Native Ads vs Sponsored Content vs Display Ads vs Remarketing: What’s the Difference?

Oliver (Olly) is the founder and Managing Director of PWD Digital Agency, which he started in Perth in 2007. With nearly two decades in digital marketing, Oliver and his team specialise in SEO, Google Ads, web design, and conversion-focused digital strategy for Australian businesses.

20th May 2019

Digital advertising terms confuse even experienced marketers. A survey by Copy Blogger found that 49% of businesses do not understand native advertising. Another 24% barely know what it is. Only 3% feel confident using it. This confusion costs businesses chances to reach audiences through less pushy, more effective ad formats.

The problem goes beyond end users struggling to tell ads from content. Marketing professionals regularly mix up native ads, sponsored content, display ads, and remarketing ads. When digital marketing strategies depend on precise execution, using the wrong terms leads to poorly planned campaigns and missed chances.

This guide breaks down each ad format with clear definitions, real examples, and practical tips. You will learn when to use each type and how they fit into your broader marketing plan.

What Are Native Ads?

Native ads match the look, feel, and style of the platform they appear on. Unlike banner ads that clearly look like ads, native ads blend in with the content around them.

The key trait of native advertising is how it fits the context. A native ad on a news website looks like a news article. On social media, it looks like a regular post. On shopping sites, it looks like a product listing.

Laws require native ads to include labels like “Sponsored,” “Promoted,” or “Advertisement.” However, these labels are often small and easy to miss.

Types of Native Advertising Formats

Recommended Content Widgets: These show up after articles with titles like “You Might Also Like” or “Recommended Reading.” Platforms like Taboola and Outbrain focus on this format. They drive traffic to sponsored articles or outside websites.

In-Feed Units: These are sponsored posts that appear right in content feeds. They match the style of the surrounding content. This is the most common form of native advertising on publisher websites.

Promoted Listings: Shopping platforms use these to highlight sponsored products in search results or category pages. Amazon’s native ads are a well-known example.

Custom Native Ads: These adapt to different publisher sites while keeping consistent branding. Google’s DoubleClick offers this format. It lets advertisers run campaigns across multiple platforms with automatic style changes.

Social Media Native Ads: Promoted posts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter count as native advertising. They match the platform’s regular post format.

Understanding Sponsored Content

Sponsored content is a specific type of native ad. It takes the form of articles, videos, or other editorial content. An advertiser pays to have this content published on another site.

This format sits at the crossroads of content marketing and native advertising. While all sponsored content is native advertising, not all native advertising is sponsored content.

Good sponsored content gives real value to readers while gently promoting a brand or product. The best examples teach, entertain, or inform — rather than hard-sell.

Example of sponsored content article with clear disclosure label

Key Differences Between Native Ads and Sponsored Content

Marketers often mix up these two formats. Here is how they differ:

Scope: Native advertising is the broader category. Sponsored content is one type within it
Format: Native ads can be images, videos, or interactive pieces. Sponsored content is mainly editorial
Strategy: Native ads often serve PPC campaigns. Sponsored content aligns with content marketing goals
Placement: Native ads appear in many locations. Sponsored content sits in editorial feeds

According to Contently’s research, these formats form a hierarchy. Branded content (all content marketing) contains sponsored content (paid third-party placement). Sponsored content then sits within native advertising (format-matching ads).

Display Advertising Explained

Display ads are the traditional banner ads you see across websites. These include rectangle banners, leaderboards, skyscrapers, and other standard ad formats. They clearly look like ads.

Display advertising mainly works through programmatic buying. Advertisers bid on ad placements in real time. Google’s Display Network is the largest display ad platform. It shows ads across millions of websites.

Key traits of display ads:

Standard sizes and formats (320×50, 728×90, 300×250, etc.)
Clear visual separation from website content
Focus on visual impact and brand awareness
Cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) pricing
Easy to create and launch at scale

Display ads face challenges with banner blindness and ad blockers. However, they still work well for brand awareness campaigns and broad reach goals. Writing strong ad copy greatly boosts display ad performance.

Various display ad formats including banner ads, rectangle ads, and skyscraper ads

Remarketing Ads: Targeting Previous Visitors

Remarketing ads target users who already visited your website or interacted with your brand. These ads use cookies and tracking pixels to find past visitors. They then serve relevant ads as those users browse other websites.

Remarketing usually uses display ad formats, but the targeting makes it different. Instead of reaching new audiences, remarketing focuses on re-engaging warm prospects who already showed interest.

Types of Remarketing Campaigns

Standard Remarketing: Shows ads to past website visitors as they browse other sites in the display network.

Dynamic Remarketing: Shows the specific products or services that users viewed on your website. This works especially well for online shops.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA): Adjusts search ad bids and messaging for users who visited your site before.

Video Remarketing: Targets users who watched your YouTube videos or visited your channel.

Customer List Remarketing: Uploads email lists to target existing customers with specific messaging.

Remarketing ads usually get higher conversion rates than cold traffic campaigns. That is because they target users who already know your brand. Building smart remarketing lists boosts campaign results significantly.

Performance Comparison: Which Format Works Best?

Each ad format serves different goals and performs differently across key metrics:

Native Advertising Performance

Click-through rates: 0.16% (versus 0.05% for display)
Brand lift: Up to 82% increase
Purchase intent: 18% higher than display ads
User engagement: 97% higher than banner ads

Native ads are great for building brand awareness and driving engagement without causing ad fatigue. However, they need more creative work and longer production times.

Display Advertising Performance

Average CTR: 0.05-0.10%
Cost efficiency: Lowest cost per impression
Reach: Highest potential audience size
Setup time: Fastest to launch

Display ads still work well for broad brand awareness campaigns. They also suit budget-conscious advertisers who need quick setup.

Remarketing Performance

Conversion rates: 2-3 times higher than cold traffic
Cost per conversion: 50-75% lower
Return on ad spend: 10 times higher than prospecting
Click-through rates: 0.7% average

Remarketing gives the highest ROI for direct response campaigns. It should be a top priority for any advertiser with enough website traffic.

Choosing the Right Format for Your Goals

The best ad format depends on your campaign goals, budget, and audience:

Brand Awareness Campaigns

Primary choice: Native advertising or sponsored content

Secondary choice: Display advertising for budget-friendly campaigns

Native formats build brand awareness without annoying users. This leads to better brand perception and recall rates.

Lead Generation

Primary choice: Remarketing ads

Secondary choice: Native advertising for cold audiences

Remarketing targets warm prospects who are most likely to convert. Meanwhile, native ads can capture cold traffic without feeling too salesy.

E-commerce Sales

Primary choice: Dynamic remarketing

Secondary choice: Native product listings

Dynamic remarketing shows the exact products users viewed. Native product listings blend naturally with editorial content on relevant publisher sites.

Decision tree flowchart for selecting the best advertising format based on campaign goals

Content Marketing Support

Primary choice: Sponsored content

Secondary choice: Native content widgets

Sponsored content spreads your content marketing to new audiences. Content widgets drive traffic to your own content.

Best Practices for Implementation

Good execution needs attention to format-specific details and user experience:

Native Advertising Best Practices

Match the publisher’s voice: Study the host site’s writing style, tone, and content format
Give real value: Focus on teaching or entertaining rather than direct selling
Use clear disclosure: Include required labels without hurting the native experience
Test different formats: Try articles, videos, and interactive content
Think mobile first: Make sure native ads work well across all devices

Display Advertising Optimisation

Test multiple creative versions: Run A/B tests on headlines, images, and calls-to-action
Use quality visuals: Invest in professional design and eye-catching images
Set frequency caps: Limit how often users see the same ad
Target by context: Place ads on relevant websites and content pages
Aim for viewability: Choose ad spots with high viewability rates

Remarketing Campaign Tips

Segment audiences: Create different campaigns for different visitor actions
Adjust messaging: Tailor ad copy based on what users viewed or did on your site
Set good frequency caps: Avoid overwhelming past visitors with too many ads
Use sequential messaging: Tell a story across multiple ad views
Exclude converters: Remove users who already completed the desired action

Knowing these differences helps you make better digital marketing strategy choices. As a result, you see stronger campaign results across all formats.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced marketers make errors with different ad formats. Here are the most costly mistakes:

Native Advertising Pitfalls

Too promotional: Making ads too salesy defeats the purpose of native integration
Poor platform matching: Not adapting content style to each publisher’s audience
Weak disclosure: Hiding or shrinking required advertising labels
Clickbait tactics: Using misleading headlines that let users down
One-size-fits-all approach: Using the same content across different platforms

Display and Remarketing Mistakes

Ignoring banner blindness: Creating ads that look too obviously promotional
Poor targeting: Showing the wrong ads to the wrong audiences
Ad fatigue: Running the same creative for too long without refreshing
Weak tracking: Not properly measuring view-through conversions
Broad remarketing lists: Including all website visitors regardless of behaviour quality

Avoiding these mistakes takes ongoing performance monitoring and readiness to adjust campaigns based on data.

Future of Digital Advertising Formats

Digital advertising keeps changing as user behaviour shifts and new tech appears. Several trends shape the future of these ad formats:

Increasing Privacy Regulations

GDPR, CCPA, and similar rules limit tracking options. This affects remarketing campaigns the most. Advertisers need to adapt by:

Building first-party data strategies
Focusing on contextual targeting
Investing in customer relationship platforms
Developing privacy-friendly tracking methods

Native Advertising Growth

As users become more ad-aware, native advertising grows in importance. Expect growth in:

Video native advertising
Interactive native experiences
Voice-activated native content
Augmented reality native ads

Artificial Intelligence Integration

AI improves all ad formats through:

Automated content creation for native ads
Predictive audience targeting
Real-time creative fine-tuning
Advanced attribution modelling

Staying ahead of these trends takes constant learning and testing. Following new digital marketing trends helps advertisers adjust their strategies well.

Success in digital advertising means knowing each format’s strengths and best uses. Native advertising and sponsored content build brand awareness without annoying users. Display advertising gives broad reach at lower costs. Remarketing delivers the highest conversion rates by targeting warm prospects.

The key is matching ad formats to campaign goals while keeping creative quality and user experience high. As digital advertising gets more advanced, advertisers who grasp these differences will create stronger campaigns and get better results.

Ready to build an ad strategy that uses the right format for each goal? Contact our team to discuss how these different approaches can work together in your marketing campaigns.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the main difference between native ads and sponsored content?

Native advertising is the broader category. It includes any ad designed to match its surrounding content. Sponsored content is specifically editorial content (articles, videos) that advertisers pay to publish on third-party sites. All sponsored content is native advertising, but native ads can also be product listings, social posts, or other formats.

Which advertising format has the highest conversion rates?

Remarketing ads usually get the highest conversion rates. They are often 2-3 times higher than cold traffic campaigns. This is because they target users who already showed interest in your brand or products.

Are native ads more expensive than display ads?

Native ads often cost more upfront because of creative needs and premium placements. However, they usually deliver better engagement and lower cost-per-conversion. Display ads are cheaper to make and launch but may show weaker performance metrics.

How do I know if my native advertising is working?

Track engagement metrics like time on page, click-through rates, and social shares alongside conversion metrics. Native ads should show higher engagement rates than display ads and lower cost-per-engagement. Brand lift studies can measure the awareness impact.

Can I use remarketing with native advertising formats?

Yes. You can combine remarketing targeting with native ad formats. Many platforms let you show native-style ads to your remarketing audiences. This gives you the targeting precision of remarketing with the user experience benefits of native advertising.

What disclosure requirements apply to native advertising?

Native ads must clearly show that they are advertisements. Use labels like ‘Sponsored,’ ‘Promoted,’ ‘Advertisement,’ or ‘Paid Content.’ The label should be clear enough that users can easily spot the content as advertising before they engage with it.