Advertorial

An advertorial is also called a “sponsored post” or “adverticle“. This is editorial marketing. The term “advertorial” is made up of two terms:

1. Advertisement
2. Editorial

You can find this form of advertising measure not only in the digital area, sponsored posts are also popular in print media. The principle is the same in both areas: An advertorial is a promotional article in the guise of an editorial text. At first glance, they are difficult for the reader to recognize as such.

What are the different forms of advertorials?

Advertorials can be used in print as well as in online marketing. You can choose the most effective channel for your target group. Sponsored posts are used in consumer marketing (B2C) as well as in business customer marketing (B2B). Success with adverticles in the online sector is easier to measure than in the print sector. Here, the user has the opportunity to interact, as he can directly click on external links that are of interest to him. You can monitor this and see how well your advertorial is performing.

How do you write good advertorials?

Essential for your sponsored post is the content you write. The user hopes for content input from your article. Therefore, you should formulate the core statement in the first sentences of the article. This will motivate the visitor to continue reading. In the following you can go into more detail. Orientate yourself on an editorial structure of the advertorial and clarify the W-questions: Who, What, How, When and Where. Your text length should be around 1,800 characters. Readers always appreciate quotes for the product or service. This makes the advertorial authentic. Quotes can come from the CEO or inventor, for example. In addition to trustworthy and meaningful content, the presentation of the article is also important. According to the motto “The eye always eats with you” you should include graphic elements and a suitable selection of images. This helps visitors to your site to internalize what they have read and can help you to improve your conversion rate.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertorials?

Many users are overwhelmed by the now very large world of advertising in the offline and online sectors. Especially in the online area, many people are bothered by the flashing pop-ups and advertising layovers. So what speaks for and against an advertorial?

What should you keep in mind when it comes to advertorials?

Your advertorial must be clearly marked as advertising. German press law requires a separation of editorial content and advertisements. This is to avoid so-called surreptitious advertising. You can use references such as “Advertisement”, “Advertising” or “Sponsored Link” for this purpose. How an advertorial must be marked is not clearly prescribed. A clear marking, such as a watermark in the product or article image, is a reference that is recognizable and displayed on every device. You should also make sure that your adverticle is compliant with Google Webmaster Guidelines. If your post is not set to “nofollow“, you violate the guidelines.

Native content advertising and advertorials – what’s the difference?

The terms native advertising and advertorials are used almost synonymously these days. Native content advertising, unlike sponsored links, is more scalable and can be published across multiple channels such as websites and social media simultaneously. The Googlebot will also not penalize this as duplicate content. Due to the wide reach, campaign goals can be achieved quickly. Native content advertising is used exclusively online. An advertorial, on the other hand, is published once in print or online. The focus of an advertorial is to generate added value for the target group. Reliable studies have shown that labeling the article as an “advertisement” does not deter users from taking a closer look.