Don't get sucked into advertorial

You know what? In my time, I’ve believed in all sorts of popular myths. Santa, Tooth Fairy, Loch Ness Monster - you name it, I bought in. (I’m still on the fence when it comes to the Bogey Man…I think he lives next door).

Anyway, impressionable as I am, there’s one myth I just can’t swallow:

The bizarre notion that advertorial is a useful marketing strategy.

Let’s be firm here. Advertorial is propaganda attempting to pass itself off as genuine editorial, and no one (let’s say that again for effect) no one ever believes it!

You’re reading this page, right? Would you have got this far if I’d spent the last 4 paragraphs wobbling on about how customer service and quality solutions lay at the centre of my commitment to excellence? Of course not. You’d just think “Gee wiz, this guy is so up himself, why the hell should I bother reading this tripe?”

In other words, you’d be asking the classic question, “What’s in it for me?”

Advertorial in its conventional form has no respect for the needs of its reader. Whatever you’re saying on the page, the subtext is “Sit there and listen while I tell you about me! Never mind what you want. Me me me!”

Have you ever bought anything from anyone who just talks about themselves? Or are you more likely to buy from someone who relates their product back to your problems, aspirations etc?

(Rhetorical question – it’s the latter).

So why do people buy advertorial?
Basically because desperate media sales people put it about that advertorial has the same value as editorial. And in Emperor’s New Clothes fashion, people shy away from their instinct and get sucked into the myth. They spend their hard-earned pounds, dollars and pesetas wittering on about themselves while readers sniff out the BS in the first paragraph and move onto the real content.

OK…so what’s the alternative?
Fairly simple really. Promote your business in a way that gives something back to the reader – add some news or an expert opinion that rewards them for sitting through your pitch.

You’ll have heard this exact same principle for creating a press release: the idea being that editors are more likely to use your feature if it has some genuine interest. Well, the same is true for advertorial. (Your words don’t become more captivating just because you’ve paid for the space!)

Turn your idea on its head
Instead of writing “10 reasons to buy from us”, try “10 things to ask when you’re buying this product”. Instead of regurgitating your mission statement (which only your shareholders care about), drop in some news or curiosity value. Or appeal to the reader’s self-interest.

Remember, a newspaper is for news! So the more you can make your column read like the genuine article, the more likely people are to give it the time of day.

So, what do you do if you’re offered advertorial space?
Take it! The space is useful as long as you don’t fall head first into the waffle pit. Just tick these 3 boxes and you can expect your efforts to pay off:

1. Relate your subject to the needs of your audience. Give them the benefit of your expertise, or make a revelation. Above all, ask yourself “If I knew nothing about this company, why would I bother to read on?”

2. No corporate waffle. No one is impressed by your ability to “create integrated client solutions” (in fact no one will understand it!) but if you demystify, they might just cotton on and pay you some attention.

3. Add an author’s credit: a few lines at the end all about you and your business. But please, this is the only place where you offer a plug – i.e. once you’ve earned the reader’s respect.

That’s it! A chimp with a purple crayon could master this in an hour. For you, it’ll just be a couple of minutes. (If I believe in the Bogey Man, I definitely believe in you…!)