The first annual study of UK agency and industry attitudes to native advertising has revealed that the market is set for major growth over the next two years – despite continued confusion over definitions and budget allocation issues.
The study, conducted by FaR Partners on behalf of ad platform Adyoulike, covered all major agencies across the UK, revealing that 83 per cent of agencies now include native advertising as part of their digital offering, with the remaining 17 per cent claiming they plan to do so in the near future.
Although the researchers found that. in most cases, native advertising has no dedicated budget, UK agencies currently estimate it will account for an average of 9.2 per cent of their total digital display spend in 2014. That figure is estimated to grow to 14.7 per cent by 2015.
The authors cite the continued ineffectiveness of display advertising as the main driver for the growth. Of the agencies surveyed, awareness, brand engagement and consumer education were deemed the main attractions to native advertising.
However, while most UK industry professionals see the potential of native advertising for reaching increasingly sophisticated consumers in premium publisher environments, the study also highlights some of the existing challenges agencies face when looking to run native advertising campaigns.
Key areas of concern cited include how to effectively scale native advertising, sourcing relevant content, the client sign-off process for content and effective measurability. In addition, six out of ten agencies (63 per cent) were unsure the sector was effectively regulated and only a quarter were convinced that effective regulation currently exists.
The study also revealed that 77 per cent of agencies are now confident about explaining native advertising to clients, despite continuing concerns over definitions.
For a copy of the research click here.
