This last week the FTC held an informational workshop in Washington DC concerning the use of native advertising. Advertisers are clearly in defense-mode. The government is trying to investigate whether native advertising somehow leaves customers without accurate information on which to base purchase decisions.
The History of Advertising
Advertising has traditionally been clearly placed by the company and was understood by consumers to reflect a self-serving bias. That is the reason why advertising has been less persuasive to prospects than objective sources of product information.
Since promotional channels have been proliferating, advertisers have needed to learn how to effectively use all the new vehicles. As competition grew, clear, funny, and poignant advertisements have attracted the largest audiences. These days every medium is saturated with contradictory messages and advertisers continue to look for ways to rise above the fray.
Knowing that ads weren’t as convincing as recommendations from authoritative sources (researchers, other consumers), advertisers have always sought to minimize the difference between their messages and content from other sources. That led to the creation in 1915 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as an independent regulatory agency of the U.S. government. The FTC is charged with keeping American business competition free and fair and that includes eliminating monopolies and making sure that consumers had accurate information for decision making. When consumers are misled, the regulations are enforced by the FTC.
Companies have often tried to create ads that didn’t look like advertising or that made unsubstantiated claims. Because regulations require that there be “truth in advertising,” most avoid going over the line but there is a fear that native advertising is skirting the boundary. The limits would be easier to establish if we could define what constitutes “native advertising.”
What is Native Advertising?
In general, native advertising blends in with the overall content of the format. For instance, newsmagazines often include stories that are provided by paid advertisers but formatted to resemble the other stories. They are labeled as paid advertising but the design resembles the other articles in the publication so they have a high probability of being read. Other kinds of native advertising include:
- Informational blog posts that incorporate self-promotion
- Public relations articles in publications and provide useful content to prospects but also promote the expertise of the company
- Content that includes links to the company website and other self-promotional sources
- Ads for related products that appear alongside articles
- Links to company sponsored content from inside another article
- Ads that are paired with search terms on search platforms
- And more
To avoid problems with the FTC, the sponsored content must be attributed to the originator. Commonly used disclosure language includes a label that calls the piece an advertisement or ad, or shows it as “promoted by [brand],” “sponsored by [brand],” “Sponsored Content,” “Presented by [brand],” “Featured Content,” etc.
Regulating Native Advertising
Obviously, the goal of business is to make sales. The goal of consumers is to find the best solution for their needs. The U.S. government has an obligation to balance the desires of businesses with those of the consumers. The question is whether native advertising requires any regulations beyond those that are already on the books. In an effort to head off governmental initiatives, advertisers are establishing their own guidelines.
The truth is that native advertising is not new. Just like ads on little league uniforms and bowling shirts, good native advertising is paired symbiotically with its host. Until it becomes better understood, I predict that there will be a lot of misinformation about native advertising.
As with anything else, there will be abuses when advertisers try to “pull a fast one” but marketers have always understood that promotions need to be placed where the most likely consumers can be found. We just need to be sure that the promotion can be distinguished reasonably quickly from disinterested content. Take this quiz to see how difficult it is to tell the difference without designations.
Place your promotions where they will reach your audience; once you’ve found your consumers, tell them what they want to know in a way that they will find compelling. Obviously, that means that your promotions will need to be placed in a context that is related to your message. If you do that, you will see your market grow.
The post Marketing using Native Advertising appeared first on .