An Advertorial is an advertisement disguised as a regular piece of content:
[Advertorial] = [Advertisement] + [Editorial Content]
An advertorial is a type of article that is paid for by a company and placed in a publication. These articles often look like regular articles, but they are actually advertisements.
In other words, an advertorial is a way of writing your own advertisement and incorporating it into a trusted publication, such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, or BuzzFeed.
You will have more success if your advertorial looks like a real article.
Benefits of Advertorial Marketing
An advertorial is a type of advertisement that is presented in the form of an editorial article. It is typically used to promote a product or service.
1. You can convert leads.
If you have ideas for blog posts that would be relevant to your industry, you can try contacting a publication that does advertorials related to that industry. For example, if you have an ecommerce technology business, contacting a publication like The New Yorker might not be a good option. Instead, you could try a publication like TechCrunch, which covers all things technology and commerce.
This method would allow you to target specific audiences that are most interested in your industry in order to convert more leads.
2. Advertorials build brand awareness.
If you want to build brand awareness with paid ads but are looking for something that will last longer than a social media or TV ad, an advertorial might be a good option. Paid advertorials are less common than ads, but they have the potential to be found by readers long after they are published.
For example, if you pay for an advertorial tomorrow, you won’t have to keep paying to boost its visibility like you would with other ads. You can earn continuous organic traffic from an advertorial.
3. Retarget your existing customers.
Think about how you can retarget your advertorial on your end once it is posted. How can you incorporate the advertorial into your content plan to provide value to your existing customers?
If your advertorial is a filmed interview with an industry thought leader, you can post it on your social media accounts and promote the fact that you partnered with a publication to bring a new video to your audience.
You can also share the advertorial with your email subscribers. Your email subscribers are likely devoted customers, so they are the most likely to give you traffic.
One way to increase brand awareness for your company is to encourage customers to share your posts on social media and tag your company. This is also a great way to get user-generated content, which can be very useful in promoting your product. User-generated content is a great way to get honest feedback and market your product from a customer’s perspective.
If this text is an advertorial, then it is trying to sell the reader on the idea of advertorials. It does this by listing some of the advantages of writing advertorials, such as the fact that they can be stunning.
To create a successful advertorial, start with 70% good content and mix in 30% promotion of your product. For example….
Examples of Advertorials throughout the Internets:
Let’s look at how advertisers on the internet use advertorials. The purpose of their advertorials is to use the popularity of a publication to their advantage.
Example 1: Promoting a stock brokerage
This article in Forbes is sponsored by Fidelity, a stock brokerage and financial firm. I bet that the company gets mentioned somewhere in the article.
Example 2: Promoting a liquor brand:
It seems that BuzzFeed is back to their listicle articles, this time about “Captains, Commanders And Conquerors.”
It seems that Captain Morgan (the liquor brand) has paid BuzzFeed to sponsor this post and to generate traffic to their YouTube page. Well done Captain!
Example 3: Promoting a movie
I laughed out loud when I read this article from the Huffington Post about how the Skynet computer from the Terminator movies is more realistic than people realize.
The text is saying that the movie “Terminator Genisys” is being released around the same time as the “Presented by Terminator Genisys” event.
A nice way to get in front of a non-traditional audience:
Example 4: Promoting a restaurant
The Thrillist site released a list of the “Worst Office Lunches Ever,” and to no one’s surprise, it’s sponsored by Friday’s.
The author seems to think that Friday’s might be overrated as a restaurant based on their own personal opinion.
Example 5: Promoting a TV show
Our good friend the New York Times is posting some advertorial content here, this time sponsored by NetFlix. In particular this article is about a women’s jail……and WHADDYA KNOW…..The show “Orange & Black” made by NetFlix is sponsoring it, and in the article they mention it:
As you can see, sponsors use advertorials to get their products in front of audiences in a different way.
The majority of advertising is beneficial to both the sponsor and the readers. However, this can become controversial in some cases. For example, a pharmaceutical company sponsoring an article in the New York Times telling readers that their medication is the best way to reduce cholesterol levels could raise some moral issues.
Some high-performing historical advertorials:
Ogilvy was a pioneer in creating advertorial-style content, long before it was popular. He realized that if an advertisement genuinely benefited the consumer, they would be more likely to pay attention to it, and might even tear it out of the magazine to save it.
For example, he made this Rinso Detergent ad that did better than any other detergent ad, ever……because it was so easy for housewives to tear out of the magazine and keep in their laundry rooms:
David Ogilvy’s first ad as the head of his own agency was for Guinness.
This ad was not only for Guinness, but people would tear it out of the magazine and keep it. Restaurants would display this ad for the patrons to help pair oysters!
If your content is useful, it will go a lot further.
There are things that modern day advertorial writers can learn from the master.
Why an advertorial works awesomely:
With an advertorial you get to borrow the credibility of the site/magazine/newspaper you’re publishing in. In fact advertorials are actually kinda sneaky (which is why they stir up some controversy in the journalism community) because the bulk of people somehow associate something BEING in a credible publication as AUTOMATICALLY BEING CREDIBLE:
The reason advertisers love advertorials is because they seem more credible than other forms of advertising, because they are integrated with normal content.
However, there are some ways to make your advertorial ACTUALLY BE AWESOME and have people legitimately like it more than real articles…..so let’s get into how to write your advertorial:
1. Write for value, not to promote.
Your advertorial should contain valuable information instead of a blatant sales pitch for your product or company. It should be written in the style of a blog post.
When creating your advertorial, think about how you can serve your target audience with educational content.
If your goal is to increase the visibility of your new product, one way to do that is to write a listicle that mentions competitive products and includes yours at the top. Providing this type of information can be valuable to the audiences you’re interested in, as well as to others.
2. Stick to what your title says.
When you have written an advertorial or pitch that has been accepted by a publication, read it over to check that it still meets the goals you outlined in the title.
For example, if your post is titled “Marketing Tips for a Team of One,” but the content of the post is mostly about how great your marketing agency is at creating brand awareness, it will sound more like a product advertisement.
It’s important to make sure the content of your article matches its title, so that readers know what they can expect when they read your article. This way, you won’t lose credibility for false advertising, and you can be sure you’re providing useful information to your audience.
3. Solve for the customer.
One of your top priorities with an advertorial should be serving your audience. Advertorials help your company, but ultimately solving for the customer generates new ones.
Advertorials are opportunities for you to share high-quality content with a new audience, rather than simply promoting your company as the solution to all the challenges mentioned in the advertorial.
If you want to place an ad for your company next to an advertorial, discuss the possibility with the publisher. You may be able to purchase ad space that will separate the purposes of your content.
4. Inspire action.
Your advertorial should be an advertisement, even if it’s not as visible as others. You should inspire action by the end of the post.
It is better to weave a call to action into the narrative of an advertorial than to include a large, flashy button. For example, if you are writing about a data report, include a link to the report or a screenshot of an interesting part of the report that links to the content offer.
An interactive advertorial, such as a quiz, can engage your readers and test their knowledge about the subject. By providing a resource for further learning, you can encourage your readers to explore the subject more deeply.
5. Avoid only talking about your company.
A rule of thumb is to avoid talking about your company in the advertorial to ensure it doesn’t take the form of a long-form ad.
It’s not just listicles that this point applies to, it’s something to think about for any advertorial you write. Even if your content includes a quiz, you can have a few questions that mention competitors and how they fit into the lives of your customers.
As well as including your own company as a resource, mention another option or two when writing a “How-to” guide. This will add value to the reader by providing diverse content and showing your knowledge of the industry.
6. Delight your readers with exceptional content.
If you’re writing an advertorial, it’s a good chance to try something new to delight your customers. Try including animations instead of photos, emojis instead of text, or even a different style of writing that’s different from your typical brand voice.
If you want to engage with your leads,Participating in something new will give them a delightful experience.
You can also try out new optimization techniques, like creating a content offer that’s specific to a campaign. You can experiment here and cater to new leads with your piece.
Here are some examples of advertorials that you can use for reference if you have trouble writing, formatting, or finalizing your post.
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