We've heard about "native advertising" taking the mindshare in the ad world this year. Native advertising, by definition, is a unique ad unit that "matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears." And thus lies the challenge. How do you measure success with this new format? Some have looked at clicks, others have looked at purchases, while still others look at engagement. Yet there is no one-size-fits-all metric. If that's the case, how do we measure?

The ability of big data to help improve targeting, cost efficiency, and relevancy -- to name just a few elements -- has been growing particularly fast in display advertising and video. Yet if ever a digital advertising approach were created specifically to benefit from big data, native advertising would be it. Relevance, context, targetability: all can make native ads that much more "native." However, native ads presents some unique challenges., since they are non-standard in implementation and have typically not had large data sets from which to draw.

Behind every great native ad placement is a meaningful content strategy. The process of developing a great content strategy is often overcomplicated, but actually quite simple. First consider what you would like people to think, feel and ultimately do. Work through these intentions until you are able to state them succinctly. Don't worry about what the content will cost, who will produce it, where it will live, or what form it will take until you can state a simple "think, feel, do" content manifesto. This will be used as a north star in creating critical content briefs, deciding what platforms …