Advertorial meaning: what is an advertorial?

Advertorial meaning: an advertorial is a paid ad written and designed to read like an article. The word joins "advertisement" and "editorial." Because it looks like editorial content, an advertorial must be clearly labeled as advertising. In lead generation, advertorials often sit between an ad click and a lead form.

Advertorial meaning and definition

An advertorial is an advertisement presented in the format of an article. It has a headline, body text and often images, the same parts as a news story or blog post. The difference is who is speaking: an advertiser pays for the advertorial and controls what it says, and its purpose is to move the reader toward a product, a service or an action.

Advertorials started in print, as paid pages in newspapers and magazines laid out like the articles around them. Online, the format is the same idea in two places: a sponsored article published on a media site, and an article-style page the advertiser hosts on its own domain.

Three things define an advertorial:

• It is paid. Someone paid to publish it, or the advertiser published it on its own page to promote an offer.
• It reads like editorial content. It uses the layout and tone of an article rather than the look of a display ad.
• It has a commercial goal. It ends with a call to action: buy, call, request a quote, or fill in a form.

What is an advertorial in online advertising?

Online, the word "advertorial" covers a few formats that are easy to confuse. The table sets them side by side.

In affiliate lead generation, "advertorial" almost always means the advertiser-hosted page: the reader clicks a native or social ad, reads an article-style page, then clicks through to a landing page with the form. That page is also called a pre-lander. For the native ad side of this, see what are native ads.

Advertorial disclosure requirements

Because an advertorial looks like an article, the main rule is that readers must be able to tell it is an ad. The Federal Trade Commission covers this in two documents.

The Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements sets out the FTC’s view that an ad is deceptive if its format misleads people about its commercial nature. The companion Native Advertising: A Guide for Businesses gives practical examples. In general terms, the guide says:

• Terms such as "Ad," "Advertisement," "Paid Advertisement" or "Sponsored Advertising Content" are likely to be understood by readers.
• Terms such as "Promoted" or "Promoted Stories" are described as ambiguous, and phrases such as "Presented by" or "Sponsored by" can leave readers unsure whether the content is paid.
• Disclosures should be placed in front of or above the headline, where readers see them before they click or start reading.
• A disclosure should also appear on the click-into page where the full ad appears, not only on the unit that links to it.
• The disclosure should be clear and prominent: readable type, enough contrast, and visible on a phone screen.

Two more FTC documents apply to most advertorials. .com Disclosures explains how to make disclosures clear on small screens. The Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking covers testimonials and reviews, which advertorials often include.

Ad platforms and native ad networks add their own rules on top of the FTC’s, and they review the destination page as well as the ad. This section is general information, not legal advice. For how these rules turn into a page layout, see advertorials and pre-landers for lead gen.

When advertorials are used before a lead form

An advertorial adds a step between the ad and the form. That step helps in some situations and costs clicks in others.

The flow with an advertorial looks like this:

1. 1

   The ad

   A native headline or a social ad that describes the reader’s situation plainly.

2. 2

   The advertorial

   An article-style page, labeled as advertising, that explains the topic and says what the next step is.

3. 3

   The click-through

   A button on the advertorial that links to the landing page through a tracking link with sub IDs.

4. 4

   The form

   The landing page, where the reader fills in the form and gives consent to be contacted.

With Summit, the advertorial is yours and the form is ours. Your advertorial links to the Summit lander through your tracking link, the lead submits the form on the Summit lander, and TCPA consent is captured there on every lead. The consent language on Summit landers is not changed or removed. See consent language: what publishers must not change.

How to decide whether to use an advertorial

1. Name the traffic source and ask whether the reader was searching for this topic. If they were searching, start without an advertorial.
2. Write down what the reader needs to know before the form makes sense. If it fits in an ad headline and two lines of text, you may not need an advertorial.
3. If you build one, label it "Advertisement" or "Sponsored Advertising Content" above the headline, following the FTC guidance above.
4. Make every claim true for the offer on the landing page that follows, and say plainly that the next page is a short form.
5. Pass your sub IDs from the ad, through the advertorial, to the tracking link, plus one value that names the advertorial version.
6. Run the advertorial against a direct ad-to-lander version and compare sold leads and returns, not clicks.

Sold leads and returns are the measures that matter, because publishers are paid rev share on sold leads and unsold leads are not paid. See reading your publisher reports.

How readers can tell an advertorial from an article

If you are reviewing your own page, read it the way a reader would. A reader should be able to answer yes to each of these within a few seconds on a phone:

• There is a label such as "Advertisement" above the headline.
• The page names the business behind it, usually in the footer with contact details.
• The page does not use a news masthead, news logos or reporter bylines that suggest an independent outlet.
• The page does not claim to come from a law firm, insurer, contractor or government agency it is not.
• The call to action says what happens next, such as a short form and a call about options or a quote.

Common mistakes

• Using "Promoted" or "Presented by" as the only label. FTC guidance describes these as unclear. Use "Advertisement" or similar.
• Putting the label in the footer. Readers see the headline first. The label belongs above it.
• Copying news site styling. A fake masthead or byline misleads readers about who is speaking.
• Calling every pre-lander an advertorial. A short quiz or a one-screen explainer is a pre-lander but not an article. Label it as advertising all the same.
• Collecting the lead on the advertorial. With Summit, the form and consent are on the Summit lander, not on your page.
• Promising something the next page does not offer. Readers who feel misled leave, and leads from them tend not to sell.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Advertorials and pre-landers for lead gen: How to build one, section by section.
• What are native ads: The ad unit that usually links to an advertorial.
• How to run native traffic to lead offers: Campaign setup, placements and testing.
• Native traffic for publishers: How native campaigns work with Summit landers.
• Landing pages for lead generation: What the page after the advertorial needs.

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