BEHIND HOW NATIVE ADS WORK

8 Essential Tips to Improve Your Ad Creatives

“THE VERY ACT OF RECALLING INFORMATION REINFORCES… LEARNING.
HELPING PEOPLE CREATE CONNECTIONS — BETWEEN THE BIG PICTURE
AND THE DETAILS — IS A KEY TO LASTING LEARNING.”
THE MARITZ INSTITUTE
WE’RE IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION. WE READ IN FEEDS.

The rapid rise of mobile device usage has made the We’re reading more than ever. Between smartphones,
desktop computer the printing press of yesteryear. One tablets, e-readers, laptops, desktops and watches, we’ve
out of every five people on the planet owns a smartphone. got more than enough news, entertainment and gossip for
In America, that number is closer to two out of three, our eyeballs to handle at any given time. With so much
according to 2014 research from the Pew Internet Project. information, we needed a way to organize it, and the
feed was created. While most people are accustomed
With all these connected devices, comes a shifting to a social media newsfeed, few realize that the mobile
culture; one that is always on. We’re constantly checking Internet is made of feeds. From the front page of your
notifications, browsing the web, shopping online, favorite news site to the page that delivers your Google
emailing, texting, gaming, and streaming media. With all search results all the way your email inbox, feeds are
this online activity, there’s one thing we do, all day long everywhere.
that you’re actually doing right now — read.

TECH ADVANCEMENTS IN READING

Books
(chapters)
Manuscripts
Clay Tablets (pages)
(a few words) Mobile Feeds
In 2009, 100,000 words
consumed per day

4000 B.C. 900 A.D. 1440 A.D. TODAY

THE FEED IS ABOUT DISCOVERY.

When we scroll through feeds, we’re in a highly attentive mode, on

the lookout for the most interesting nugget of information to catch our
attention. We’re thumbing through status updates, articles, videos, and
Snapchats while waiting for coffee, before going to bed and when we’re
curious about what’s going on in the world. We keep coming back in part
because we never know what we’re going to see, but know it’ll be good. Native Ads Reading a Native Ad
result in headline yields

THE NATIVE AD VALUE.

The value of native advertising is that it’s in the feed. It’s in the flow of
2X MORE
visual focus than
308X MORE
time of consumer
the content you’re already sifting through, and it fits right in. It could be banners and are read attention than
a promoted article about power couples or 33 Game of Thrones GIFs. in the same way as processing an image
editorial headlines. or banner.
Native ads are able to tap into the attention people have while flipping
through feeds, where they’re in a focused mode of discovery.

THE VALUE OF THE IMPRESSION

9%
Native ads registered a 9%
higher lift in brand affinity
As an advertiser, you’re buying impressions — the single biggest
over banner ads
advertising commodity. Native ads have the ability to bring value back to

&
a word that has lost its meaning. Advertising impressions are supposed to
make an impact for your brand. With this book, you’ll start to understand
the subconscious affects your native ad impressions can deliver and how
to optimize the ad creatives to leave a mark — a real impression — on

18%
your target audience. an 18% higher lift for
purchase intent over
banner ads.
 SET THE STAGE FOR THE HEADLINE
It takes almost no time at all for humans to process images. In a mere 13 milliseconds, images
fill us with context and emotion (12). In fact, the thumbnail is processed 15 times faster than it
takes us to read the first word of the headline (4). In theater, the first thing an audience sees is
the stage set: the physical objects that suggest the world the play takes place in. Think of the
thumbnail as just that: the staging.
TIP #1: USE FAMILIAR IMAGES
Unlock the memory to strengthen
brand associations.
Including familiar brand assets, like the
celebrity in your current TV commercial,
can trigger memories and strengthen the
ties you want to create between your brand
and its benefits. The brain acts like an
unzipped file, replaying the highlights of
the entire ad.

MEMORY RECALL:
During recall, the brain “replays” a
pattern of neural activity that was
originally generated in response to a
particular event, echoing the brain’s
perception of the real event.
Using a celebrity from a concurrent ad campaign is a common way
advertisers unlock the memory.
TIP #2: USE FACES
Put your best face forward. NEURAL NETWORKS:
The brain is essentially an internal
As humans, we’re wired to respond to faces — there’s even a special map of the external world, concepts
part of the brain for it: the fusiform face area. Facial expressions are from which are stored in trillions of
emotionally contagious. That means we’re more likely to form an neural connections. Scientists recently
emotional reaction when the model in an ad makes the reader feel discovered that, on average, the human
something, leaving a strong impression. For your next native ad, try brain has 86 billion neurons. Anything
using a thumbnail that has a clearly visible and expressive face. Paired we do, think or recall activates these
with a product, you’ll tap into more neural networks and build a strong neural networks, and activating them
association between the emotion and your product (9). strengthens the connections for next
time. Concepts that activate one another
are called associations and form an
associative network.

FUSIFORM FACE AREA:

A part of the human visual system that
is specialized in facial recognition.
Scientists have found that the number
WEAK MEDIUM STRONG of visual brain cells active in the FFA
diminishes with every turn of the head.
Evoke an emotional response by activating the part of brain that An upside-down face for example, is
specializes in facial recognition. processed in the brain as an object.
TIP #3: MIRROR THE ACTION
Monkey see, monkey do.
Our brain is wired to imitate everything we see through
something called “mirror neurons.” Mirror neurons are
considered to be the mind’s mirror — they fire both
when an action is taken and when it is simply observed.
Translation? Your brain can’t distinguish between what
you’re observing and what’s actually happening to you. LOW HIGH

MIRROR NEURONS:
Neurons, the cells in the brain that transmit nerve
impulses, fire both when an action is taken and when
an action is observed. Mirror neurons, which seem to
be more active in women, enable us to empathize with
others. Considered to be the mind’s mirror, they can
be activated through both images and text and are
believed to have evolved as means of learning about
the world (8). Choose an image that
mimics the behavior you’re
looking for.
 Flavor
Cold Summer

Tasty Instant

Video Childhood

Satisfying Hungry

Delicious

THE HEADLINE IS THE NEW TAGLINE.

A good native ad headline tells a story and paints a picture. The headline is the window into the
value of the content you’re promoting. The best native ads create and strengthen associations
— literal connections between the neurons in your brain. You want to maximize associations
between your brand and your message. Porting standard ad taglines into the format of a native
ad simply won’t do if you want to engage your readers. These five tips will help you activate more
pathways in the brain, increase engagement, and deliver a more meaningful impression.
TIP #1: MIRROR THE THUMBNAIL
Connect words and imagery for greater impact.
A 2013 study (10) on “truthiness” proved that the old adage “I’ll believe
it when I see it” holds, well, true. Subjects in the study were more likely
to believe a statement to be true when the image matched the claim. For
example, the assertion “the Mona Lisa has no eyebrows” was paired with
an untouched photo of the painting. It didn’t matter that the Mona Lisa
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actually had eyebrows. It was the relative truth of reading a claim with
a picture that, at first glance, backed up the assertion. The split-second *Not a real ad.
judgment of the information stuck: when participants were shown the
same statement with no image 48 hours later, people returned with the
same judgments.

By clustering keywords that describe or align with the thumbnail, you’ll

deliver a more powerful, memorable and “truthful” impression. Try Optimize
aligning the first five words of the headline to mirror the image. the first 5
words of the
headline to
mirror the
image.

TRUTHINESS:
UNDER THE HOOD OF JAWBONE’S UP3 FITNESS
The quality of seeming or being felt to TRACKER: SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY UNCOVERED.
be true, even if not necessarily true. *Not a real ad.
TIP #2: WRITE LONG
Longer headlines increase engagement.
Native ad copywriting requires a significantly different approach than
writing for banners or billboards. Don’t just port a tagline into a headline
— the headline is the new tagline. An optimal native ad headline is more
than 20 words, according to Sharethrough platform data. That can feel
ridiculously long, but it works. An analysis of more than 4,000 native ads
NEW PROGRAM HELPS THE HOMELESS GET
run Sharethrough’s platform revealed a direct correlation between the SHOES.
number of words and engagement rate: the more words, the more clicks, *Not a real ad.
shares and interactions.

ENGAGEMENT RATE: Platform data from

The number of trackable interactions Sharethrough shows that a
made on a native ad (clicks, shares, 27-word headline like the
etc.) divided by the total number of one to the right can feel
impressions. long, but delivers a higher
engagement rate.

A NEW PAIR OF SHOES ONCE CHANGED HIS

LIFE. NOW, RIKKI MENDIAS IS HELPING THE
HOMELESS WITH NEW SHOES OF THEIR OWN.
SEE THE GOOD HE’S DOING.
*Not a real ad.
TIP #3: USE CONTEXT WORDS
Not all words are created equal.
It turns out your word choice can engage readers in a way that makes
a message more attractive and more memorable. In fact, certain words
are able to increase a person’s interest in the message on a subconscious *Not a real ad.

level (6). We’re calling these words Context Words.

Context Words were uncovered by Sharethrough when studying the

relationship between words and the response in the brain (13). Context
Words indicate time, insight, motion and space. Time words refer to
a point in time — examples are: after, fast, long, prior, etc. Insight
words provide more detail — words like secrets, discover, relate, think.
Motion and space words place help us understand where something is
happening — examples are: appear, replace, arrive, enter.
*Not a real ad.

Why are they so effective? Context Words activate more brain activity,
painting a more appealing picture inside the brain and increasing the
value of the impression. Time Motion Insight
words words words

Using Context Words in a native ad headline

can deliver a strong impression.
TIP #4: USE METAPHORS
Activate more brain activity by writing less literally.
Thought you were done with English Lit? Think again. Metaphors are *Not a real ad.

one of the oldest literary devices in The Book — literally. They date back
to the Bible and Shakespeare’s famous line, “All the world’s a stage.”
Metaphors compare one thing — in this case, the world — to another —
a stage — in a non-literal way. But metaphors are more than just a literary
device. Scientists at Princeton and the Free University of Berlin have
demonstrated that metaphorical sentences are more emotionally engaging
and persuasive than the same sentences written literally (3).
*Not a real ad.

Metaphor

EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT:
Emotional engagement is a motivational Use metaphors to increase emotional
state measurement of how drawn or engagement.
attracted we are to the stimulus.
TIP #5: USE BRAND SYNONYMS
Don’t forget the brand thesaurus.
Every native ad should echo your brand sentiment, but using a brand
term verbatim isn’t the best approach. Sharethrough’s neuroscience
research shows that readers can associate a brand value with a particular
word even if that word is substituted with a synonym. Brand synonyms
allow for more flexibility and increase the number of versions you can
create, which ultimately makes your creative optimization smarter. The
synonyms allow each ad impression to subtly trigger a memory and
occupy more real estate in the mind.

Create more associations between a brand

and brand value to increase likelihood of
message recall.
 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The core components of your native ads — the headline and thumbnail
image — should be aligned to accomplish the same goal. These creative
components combine to create a singular experience. The tips in this book
should help you deliver the most impactful brand impression possible.

And remember: there’s no one right answer. Testing is key and it’s worth
experimenting with all of the elements in each of your ads. Keep in mind
all of the scientific principles outlined in this book as you go and you are
sure to command value and mind share with all of your impressions!
Neuroscience Glossary

ASSOCIATIONS
The connection between thoughts and emotions in the mind.

EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT
A motivational state measurement of how drawn or attracted we are to the stimulus.

FUSIFORM FACE AREA

A part of the human visual system that is specialized in facial recognition. Scientists have found that the number of visual
brain cells active in the FFA diminishes with every turn of the head. An upside-down face for example, is processed in
the brain as an object.

MEMORY RECALL
During recall, the brain “replays” a pattern of neural activity that was originally generated in response to a particular
event, echoing the brain’s’ perception of the real event.

MIRROR NEURONS
Neurons, the cells in the brain that transmit nerve impulses, fire both when an action is taken and when an action is
observed. Mirror neurons, which seem to be more active in women, enable us to empathize with others. Considered to
be the mind’s mirror, they can be activated through both images and text and are believed to have evolved as means of
learning about the world (8).

NEURAL NETWORKS
The brain is essentially an internal map of the external world, concepts from which are stored in trillions of neural
connections. Scientists recently discovered that, on average, the human brain has 86 billion neurons. Anything we do,
think or recall activates these neural networks, and activating them strengthens the connections for next time. Concepts
that activate one another are called associations and form an associative network.
References

(1) Berger, J. (2013). Contagious why things catch on. Kennett Square, Pa.: (9) Hill, D. (2010). About face: the secrets of emotionally effective
Soundview Executive Book Summaries. advertising. Kogan Page Publishers.

(2) Berger, J., & Milkman, K. L. (2012). What makes online content viral?. (10) The Human Brain. (2014). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from
Journal of marketing research, 49(2), 192-205. http://learn.fi.edu/learn/brain/index.html

(3) Citron, F. M., & Goldberg, A. E. (2014). Metaphorical sentences (11) Jabr, F. (2013). The reading brain in the digital age: The science of
are more emotionally engaging than their literal counterparts. Journal of paper versus screens. Scientific American, 11.
cognitive neuroscience.
(12) Potter, M. C., Wyble, B., Hagmann, C. E., & McCourt, E. S. (2014).
(4) Dehaene, S. (2010). Reading in the brain: The new science of how we Detecting meaning in RSVP at 13 ms per picture. Attention, Perception,
read. New York: Penguin Books. & Psychophysics,76(2), 270-279.

(5) Fenn, E., Newman, E. J., Pezdek, K., & Garry, M. (2013). The effect (13) Ray, R. (2015). Assessing Visual Focus, Message Processing & The
of nonprobative photographs on truthiness persists over time. Ability To Strengthen Associations Through Mobile Native Advertising.
Acta psychologica,144(1), 207-211. Nielsen, Sharethrough. http://sharethrough.com/neuroscience/

(6) Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. (14) Seed Magazine. (2015, April 11). Mirror Neurons Also Respond to
New York: Little, Brown. Language and Sound Retrieved June 11, 2015, from http://seedmagazine.
com/content/article/mirror_neurons_also_respond_to_language_and_
(7) Grensing-Pophal, L. (2014). Consumers Coming to Accept Native sound/
Advertising Done Right.
(15) (2010). Turning Emotion into Engagement: Utilizing the power of
(8) Hendel-Giller, R., Hollenbach, C., Marshall, D., Oughton, K., Pickthorn, emotion to connect customers to your brand. Circles a Sodexo company.
T., Schilling, M., & Versiglia, G. (2010). The neuroscience of learning: A
new paradigm for corporate education. The Martiz Institute White Paper,
1-19.
GET IN TOUCH

Sharethrough is a leading native advertising software A content marketing studio specializing in visual
company with a platform for the real-time buying, selling campaigns, infographics, data visualization, motion
and management of native in-feed advertising. graphics, interactives and digital PR.

@sharethrough @columnfive

sales@sharethrough.com info@columnfivemedia.com

WORDS DESIGN

DAN UCKO JOSH RITCHIE

ducko@sharethrough.com jritchie@columnfivemedia.com

MELINDA STAROS TRAVIS KEITH

mstaros@sharethrough.com tkeith@columnfivemedia.com