Native advertising has many supporters and possibly just as many detractors. The key to producing native advertising content that delivers a good experience for both the consumer of the content and for the sponsor rests in it being context-conscious content.
There are five essential elements to producing context-conscious content in native advertising. The 5th element is where publishers and advertisers often run into problems.
The First 4 Elements
Before jumping to the 5th element, and to provide the proper context (no pun intended), here’s a quick rundown on the first four elements of well-produced context-conscious content in native advertising.
- Topic – Choose a topic that is relevant to the audience, the publisher, and the advertiser.
- Voice and Tone – Write the content as if it were editorial content from the publisher. Allow it to stand out for its quality.
- Format – Examine the topic using all the formats – text, video, illustration, slideshow, etc. –users of the publication expect.
- Navigation – Take the user experience into account. How will they find and navigate the content? Include all navigation options of the publisher in the design of the content.
The 5th Element
The 5th element of native advertising is disclosure; informing audiences that the content they are enjoying is not editorial content from the publisher, but content paid for by an advertiser – unapologetically. Currently, there are no laws or regulations governing native advertising disclosure. Most would say that we even lack disclosure best practices or industry standards.
Different publishers handle disclosure in their own way, as these four major publishers demonstrate.
- Facebook places the word “Sponsored” under the tile of paid newsfeed stories.
- Google puts the word “Ad” in a gold box and places it underneath the link of a PPC ad appearing above or below organic (unpaid) search results, and at the top of the list of PPC ads to the right of organic results.
- Buzzfeed uses the words “Promoted By” (with a gold background) on its story archive (table of contents) pages to show that a story is sponsored. On the story itself, the sponsor is identified as the “Brand Publisher.”
- The homepage of the New York Times has a section of stories under the heading, “From Our Advertisers.” Click through to the story and at the top of the page you will see the words, “Paid for and posted by (advertiser’s name).” And, just above the story, on the left, the TBrandStudio logo appears.
Each of these high profile publishers clearly state when content is sponsored, but not all publishers are so ethical. Some publishers still use clickbait tactics – dubious link headlines that attract clicks – to attract users to stories that earn the publisher money, while not necessarily living up to the promise of the link.
Unethical publishers, combined with the lack of recognized disclosure standards, can make it difficult for users to determine whether or not the content they are enjoying is an ad or an editorial story from the publisher. That leaves web visitors feeling duped, or even victimized, when they experience content that comes across as editorial content from the publisher, but which is actually sponsored.
Responsible Publishers and Advertisers Win
My thoughts on this topic are influenced (inspired) by Melanie Deziel, Director of Creative Strategy at Time, Inc. Melanie is well qualified to offer guidance on this topic. Melanie’s award-winning piece, Women Inmates: Why The Male Model Doesn’t Work, is an example of content sponsored by Netflix, yet produced in documentary fashion, earning praise from journalists including the late David Carr, whose tweet says: “All brand-sponsored journalism does not suck. Witness this peach by @mdeziel on women in prison. From Netflix, natch.” As Melanie explained in a recent podcast recording, people have no problem with well-produced sponsored content as long as the relationship between the publisher and the sponsor is clearly disclosed.
Native advertising is sure to continue to be a hot topic for the foreseeable future. What is your opinion of the role of disclosure in native advertising?