed to match the look and feel of the surrounding content, seamlessly blending in with the user journey within the website, which reduces ad resistance and improves user engagement. This also means they are more likely to be viewed as valuable content, clicked on, and shared by users, leading to increased interaction.

#5 Great user experience means more clicks and higher revenues! Because of the point above, and especially by including relevant and valuable content that aligns with the platform’s context, Native ads are less disruptive and more appealing to users. They offer a non-intrusive advertising experience, leading to higher levels of user satisfaction, which also leads to more clicks and conversions, which is great news for your revenues!

#6 Increased brand awareness: Native advertising can effectively raise brand awareness by reaching users in a more organic way. By integrating with the content, Native ads have the potential to capture user attention and create a positive brand association. Because the Native ad can display your Brand within the creative, the end user knows it is an ad, therefore you get only qualified clicks. Use the ad format’s creativity to drive those clicks.

#7 Targeted and personalized: Why is ExoClick one of the best native ad platforms? By advertising Native with ExoClick you can access various targeting and optimization tools, such as dynamic tokens and keyword insertion to fine tune your messaging to the end user. This means that you can make your campaigns highly targeted and also tailored to match the interests, preferences, and behaviors of the target audience, helping your brand resonate with users, increasing the likelihood of a positive response.

Do you want any more information how to create a Native ad campaign from the ExoClick native advertising platform, ExoClick’s advertiser tools such as Conversion Tracking to track and optimize your campaigns to maximize your revenues? Get in touch with your account manager or send a message to the Customer Success team! Also, make sure to check out how to turn your Native campaigns into winning campaigns with Smart Bid check out this Smart Bid Case Study, where one of our advertiser clients achieved a target ROAS of +120%!