When it comes to sponsoring articles, bloggers have been leading the way for at least the last five years (in my experience). The message from the Financial Times’ article ‘Newspaper groups ‘go native’ to win revenues’ paints a bleak picture of how the interests of readers may become less relevant for cash-strapped newspapers.
In the article that could have ironically been sponsored by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Digital Media Correspondent Robert Cookson mentions,
“The problem is that publishers label sponsored content in different ways, some of them much more obvious than others. And even when an article is clearly branded, readers often struggle to interpret exactly what terms such as “sponsored” mean.”
Only last week the ASA warned video bloggers (vloggers) to make it clearer when they are paid to promote products. A warning that in turn was listened to by all the major members of the blogging community who rely on sponsored posts to generate revenue.
There is in reality a mass of confusion to what sponsored content really is. Social media is personal recommendation. Therefore it’s not uncommon for a blogger to recommend a product for absolutely no cash. Due to this it would be impossible for the ASA in practice to identify bloggers for breaking the rules – it’s just social dude.
On other occasions money may pass hands, but here is the truth. The successful bloggers have usually built an audience through their own ‘bloggeristic’ integrity – any hollow sponsored posts could lose an audience built over a number of years in seconds. Because the reality is most sponsored content is complete rubbish.
It is a lesson I learnt three years ago, when I agreed to publish an insurance-based blog post for the sum of £50. It had no relevance. Utterly out of keeping with the blog’s industry focus. For that I lost readership, rendering the £50 a cold reminder of how not to do sponsored content.
The Financial Times article reminds me that in the digital world ‘natives’ have already made these mistakes. Whilst traditional newspapers beckon audiences of millions, their knowledge of handling digital content can still be in its infancy. This is a PR issue – their reputation is at risk.
As Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP rightly mentions in the article, “If you mislead the consumer, it’s dangerous”. The best bloggers will always make it clear if content is sponsored, either in the footer of the article or in the title. It is still a difficult balance though. Unless it is high-quality relevant content, then you will inevitably put some readers off.
This is the skill of the PR person, to organise or produce content that has value in its own right. Something a blogger or journalist would want to cover. Anything else is advertising. A dull drum of repetitive thuds that only lessens a readers’ experience.
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