Post date: 23-06-2023

With the threat of the coronavirus pandemic receding, the outlook for tourism in Greece looks particularly positive. Already, according to sources in the industry, in many popular destinations the number of reservations amounts to almost 100% occupancy for tourist accommodations throughout the summer season. After all, a successful holiday season is direly needed for hospitality entrepreneurs to recover from all the recent turmoil and return to their desired profitability. However, to achieve high levels of occupancy, particularly in destinations that are not traditionally at the top of the public's preferences, a systematic effort is required towards advertising the services on offer. This effort typically commands a high price and a high level of familiarity with the specifics of the relevant media.

It is quite common for entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry to advertise their services based on practices they have seen from other businesses in the industry, or on what they take for granted based on their experience as both service providers and consumers. However, the cost-benefit ratio of each advertising practice varies greatly from one business to another, and this fact is not always easy to discern, especially if the performance of the advertising strategy is not systematically monitored, based on predetermined metrics.

A practice in the field of service marketing that has traditionally had a high yield in terms of performance is native advertising. Aided by the rise of social media as a preeminent way of using the internet, native ads seem to have been gaining ground against traditional ads. Native ads are defined as ads that are designed to closely simulate the appearance, form and functionality of standard content in the media in which they appear.

To give an example, a common expectation of magazine readers is that they will read some news or opinion articles there. In such a magazine, a native ad would not appear in a traditional form, like a banner occupying part of the page. Actually, it would assume the form of an article which would resemble other articles of that publication in terms of structure, and presentation. However, the goal of the article’s content would be to promote the business paying for it. 

In a similar vein, a promotional message reaching the consumer from a popular online content creator is treated differently than a standard advertisement. In the case of a travel blogger, for example, a native ad wouldn’t interrupt his channel's content flow like traditional commercials. In fact, the ad would essentially be an inherent part of the show: possibly a presentation of the positive experience this person had when they visited the advertised business.

The effectiveness of native ads in such cases relates to the fact that what viewers receive is nothing more than what they expected from the content creator’s channel anyway: the creator’s informative talk, the commentary provided, the jokes and so forth and so on. However, the messages that the advertised business wants to convey are harmoniously integrated in that very experience.

Why are native ads important?

Advertisements are often met with distrust, or even discomfort. For example, when a program on television, or on the radio, or on an online channel, is interrupted for advertising messages, it is understandable that there will be dissatisfaction from some viewers, especially when the product being advertised is not relevant to that program. Also, the medium used for advertising may not be to the consumer's liking. Consequently, the messages the advertiser is trying to convey are not accepted, or in some cases the advertisement even has the opposite effect of the desired one.

Researchers have even talked about the phenomenon of banner blindness: consumers have become so used to avoiding advertising banners that they no longer even notice their existence, just like after some time in a crowded place people stop paying attention to the chatter and focus on what their interlocutor says.

A common trait of traditional ads is that they try to draw the consumers’ attention away from what they were doing, to present them with a different message. In contrast to this, native ads deliberately try not to disrupt the consumers’ experience from the medium they are using. In this way, an advertiser may bypass the "defences" of their consumer, and transmit a message in a less intrusive way.

How does a hospitality business do native ads?

Businesses in the hospitality industry have a wide range of media where they can run native ads at their disposal. Depending on their needs, the advertised party can end up with a mix of promotional initiatives of varying complexity. In any case, it will include one or more of the following categories:

• Own Social Media Profiles: A post on the company's own social media profile, especially when it follows the form of a standard post for the respective medium (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) and not that of a "sponsored" advertisement, is probably the "easiest" and most common way to promote native advertising content. The advertiser here has almost complete control over the presentation and the content they will publish. The benefits of this practice also include the ability to schedule posts and track performance statistics. But what will distinguish a good native ad and capture the reader's interest is how well it matches the vibe of the medium, of the audience, and of current events at the time of publication. A comment on a topical news item, or an attractive photo of the place where the business is located, can turn out to be much more attractive than a simple update about the service offering.
   
• Online content creators: An even more effective way can be to advertise through a third party that produces content on the internet, be it an influencer, a blogger, a reviewer or whatnot. It goes without saying that such a creator's audience is far more likely to trust their opinion of a business than that of the business itself. A consultant for a hospitality business could direct their client to a possible collaboration with hospitality-specific content creators, like travel bloggers or hospitality business critics. The presentation of a business in such a creator’s channel will probably adhere to their own characteristics in terms of style and structure, rather than those of the advertised business, but in practice this makes the ad even more believable and attractive.
   
• Traditional media (television, radio, press): A perhaps more classic type of native advertising is participating in television shows, or being referenced in informative articles in specialized publications, such as travel magazines. A review of the business by a travel guide, or participation in a travel show may end up being much more expensive as promotional options. However, they are also highly effective in bypassing the consumer's "defences" discussed before: what they see at the time appears to be the opinion and lived experience of the presenter, or the columnist, and not an attempt by the advertiser to promote their own business.

Regardless of the medium, the success of native ads rests on the ability of the advertiser to “breach” their prospective customers’ defences against traditional ads. The more a native ad aligns to the customers’ expectations regarding their desired content, the more likely it is to attract their attention and motivate them to visit the advertised business.

How can I do native ads?

First of all, in a traditional advertisement it is enough to present some general information about the advertised product, possibly through a simple promotional text. Native ads should include content that interests the user, even if it is not directly related to the advertised product or service. If the consumer is not convinced by the content he sees, and immediately considers it to be a camouflaged advertisement or, in general, something that does not concern him, then the defence mechanisms mentioned in traditional advertising are immediately activated: the consumer will ignore the content in question and the advertiser's effort will be wasted. Or, even worse, the consumer may perceive that content as an attempt to deceive them, which will immediately have a negative impact on the consumer's image of the business.

Therefore, advertising material should be designed by a professional with comprehensive knowledge of both the hospitality industry, the characteristics of the medium where the advertisement is displayed, and the expectations of that medium's audience. An important parameter is also understanding the regulatory framework that governs native ads in each medium, so that they are not treated as malicious or misleading.

Also, running such a campaign is only one piece of the puzzle we call promotion strategy. The planning of a long-term strategy and the selection of the appropriate mix of promotional actions are, among other things, necessary conditions for the selection of native ads to yield the maximum for the advertiser.

Nevertheless, the potential benefits of this approach should not be overlooked. At Strategy Lens we have many years of experience supporting hosting businesses, and native ads are central to the arsenal of advertising methods we use in promotional campaigns for our clients. The services we offer are not limited to the implementation of a campaign, but follow a comprehensive approach that begins with the evaluation and strengthening of the corporate brand and the positioning of the advertiser in the market, and includes the overall planning of the promotional strategy and the systematic monitoring of individual actions.

If this article piqued your interest and you would like to know more, or if you would simply like to discuss any matter related to the promotion of products or services, you can always send us a request for a proposal from the contact section.

____________________

About the author: Nick Kanellis is a Market Development Consultant at Strategy Lens. He supports the process of launching new products and services, liaising with clients at every step from the initial design, up to market entry and promotion. You can reach out to Nick at nkanellis@strategylens.com or by phone at +30 2614 409 251.