The concept of sponsored conversations – paying bloggers to write about products or services, and publicly disclosing it – was diagnosed and given the green light by Forrester Research this past week, courtesy of analyst Sean Corcoran’s Add Sponsored Conversations To Your Toolbox report. Sean’s colleague and Groundswell co-author Josh Bernoff co-authored the report and offers additional color on his Groundswell Blog. I agree that sponsored conversations can be considered as a marketing tactic, given the current maturity level of social networking. Marketers just need to make sure these truly support their objectives.

Advertorials, which most of us are familiar with in print publications, pop into my mind when I look for something to compare with sponsored conversations. And while the advertorial is not a perfect comparison, it’s one I think many communicators will also call to mind when evaluating the potential of paying bloggers to post.

Do I think sponsored conversations are literally the new advertorial? No, the differences outweigh the similarities, although I find that running through the comparison helps surface and specify the value of each.

Similarities

• An advertorial allows an organization to place its message in (mostly) print or online publication via an editorial-style format for a fee. It’s strikingly similar to purchasing ad space, or media buying.  Sponsored conversations follow a similar model and are specific to blogs as well as each blogger’s posting format.

• An advertorial is disclosed as a paid placement, usually with the words “advertorial” or “special supplement” in fine print at the beginning and/or end of the content. Sponsored conversations disclose that a blogger was paid to write a post either using similar designations or right in the body of the post.

• Content in advertorials and sponsored conversations are lengthier than ads, as they endeavor to share opinion, more depth, and avoid sales jargon while attempting to influence readers in a more natural and subtle fashion.

Differences

• Advertorials – with the exception of content guidelines specific to each publication – allow organizations to place their exact message word for word. Businesses pay to control the message. Sponsored conversations, when authentic and transparent, allow bloggers the freedom to write about their experiences and opinions regarding the product or service in question, whether positive or negative, and regardless of what the sponsoring company thinks.  And let’s go ahead and state the obvious here. Smart businesses are going to develop relationships with bloggers and enlist those who share some common views for sponsored conversations. It’s a good practice even when money doesn’t exchange hands, and that’s called blogger relations.

• Advertorials pretty much are what they are. They are ideal from a corporate branding perspective (“Bank of America innovates online banking,” “Procter & Gamble cares about the environment,” and these types of things) and less effective in other scenarios, but mainly there’s no revolt against them. Sponsored conversations are still relatively controversial, mainly due to the previous practices of some organizations and major brands that have not disclosed blogger payments. This is changing for the better, although many people still perceive this as a shady practice. For example, a Mediabistro post on this topic references a FishbowlNY poll where 64% of respondents think pay-for-play blog coverage is not appropriate.

• Sponsored conversations have the culture and power of social networking, online communities, and the blogosphere built into them. Sure, an advertorial on a publication’s online entity may have the benefit of rating or comment functions, but a sponsored blog conversation has these and more. Blogger personalities and writing styles are leveraged to influence readers. Bloggers can make more subtle “what do you think?” or “check it out” kinds of calls to action, whereas most advertorials are confined to a proper editorial style. Advertorials still have a place, they are viable tools for helping generate general awareness and demonstrating expertise. I’ve written some and expect to write some more. The blogosphere simply has an edge, it’s the place to be, there’s more traffic, people actively seek to be here rather than passively come across an advertorial.

One potential flaw with the advertorial comparison is its print heritage, and we can all see what’s happening out there with major newspapers and favorite publications closing down. It’s sad, people’s livelihoods are connected to this. That said, it’s really about conversations and experiences now days and, truth be told, the Internet ‘is’ the infrastructure to enable and satisfy this craving.

People need to make a living, bloggers too, and the sponsored format may be suitable for some. I think it’s reasonable for marketers to ethically mix in some sponsored conversations while identifying some cautions and learning best practices along the way.

(I also ran across Jeremiah Owyang’s A Running List of Sponsored Conversations while browsing this afternoon. Good stuff for more context and specific examples.)

Disclosure: the Sunday afternoon serenity of my children napping sponsored this blog post  ;-)