---
type: "Glossary Term"
title: "What is advertorial?"
description: "Promote your product or service while informing the reader with advertorial. Learn about the successful combination of advertising and editorial content."
url: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/advertorial"
lang: "en"
dateModified: "2026-08-12"
resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/advertorial"
alternates:
  tr: "https://www.roicool.com/sozluk/advertorial.md"
generated: { by: "process:roicool-cms", at: "2026-08-12T17:22:38.586Z" }
related:
  - { title: "Call-to-Action", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/cta.md" }
  - { title: "a Testimonial", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/testimonials.md" }
  - { title: "What Are Meta Ads", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/meta-ads.md" }
  - { title: "Link Building", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/link-building.md" }
  - { title: "the AIDA Model", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/aida.md" }
  - { title: "SEO", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/services/seo-agency.md" }
  - { title: "Glossary", resource: "https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary.md" }
---

# What Is an Advertorial? Definition, Rules and How to Write One

An advertorial is paid promotional content presented in the format of an editorial article. Instead of a direct sales message it tells a story or solves a problem, making the product a natural part of the narrative. The format sits inside content marketing but differs from it: an advertorial is advertising and must be labelled as such.

## In short

In practice, an advertorial is a paid placement on a publisher's site that reads like an article but is commissioned by a brand. It suits products that need explanation, since it has room to set out a problem, the context and the solution. It must be clearly labelled as sponsored, and Google expects paid links in it to carry a sponsored or nofollow attribute. A software company, for example, might pay an industry site to run a sponsored story about how one customer solved a specific operational problem.

## Key points

- The word combines "advertisement" and "editorial" — advertising written in the voice and shape of an article.
- It is not the same as native advertising: native describes a format that matches the platform, while an advertorial describes the content approach.
- It is not the same as content marketing either — content marketing does not carry a direct promotional message.
- Advertorials must be clearly labelled, typically as "Sponsored Content" or "Promotion"; hiding the commercial nature is the single most damaging mistake.
- Its strengths are room for detail, longer reader attention, and placement on a publication the target audience already trusts.
- The most common failure is writing it like a hard sell — the editorial tone is the reason the format works at all.

An advertorial is paid promotional content written and presented in the format of an editorial article. The word is a compound of advertisement and editorial ,and that compound describes the tension the format lives in: it is advertising, but it borrows the shape, tone and credibility of journalism.

It works because readers have learned to filter out anything that looks like an ad. An advertorial does not shout a sales message; it tells a story, explains a problem or teaches something, and the product appears inside that as a natural part of the account.The reader can know it is paid and still find it worth reading — that is the whole point.What the format cannot do is hide what it is.

## Advertorial, native advertising and content marketing are not the same thing

These three get used interchangeably and they should not be.

- Advertorial describes the content approach : promotional material written as an article, published with a label such as "Sponsored Content".
- Native advertising describes the format and placement : an ad that matches the look and feel of the platform surrounding it. An advertorial is often delivered natively, but a native ad can be a single image unit with no article at all.
- [Content marketing](https://www.roicool.com/en/blog/what-is-content-creator) describes the strategy : publishing genuinely useful material on your own channels to build authority over time. It carries no direct promotional message and it is not paid placement.

Put simply: native is a format, advertorial is an approach, content marketing is a strategy. An advertorial can sit inside a content marketing programme and be delivered in a native format — but the three are not substitutes for one another.

## Disclosure is a legal requirement, not a courtesy

This is the part most guides soften, and softening it is a mistake.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's guidance is explicit that advertising must not mislead consumers about its commercial nature, and it addresses native advertising formats directly. 1 Where a person's endorsement appears, the FTC's endorsement guides apply as well. 2

In Türkiye — the market roicool works in — the rule is codified. Regardless of format or medium, an advertisement must be clearly identifiable as an advertisement, and it must be visually and audibly distinguishable from editorial content. 3 Content that promotes a brand without disclosing that it is advertising is defined as surreptitious advertising and is prohibited outright. 3

Since 1 August 2026 there is an additional layer: when an advertorial is delivered through a social media content creator, the post must carry "Reklam" or "Tanıtım"alongside an identification of the advertiser, positioned so the reader sees it on first contact without scrolling, and repeated on every post if the content spans several. 4

The practical consequence is simple. Budget for the label. Design for the label. An advertorial that works only because the reader failed to notice it was paid is not a strategy — it is an exposure.

## How to write an advertorial that earns its place

- Choose the publication before you write. The value of an advertorial comes largely from the audience and credibility of where it appears. A brilliant piece on a publication your buyers do not read is wasted money.
- Start from the reader's problem, not your product. The strongest advertorials would still be useful with the brand removed. If yours would not be, it is a display ad wearing an article's clothes.
- Write a headline that promises something specific. How-to and question formats work because they set an expectation the article can meet.
- Match the publication's voice. Professional and clear, not promotional. Citing data or named expertise raises credibility — and if you cite a figure, be ready to substantiate it.
- Support it visually. Images, charts or a short video make the piece read as editorial rather than as a wall of copy.
- Label it prominently. See the section above; this is the non-negotiable step.
- Close with one clear [call to action](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/cta) . Reading is not the goal. Say what you want the reader to do next, once, plainly.

## What goes wrong most often

- Writing it as a hard sell. The editorial tone is not decoration — it is the mechanism. Promotional language collapses it.
- Hiding the commercial relationship. Beyond the legal exposure, a reader who discovers the deception loses trust in both the brand and the publication.
- Choosing the wrong channel. Reach without relevance is spend without return.
- Making unsupported claims. Editorial framing makes claims read as established fact, which raises rather than lowers the standard of proof they need to meet. [Customer statements](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/testimonials) used inside an advertorial carry their own rules.

## Related terms

- [Call-to-Action](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/cta)
- [a Testimonial](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/testimonials)
- [What Are Meta Ads](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/meta-ads)
- [Link Building](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/link-building)
- [the AIDA Model](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/aida)

## Related service

- [SEO](https://www.roicool.com/en/services/seo-agency)

Breadcrumb: [Home](https://www.roicool.com/en) › [Glossary](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary) › What Is an Advertorial? Definition, Rules and How to Write One

Related pages:

- [Glossary](https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary)

Source: https://www.roicool.com/en/glossary/advertorial · Last updated: 2026-08-12