Native Direct Sales: Simple As Riding A Bike

Remember when you learned how to ride a bike?

It was likely a bit daunting at first and possibly required several practice attempts, but once it clicked you were able to push the pedals into freedom every time you got on the bike. Guess what? Native direct sales tends to be a very similar learning process. The format is new, but it begins to click as you master it through practice.

The vast majority of publisher sales teams are skilled in selling display and video inventory to agencies and brands. Both of these formats offer different value to buyers. For example, display is often used for conversion-based performance, while video might be appealing from a brand awareness perspective. Native inventory is no different. It is important to understand the value of native formats and how each one would be attractive to different buyers. Additionally, truly understanding all of your inventory options can expand sales opportunities. Learning this foundational information can change both the tone and outcome of your native sales meetings. Let’s get started!

3 Tips for Native Direct Sales

1. Speak the Language of the Buyer
2. Insight: Programmatic teams and brand teams tend to focus on different campaign goals.
3. Tip: Programmatic teams will lean toward solutions that garner high conversion-based metrics such as clicks or click-through-rate as well as inventory at lower prices. Brand teams, on the other hand, will favor audience engagement, premium products and quality inventory at scale. Knowing your audience empowers you to tailor your solutions to the conversation which then leads to stronger outcomes.
4. Connect Inventory Formats to Outcomes
5. Insight: Inventory formats can translate into key objectives for each respective buyer.
6. Tip: The native display experience drives audiences to the brand’s site upon clicking the ad. This generally leads to high conversion-based metrics, such as clicks, and resonates well in programmatic conversations. On the flip-side, native article is a premium, branded content, click-in format where the reader will remain on the publisher’s site upon click, and will be presented with the brand’s sponsored content. This format leads to high audience engagement, and translates into a compelling solution for brand teams.
7. Know the Inventory Options
8. Insight: Inventory estimates are determined by forecasting owned and operated placement availability. Potential deals become lost opportunities when facing inventory constraints.
9. Tip: Nativo’s Content Amplification allows you to look beyond your own availability. Choose this inventory source to access a variety of native placements from our network of premium publishers.
10. For example, your buyer has a large video budget but you are sold-out for the year. Content Amplification provides access to brand safe, premium video inventory making it possible to bring in that deal. Additionally, you can confidently assess inventory availability within Nativo’s platform to inform pre-sales estimates.

Speaking the language of the buyer, connecting inventory formats to outcomes, and knowing your inventory options can exponentially increase the success of your native sales meetings. Just like riding a bike, it might feel nuanced at first but will be smooth sailing once you get the hang of it. For more practice, feel free to reach out to your Nativo Account Manager.