IAB launches paid social media guidelines
Industry body the Interactive Advertising Bureau has launched new guidelines aimed at helping marketers and agencies when it comes to the issue of paid social media advertising.
The move comes after a number of incidents, such as last year’s Kangaroo Island/South Australian Tourism Commission controversy, which exposed certain social media practices such as undisclosed paid tweeting and which drew significant criticism.
“I think (these controversies) were certainly on the mind of people in terms of the fact that there was a clear need to go out and provide some awareness raising in the marketing community about how these platforms can work and the best ways of utilising them to get a message out”, Samantha Yorke, acting CEO of IAB Australia told Mumbrella.
There are three sets of guidelines around: paid social advertising, ad verification and mobile and tablet advertising.
“We believe these three new guidelines will provide valuable thought leadership and opinion to industry professionals as they plan and execute relevant campaigns,” said Yorke.
“IAB Australia is committing to further strengthening the breadth and depth of its library of content and resources to help drive best practice, creativity, innovation and accountability within Australia’s thriving digital economy.”
The guidelines on social advertising aim to provide clarity on social media as a marketing vehicle. According to the IAB they will provide a framework “to set clear campaign objectives and achieve measurable outcomes” for paid, owned and earned media practices that are being increasingly used by agencies.
Meanwhile the IAB’s guidelines on ad verification have been produced in conjunction with the Media Federation Australia and the Audit Bureau and detail the best methods and common practices for ad verification. The IAB says the new guidelines will help mitigate potential complications and common misunderstandings.
The final guideline is the relates to mobile and tablet advertising and highlights some of the trends in mt ad sizes offered in Australia with the aim of giving publishers and marketers insight into the optimal sizes to consider when designing apps and also the best ad sizes to help them maximize commercial reach.
Yorke is on a panel at next month’s Mumbrells360 which will discuss the regulation of social media.
Nic Christensen
