Get the most out of your editorial content without compromising your journalistic integrity
Some journalists think it’s ludicrous to incorporate advertisements with editorial content. I agree, to an extent.
It is never acceptable for a journalist to write about a product, service or company because of some special perks or payment. All editorial content should be created because the writer has belief in his or her words being communicated.
That doesn’t necessarily mean writers should completely avoid discussing products or services that are genuinely valuable. Educational services came to mind when I wrote that last sentence. Education is important and there are companies and writers that have enough credibility to offer their knowledge.
This combination of editorial and promotional content is sometimes referred as an “advertorial.” Although I have used the term because it’s an industry standard these days, I’m not a huge fan of the term itself. To me, the term advertorial implies a direct correlation between editorial and promotional content – perhaps an equal amount of each within the written piece. A good editorial can serve as an online advertising strategy when copy is 75-80% editorial with only slight, aligning promotional content when applicable.
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Online advertising strategy for editorial content
A key point to address in this strategy is that the editorial content has to always offer something valuable to its readers. If it does not do so, the copy won’t be interpreted as editorial at all.
Turning the editorial content into email newsletters is where the possibility for creating an online advertising strategy comes into play.
Editorial content sent as email newsletters are very targeted. The recipients of these email newsletters are a part of these lists because they enjoy the content that is provided within the email newsletters. Many email lists require a double opt-in, so that the recipients are fully consenting to the relationship.
Some email newsletters incorporate a “share” function directly in email so that the recipients can access their social network and spread the editorial content through it.
The editorial content found in email newsletters can have a direct impact on readers. An article containing an aligned text advertisement broken up from the actual article can secure sales immediately upon readiing.
Furthermore, email newsletters can carry standard ads in the left and/or right nav. These can range from skyscraper ads to standard rectangles, containing text, images and even video content.
As you can see from the examples above, editorial content can be used as a component to an online advertising strategy. The advertisements can surround the email newsletter or be added accordingly within the editorial content itself. Great content can easily help in selling products or services if an alignment is found between the two.
Whether you are promoting your own products or the products of other companies, you are completely in control of the amount of promotion that takes place. If you have a lot of content and a lot of products to promote, then you can increase the frequency of your email newsletters as demand and sales grow. Do this with caution, as you won’t want to consistently adjust your email newsletter’s frequency and in turn confuse or frustrate the email recipients.
There are so many different ways of engaging in online advertising. Diversifying your online advertising strategy is a good way to achieve success. For more successful online advertising strategies, join us for our Maximizing Online Advertising Revenue webinar at 12:30 pm ET today. Dan Ambrose, an online advertising specialist will be the featured speaker. You won’t want to miss his insight.
