Do more (much more) with advertorial

It's fantastic to see positive coverage of your business in a newspaper or magazine. And there are several ways to get it: some are free, some are paid.

Unpaid coverage is generated by press releases (leading to news stories), editorial features and a few other tools. Paid coverage includes advertising, inserts and that strange hybrid of advertising and editorial: advertorial. Essentially, it's a feature article you've paid for.

Since you've paid for it, you can say what you like (within reason) - and that means getting away with more than you can in editorial coverage. Yet I've seen so many companies waste the opportunity.

I've seen advertorial that looks like an advert. I've seen advertorial which is just a list of products with a big call-to-action. I've seen advertorial that doesn't even make the effort to look like anything. I've seen it dashed off quickly just to meet a deadline. I've rarely seen it done well.

And yet, advertorial offers an ideal opportunity to:

• talk about your brand your way, without the restriction of editorial independence
• help people engage more deeply with your brand
• develop your thought leadership
• leave the hard sell behind and just talk to customers.

Example ideas for advertorial:

• discuss a topic that's of real interest/concern to your readers, showing you know about the subject, understand people's concerns, and can propose a solution
  
  
• pick a topical issue (such as finding new business efficiencies to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn) and show how your products/services can make a positive difference
  
  
• get people thinking differently about your brand by talking about something that has nothing to do with your products or services - like an aspect of your CSR activity, and the real difference it's making in the community or to the environment
  
  
• show how new legislation will affect your customers, and how you can help them deal with the implications


• show the difference you're making when it comes to employment and employee development. Do you have an unusual benefits package? Are you recruiting despite the downturn? Have you used creative ways of working to avoid redundancies? Do you take on a lot of apprentices? Do your people win industry awards?

By using a good copywriter, and making sure they know all about your business (not just about the brochure you need), you can spark all sort of ideas for communicating your brand to a wide range of audiences.