Native Advertising and Your Financial Institution

By Mark Arnold

Remember the good old days of the internet, in the mid-to-late 1990s? The “Wild West” days when the internet was a vast frontier, ripe for exploring, colonizing and settling?

All nostalgia aside, you may also remember two less-than-favorites from that era; the pop-up and banner ad craze. Like the Wild West, the internet was eventually changed.

The latest trend in this evolution is a relatively new concept: native advertising. A recent article gives a terrific run-down of what native advertising is and what native advertising isn’t, along with this doozy of a technical definition:

“Native advertising refers to a specific mode of monetization that aims to augment user experience by providing value through relevant content delivered in-stream.”

Give your mind a minute to rest after trying to digest that (I know my head throbbed for a while after reading it). Now, try the following, simpler definition and consider how it might apply to your credit union’s or bank’s online advertising, especially on your website.

Native advertising is a way to place your relevant and valuable message more seamlessly in places members are more likely to read it.

How can you accomplish this on your website? Here are three ideas.

continue reading »