Editors of online publications say the top reasons they reject guest or contributed content from brands are that the pieces are too promotional and the pieces are not a good fit with their readership, according to recent research from Influence & Co.
The report was based on data from a survey of 84 editors who work for industry-focused online publications.
Some 79% of surveyed editors say content that's too promotional is one of the biggest problems they face with pitches; that's up eight percentage points from Influence & Co's 2017 survey.
What makes a piece too promotional? In last year's edition of the survey, editors said the biggest issues are forced mentions of products/services/clients, including company links in the main body of the text, and covering the industry from the vendor's point-of-view.
Some 56% of editors say content that's not a good fit with the publication's readership is one of the biggest problems of the hpitches they receive.
Most editors are publishing content in formats beyond text in 2018.
Some 67% of respondents say their publication will post videos this year, 52% say their publication will post infographics, and 40% say their publication will post podcasts.
Though editors are embracing various content formats, many still cannot publish certain types of pieces: Some 31% of respondents say their publication does not have the capacity/means to publish videos, and 18% cannot publish podcasts.
Some 93% of editors say they measure the success of contributed content by pageview counts, 75% look at time spent on site, and 69% look at social shares.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 84 editors who work for industry-focused online publications.
