The Advertorial Definition, Redefined for Content Marketing

Content marketing goes by many names. There’s custom publishing, branded editorial, customer media and a host of others (Joe Pulizzi actually provides a nice list of the most common monikers in his book, Get Content Get Customers).

For the most part, each of these terms is more or less synonymous with what is commonly referred to these days as content marketing. But one word that I still hear bandied about from time to time, however, is advertorial. The fact is, while examples of advertorial are certainly present within a strong content marketing strategy, I don’t consider them to be 100% the same.

Is that really even a word? Advertorial defined

Well first off, yes, it is a real word (Webster added it back in the early 60s). That alone should tell you that the concept of advertorial is nothing new, but with the rise of the Internet, the advertorial definition should probably be tweaked a bit.

The idea years ago was to simply merge product advertisements with editorial content (quite literally, judging by the name). The concept made sense, given that reader engagement in quality editorial is so much higher than with typical ads. The execution, however, was a little tricky. In the pre-Internet days (and even after), organizations would aim to create articles aimed at their potential customers with the goal of whetting their appetites for their products, while still keeping the focus of the content away from the products themselves.

Confused? Let me explain further. Say you work for an IT company that sells backup and recovery software for desktop computers. In this case, an advertorial example might involve a feature article on the dangers and challenges of not backing up your critical data. The article could be written like a news feature, with quotes and testimonials from people who have fallen victim to the perils of lost data. While the article may not mention the actual product by name, it would include a link at the bottom directing readers to more information on desktop data protection, pointing to the company website.

Admittedly that’s a rudimentary example, but still, pretty sneaky right? Of course, the sticking point back in the old days was that in order to get anyone to actually read advertorial content, vendors were beholden to editorial publications that would charge them the usual advertising fees. In turn, the top of an advertorial page was typically marked as a “Paid Advertisement” to help tip off unsuspecting readers. Of course, things have become more sophisticated in the Internet era, and many high-quality white papers can in some ways be considered modern forms of advertorial in that they are “sponsored” by the same vendor that wrote them.

Advertorials are always paid… right?

The key is that these are all paid advertisements, and while advertorial definitions vary, many sources such as BlueCorn.com stress specifically that advertorial content is in fact always paid. Of course, that’s all changing now with the advent of content marketing, and while publishing companies still hold a great deal of clout, organizations are no longer 100% at the media’s mercy to get their messages out there.

New examples of free advertorial are popping up every day, and more are sure to follow. (My favorite example is from Advertorial.org, an advertorial outsourcing company that actually uses advertorial practices to promote its product – which happens to be advertorial!). But while the paid disclaimer disappears, vendors are now required to become more responsible in the way they position their advertorial content.

How? Well one way is to hire folks with editorial backgrounds to make sure the content being produced is done so professionally and in a way that doesn’t deceive the reader. The other is to ensure that advertorial is only one component of an overall content marketing strategy. Combining advertorial with other content formats (free tips and tricks to help your audience, case studies, etc.) and social media interaction will help your company build credibility and become more visible.

As always, content marketing at its core is about building a relationship with your customers. While advertorial content is editorial on the surface, it’s still an ad at heart. Those who apply advertorial as just one facet of its overall content strategy will find the best success sidestepping the big media giants and creating a readership following of their own.