The term advertorial is usually used to describe any form of paid, written advertisement: on newspapers, magazines, bus and train cards, door-to-door leaflet drops, brochures and postcards. Native advertising is another alternative, which is becoming increasingly popular with online businesses and small businesses who are looking for a way to get the word out about their product or service. Advertisers use advertorials in order to create interest in their goods or services before putting their full price on them; for example, they might create a free advertorial to be distributed along with a catalogue or product invoice. In this article we’ll explore what native advertising is, how it works and what you need to consider if you’re going to use it in your next marketing campaign.
A ‘free’ advertorial is one which has no cost associated with it. Often these tend to be short promotional pieces, such as business cards, which have little overall impact on potential customers but offer the company’s branding in a catchy and attention-grabbing way. These kinds of advertorials can prove very successful and can prove to be the calling-card for a company. It is essential however, to use them correctly. Below are some tips to help you make the most from your advertorial distribution:
Distribution Methods – The nature of this type of promotion means that the audience you are aiming to are highly targeted. This means that you will want to distribute your advertorial in a manner that targets the kind of consumer who might be interested in your brand. You might think that this would mean choosing a geographically diverse distribution method, but in fact it is more effective to distribute geographically specific advertorials. For example, you wouldn’t want to give away an advertorial for a mobile phone to people in Alaska; this kind of marketing would be considered highly unlikely and ineffective. However, if you target mobile phone users in South America, you could distribute your advertorial to a much greater audience.
Native Advertising Methodology – Even though mobile phone users in South America are unlikely to be interested in your brand, you could still successfully use native advertising to increase your exposure and awareness. This requires you to develop a message, or story that will be compelling enough for people to read. Because these messages are customised to the target market, you won’t need to waste your money on creating them elsewhere, and you’ll likely receive a higher level of response for the same price.
Customisation of Distribution Methods – Even though you won’t need to spend too much time customising the distribution methods you use for your advertorials, it is still worth making sure that they are as effective as possible. After all, they are likely to be seen by as many people as possible. If your advertorial distribution doesn’t meet the criteria for native advertising, it may not even reach the target market.
Copywriting – One of the main factors which makes native advertising so successful is the quality of the copywriting used. It’s very important for the text and the graphics to flow as naturally as possible, and not have any grammatical errors or misspellings. The same goes for the slogans and the images used in the advertorial. Even though they are native advertising, your slogan should still sound as though it was written by a professional.
Tracking Results – Another key factor of successful native advertising is tracking your results. You can actually analyse your advertorial statistics by going online. Usually, you will be given a measurement based on the number of clicks made, as well as the average number of impressions. In addition, you will usually be offered a report which will show you the best performing adverts, as well as those that were most successful. However, this can take some time, and it may be difficult to keep track of changes in traffic, especially if your advertorial changed at a certain point in time.
Cost – Of course, the cost of hiring a native advertising company is one of the biggest deterrents many people have when considering this form of advertising. Most agencies will quote a price per 1000 impressions. This price could turn out to be expensive for you, especially if your advertorial has a high demand for actual clicks. A more cost effective way would be to try out the PPC method. Although it does involve a lot of money, the results can be worth it in the long run. In fact, PPC could end up being more advantageous to your business than any other native advertising option.