Native Ad gets 16,018 Facebook shares!
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Hi there,
I have discovered this incredible native ad campaign by ancestry.com which has received 16,018 Facebook shares and now I want to share it with you.
I found it using a great feature in Native Ad Buzz that calculates, over time, the social impact a campaign creates. This makes it possible to identify and analyse those campaigns which have sent content viral. You can then reverse engineer them and literally design to go viral yourself. To savvy marketers this means free advertising and plenty of it.
NOTE: If you are too eager to read this whole article, but want to know how to send your content viral with Native Ads, download the 60 Second Native Ad Checklist now.
Yes I want to send my content viral
-or-
no thank-you, I can’t handle all that attention.
Overview – ancestry.com
A quick background googling of ancestry.com uncovers that it was recently sold for $1.6 billion and has around 2 million paid subscribers. Someone is clearly doing something right. 
Analysis of the Native Ad Buzz data shows that they have successfully leveraged native ads for at least 3 months. You can see that this particular ad has received 16,018 Facebook shares and has been promoted three times in the last month (shown by the 3 spikes on the top graph) The lower graph shows combined social impact. You can see that the first spike in the top graph (arrow 1) is followed by a surge in social impact in the bottom graph (arrows 2). This is consistent with the ad being promoted by native advertising for 1 day, followed by a massive amount of free promotion as the ad went viral. The Native Ad Buzz algorithm accounts for factors including multiple ads per landing page, multiple landing pages per ad, page history and even fraudulent activity to provide an accurate social impact score. When we take a look at the content and uncover the magic formula behind this success you’ll notice it is textbook native ad best practice. You can recreate this result yourself by signing up to NativeAdBuzz now.
Yes I want to send my content viral
-or-
no thank-you, I can’t handle all that attention.
The Ad
The ad image shows the mid section of a knight holding a sword and shield. As the knight has been top and tailed it is difficult to identify the image on first glance and it draws the eyes back for a second detailed look to make sense of it. The efficacy of this particular image is enhanced by the popularity of films such as Lord Of The Rings and tv shows such as Game of Thrones, as well as countless books and video games. The ad headline “The Story Behind Your Surname Might Surprise You” is fantastic. Who isn’t curious about themselves, and their heritage? Psychologically we are all wired to search for meaning and our identities are created by looking to the past. Click bait like this is useless however unless it keeps its promises…
The Content
What makes this article so sharable?
Headline
The article headline “There Are 7 Types Of English Surnames – Which One Is Yours” although different to the ad headline is consistent with the theme and makes a clear description of the article content. It personalises the message and is highly engaging.
Image
The image in the article is the same as the ad image which maintains consistency and reduces viewer friction when moving from publisher to advertiser content.
Structure
The sheer volume of social shares clearly seen in the floating widget on the left demonstrates a huge amount of social proof and enhances credibility. This widget also makes it very easy to share the article. Looking at the structure of the page it is clean and simple. The content area is white and the border a plain cream pastel colour which makes it very easy to read. Paragraphs are only a few lines long and the article itself is a very manageable 2 pages long. Immediately you can see 3 CTA’s (after first paragraph, bottom of the article and bottom of the page) to sign up for the 14 day free trial. It is clear that this is the main purpose of the page and the clarity makes it easy to follow. After the second paragraph there is a search field for entering a surname. This is used to entice viewers as it is free to use, however to uncover a more detailed analysis the viewer is required to sign up for the service. At the very bottom of the page there is a taboola widget showing more native ads from ancestry.com leading to other similar articles that could interest the viewer. All of these follow a similar format with the same purpose. I think it is safe to assume that this format has been extensively tested and proven by ancestry.com.
Copy
The article copy is well written, simple to understand and clear. It fulfils the promise of the title and focusses on being news worthy and informative. By providing general information about the roots of English surnames the article enhances the value of the offer, which is a 14 day free trial of the genealogy service. Us human beings have always been inquisitive about our origins and bloodlines, which makes this an immensely sharable, evergreen opportunity that is personally relevant for a wide audience.
What would I test?
Native Ad Buzz reveals that ancestry.com are testing many different ad images, headlines and articles, though the structure remains consistent. Noting this, there are still a couple of things I would be inclined to test. The article has two different CTAs (signing up for the trial, and the surname search). Multiple CTAs in some cases may confuse viewers and ultimately reduce conversion. I would therefore be inclined to test the use of both CTAs against each one independently. Currently the surname search is used as an enticement, after which they are required to sign up for the product trial to access more detailed information. I would experiment with using this initial surname search as a lead magnet to capture interested viewers details immediately.
In conclusion
ancestry.com has clearly undertaken extensive testing and are achieving good results with this campaign. This is an amazing example for demonstrating the power of native advertising to send content viral.
Key take homes:
- Engaging image and ad headline.
- Ad image and headline consistent with article.
- Valuable, personally engaging article delivers on headline promise.
- Clear page purpose.
- Easy to share, and very shareable content.
- Evergreen market.
- Simple page structure and easy to read.
- Clear social proof and credibility.
- High quality content.
What to test:
- CTA (single vs combination).
- Surname search used for lead capture.
If you noticed the value here, and want to go viral with the power of native advertising, simply sign up to NativeAdBuzz now.
Yes I want to send my content viral
-or-
no thank-you, I can’t handle all that attention.
