Advertorial: Advertising Disguised as Storytelling to Better Connect With Your Audience
Last update: 18 October 2022 at 12:03 pm
5.00/5An advertiser sometimes uses an advertorial or advertisement. These two terms are very similar, but there are also differences.
The question, of course, is what is the difference between an advertorial and advertising?
What is an advertorial?
The term “advertorial” first appeared in 1946 and is a type of advertisement created by the editors of a newspaper or magazine. Sometimes it may even seem as though it is just an editorial piece of content.
However, an advertorial is different from regular editorial content within a newspaper or magazine that may include traditional advertisements on the side. It is not an objective news story.
An advertorial’s main purpose is to serve as an advertisement for a brand within a piece of editorial content. Hence, advertorial = advertisement + editorial.
In today’s day and age, we can closely associate advertorial content with product placement, paid advertising, or sponsored content.
Differently from 1946, advertorials can now be both print and online publications. From sticking to printed publications in traditional media or investing in a digital marketing campaign that includes online magazines and websites, articles dedicated to advertorials can be found everywhere.
An editorial?
Yes! Advertorial segments are types of editorials that provide in-depth information about a company’s products or services.
Unlike traditional ads, an advertorial is more natural and can be more effective. Strong writing skills are often required to use an advertorial successfully.
Writing an advertorial, therefore, involves working out a text that comes across convincingly to your customers. The text will relate to your products and or services.
What is the difference between traditional ads and advertorials?
Although advertorials are usually presented as an information package, they should still be considered as ad space created to build brand awareness or sell the advertiser’s product.
💡 The difference between an ad and an advertorial is that ordinary ads are separated from a piece of text from the publication’s regular content.
👉🏾 Advertisers buy advertorials to connect with readers and promote a product or service through a story. These types of advertisements are usually designed to appear in an editorial or news article.
An advertorial is a type of ad that uses a fictional editorial voice to announce a product or service. This is allowed as long as the word advertorial is above the text of the ad.
In both cases, however, they are both types of paid advertisement and work as a marketing technique for brands.
Advertorial examples
An example of an advertorial is a page of ads for a company, which sells medical equipment through door-to-door newspapers. These are typically formatted as articles with objective information.
Consider images, which seek to highlight a brand or product in a positive way. Editorial pieces that are objective and seek to influence the general discussion are also an example.
As part of the online marketing effort, advertorials are also placed online. A landing page and guest blogs are often used to publish advertisements. Although they are also called promotional publications, these are not always clearly indicated to the reader.
What to pay attention to with advertorial content
If you decide to use advertorials in your marketing campaign, think carefully about some pitfalls, which may arise. The word advertorial may make you lose credibility with your target audience.
You need to make sure that the tone of voice and imagery that you use matches that of the newspaper or magazine.
Focus also on the typography of the advertorial so that it resembles that of the newspaper or magazine. The idea is that readers don’t feel that the publication is an advertisement or paid content.
The article needs to flow with the rest of the content within the magazine or newspaper.
How to solve this problem?
To avoid the above dangers, your best bet is to have advertorials created by a professional advertising agency.
An agency can help you with journalism advertorials, print advertorials, or even image advertorials for you to get your company in front of your target audience.
What is a good advertorial?
An advertorial is a type of marketing technique that is organically incorporated into a publication for readers, making them feel interested in a product or service.
Here are some ways how to write a good advertorial:
- Ideally, tell a story instead of putting a commercial in the text. This makes the reading experience more engaging and feels less like a sales pitch.
- Give people a chance to express their opinions about the service or product. This makes them feel like they are contributing to the overall experience.
- Show how good your product or service is by telling a story based on facts and emotions.
- A well-written title and surprising headings help grab attention and make the text scannable.
- Use eye-catching passages to build momentum in your story.
- Subtly include your contact information and company name. If necessary, do this in a separate text block or frame.
How much does an advertorial cost?
A successful advertorial depends on the value of a website or print publication and several other factors. The cost of an advertorial depends on the reach and relevance they may have
A good way to measure your reach is to look at the number of people who will see your advertorial.
When determining the price, you need to consider the following things:
- The overall impression of the publication you wish to write for
- The reach you may get via social media marketing from the publication
- Page views
- Number of comments
- Number of advertorials already on the medium
- The topic of the site or print
- Who will write the advertorial
There are indeed guidelines that are a bit more precise. So it is not said that this is the only right way to calculate the price of advertorials.
Conclusion
So are you thinking about investing in advertorials for your next marketing campaign?
Remember that your goal is to provide readers with a good story…that just so happens to provide valuable information about your company’s product or service. Good advertorials manage to promote a brand without appearing to be an advertisement.
