Advertorial vs. Editorial: What is the Difference?
Reading Time: ~4 Mins | Written By: Sydney Vardja
A large goal of most marketing and PR campaigns is to reach a target audience. Something called KPI’s (key performance indicators) help us confirm if a campaign did so.
But there are different ways to reach your audience. We’ve previously talked about pitching, press releases, and newsjacking.
Today we will focus on advertorials and editorials! They might sound similar, but there are stark differences in these two communication tactics.
Put simply, an advertorial is a paid spot in an online or print publication. The term originates from the word “advertisement,” which is always a helpful reminder. Ads are never free!
An editorial, on the other hand, is unpaid and vetted by the publication’s editorial team to determine if the content is valuable to readers. If an article is mutually beneficial to a brand and the publication, it’s a win-win.
Let’s do a deep dive to further differentiate advertorials and editorials.
Advertorials
Advertorial content is largely controlled by the brand paying for the media buy. After all, if you’re paying for a feature, it’s only right that your team dictates the content.
Who writes advertorials? Good question! By and large, the publication will have a staff writer who will write your brand's story in a compelling light. But this isn’t always the case. Some small scale publishers do not have advertorial writers. This means that the brand provides the article, and the publication will do the final edits.
Even though some publications can impressively hide the fact that you’re reading an advertisement — you’ll likely be able to spot it. Advertorials are written in a more sales-ey tone. And journalists are famous for remaining unbiased. It’s their number one priority to ensure their stories are fair and balanced, unless writing an op-ed. When a story about a brand sounds a little too good, that’s when you might realize you’re reading an advertorial.
Another telling factor is that this content will be separate from all editorial content. Advertorials are typically in a “Sponsored Content” area with other brand media buys. The author of the piece will be the brand or its spokesperson. The end of the article will also likely have footnotes, references, and legal disclaimers.
To purchase an advertorial, PR professionals will get in contact with a sales representative at the publication. You will book through this individual, and make payment directly to the media outlet.
Editorials
Unlike advertorials, editorial content is controlled by the journalist. This might sound like a bad thing, but it’s more beneficial than it seems! Editorials are more credible than advertorials as the article goes through the journalistic vetting process. This means that the publication is sharing your brand’s story because they believe it has merit.
The content will be written by a specified journalist, which means it might include other details to help make the story more balanced. But this is fabulous! A credible journalist with a large following will likely promote your brand better than a piece of sponsored content with no name attached.
Think about it… Let’s say you read two articles.
One is sponsored content from a sports equipment manufacturer. They’re encouraging you to buy their hockey helmets because they’re the “best in the industry.” The other article is written by a sports journalist with decades of experience, and a trusted audience. They’re vouching for a different brand’s helmets.
Which helmet are you more likely to purchase? The company who claims they’re the best, or the journalist who doesn’t profit whether you buy the helmet or not?
The answer is clear!
Securing an editorial requires pitching to journalists, which can be tricky. However, once your pitch gets accepted, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Check out our 5 Tips For Creating a Powerful Media Pitch to learn more about this.
Advertorials and editorials are great ways to reach an audience. However, we’d suggest your brand prioritizes editorial content. Nothing says credibility like an earned feature. That said, advertorials exist for a reason. They work! When pursuing an advertorial, we suggest writing your article in a similar nature to an editorial. You have creative control over it — make it a good read, not a sales push.
