The Success of Native Advertising Hinges on Earning Readers’ Trust

Brands need to get better at converting paid media into a loyal audience

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There’s been much talk of late about the effectiveness of sponsored content, and a pair of new studies published in the past few weeks have let some air out of that balloon. Both show that readers tend to take a skeptical view of branded content, especially the kind that appears on publisher sites (full disclosure: One of the studies was conducted by Contently, which signs my paycheck). 

Illustration: James Walton

Most media watchers have pointed out that the results of these surveys are bad news for an industry that’s increasingly counting on sponsored content to replace lost traditional ad revenue—and supposedly bad news for companies that have built their businesses on helping brands create editorial content.

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