Native advertising is the latest trend in advertising, an industry as nimble and adaptable as any other on the planet. Native advertising are ads that look, sound and feel like the unsponsored content that surrounds it, particularly on social media outlets such as Twitter and its video company Vine.
As a recent write up in the New York Times describes, startup Niche is one of the industry leaders of this new brand of advertising. Niche partners with social media celebrities and creates content in their own personal style to promote products and brands to their formidable community of followers. Niche reaches out to social media personalities such as Robby Ayala, who has gained 2.6 followers on Vine due to the strength of his comedic videos, to promote products. Ayala recently created a video, in his own personal style, of himself comedically using the messaging application GroupMe. The gig paid enough money to convince Ayala to quit law school and pursue this new business full time.
Another such personality is Jethro Ames, a printmaker from San Diego. He began making stop motion videos for Vine which caught the attention of Niche. After producing a few videos for them, his revenues quickly outpaced what he was making from his printmaking business. Ames believes that his success is owed to the fact that a growing number of people simply do not watch broadcast advertising anymore.
“They watch online or even through the Twittersphere,” Ames said, “It’s powerful.”
Not only our their personalities making out on the deal, so is Niche. According to Niche’s founder, Rob Fishman, the company has generated more than $1.5 million in revenue since its launch last June. By the end of the year it expects to bring more than $4 million.
Learn more about Niche and native advertising at the New York Times.