If you are considering adding an advertorial to your newsletter, you may be wondering what exactly an advertorial is. An advertorial is simply an ad in the shape of full-color editorialized content. The word "advertorial" is a combination of the words "ad" and "article." Merriam-Webster further dates the origin of this term to 1946.
How does an advertorial differ from regular content? Unlike regular articles or advertisements, which merely describe a product or service, an advertorial tells more about the subject of the article - who, what, where, when, why and how. It gives more information about the advantages of using the product or service. Advertorials are often written for print publications or online publications, but they can also be posted on websites, blogs, or email blasts. They can appear on your company's website as well as in newspapers, magazines, brochures or promotional mailers.
Advertorials are often written in the third person. You will often see this in an ad for a mortgage company. The mortgage company will advertise in the third person because they are a third party selling the mortgage product. The advertorial must also be written with a call to action. A call to action, as the name implies, encourages the reader to click on the link or call the company to learn more about their products or services. If the reader reads the article, takes action, and calls the company, then the advertorial has succeeded in its goal.
As an advertiser, an advertorial can help your business by creating new customers. Adverts placed on blogs and personal sites encourage readers to visit your site. By reading the advertorial, many people who would not have visited your site otherwise will be exposed to your content. This is one of your two front lines of marketing: you create new potential customers and you get to advertise on sites that would not normally have carried your advertorial.
Your advertorial also allows you to write about your own products, services and websites. You can write in detail about the benefits of using your product, the unique features of your service or your website. You can even include testimonials from previous clients. This helps give you credibility with other potential customers.
You do need to be careful about how much you advertise in your adverts. It is important that the adverts do not appear to be blatant SPAM. Advertorials are not allowed to blatantly promote your product. You may be able to advertise your site, but you must not go into excessive detail. Your adverts must be directed at the reader; they should not appear like a sales pitch.
Adverts need to relate to the content of your website. They need to provide further information that would not normally appear in written text. For example, if your article was about green tea then it would not be appropriate to include details about the chemical compounds found in black tea. If your adverts appear to be selling something to readers without providing any supporting facts then they will be considered spam and will no longer appear in your adverts. This is why it is best to write your adverts in a specific way, to make sure you are not breaking any spam laws.
The success of your adverts relies heavily on how well you are able to target them. If you are not sure what your audience is then it is better to research the topic of your adverts in order to write a more targeted advertorial. By doing so, you will be able to ensure that only people interested in your topic will receive an e-mail from you. The higher the level of your target audience, the higher the chances of them clicking on your adverts and thus creating a higher conversion rate for your online business. The newly launched TheAdvertorial.com is a one stop shop for all marketing and advertising needs.