11 things to consider when producing great content for a Native Advertising Piece

When writing editorial, commercial texts it’s relevant to ask the question “why would anyone read this from top to bottom?”. The answer to is quite easy. It’s called storytelling. Here is a checklist for putting together a great story. Ask yourself: 'Does the piece have'…

1. An Immediate Interest?

Do you have an amazing story still wandering around at the office? An event the staff still talks about, even though it’s been 5 years? Use it. Why? If people remember it, then it is worth spreading to an even bigger audience (if it’s positive for the brand, of course).

2. Unexpected Events?

In journalism, the old rule ‘man-bites-dog’ is the key reason to publish a story. Look for this type of events or people within the brand’s sphere of interest and build the tale around that event.

3. Time Hooks?

Look at what hot topics are on the agenda at the platform, and in society at large. Use them to speak your vision when connecting your stories to the big world events, even if they are World Championships or a financial crisis.

4. Shareability?

Look at the story. Would your target group share it with their friends? If not, tweak it and make it more socially shareable. You’ll benefit from it since you’ll have many more eye balls caught along the way.

5. A Clear Message?

Sorry. But in native ad-texts, it’s not really your brand’s time to shine. Rather, you build your brand by talking well about others. The others can be clients, collaboration partners, external experts or professionals within your field. This will make the text great to read – and the business behind it will definitely benefit from a less conspicuous approach towards readers and potential customers.

6. A Clicky Image?

A picture is worth a thousand words. With that said: put half the effort in finding the right images to draw attention to your well-crafted piece.

7. A Contextual Look and Feel?

This is the most important key to actually succeed in native advertising: blend in! Talk the talk, walk the walk of the platform. It’ll bring your numbers up. Guaranteed. The target group is there because they enjoy the environment. So, translate your brand into a new shape and form.

8. Great Links?

Where do the readers go after reading this amazing story you just served? Back track everything and analyze the numbers thoroughly to find out more about the audience and what they do when visiting your site.

9. An Amazing Editor?

He or she is the specialist in producing, editing and optimizing the material for your best results. Please give them that freedom. They will deliver fantastic results in return.

10. Potential – Even the Second Time?

Look, we are all human. Therefore, it’s hard to predict what will happen when publishing a piece and how many clicks it will register. But we do know that we have to try new things to know more about what is top of mind for our readers every day. Let’s do that!

11. Something Extraordinary?

Use all tools needed. Add all the features needed to get through to the audience. For example filters, infographics, TV shows, podcasts, live chats and slideshows – if that’s what your brand demands from the audience.