A sponsor has the opportunity to be able to reach consumers that may not have otherwise paid attention. How does this translate into more considerable ROI for sponsors? It all comes down to the intelligent use of basic sponsorship concepts such as PPC, CPC, and CPI. Marketing leverage is the ability to use a small investment of time or money to increase your reach. There are many ways to do this, but one way is through sponsored content. This article will teach you how to leverage the basic concepts of sponsored content to boost your reach.
Your marketing plan is more crucial now than it has ever been. This is due to the ease with which customers can research and discover new companies thanks to the Internet. With so much information and other tools at their fingertips, every firm in every area must contend with the competition. You could have some compelling content marketing strategies. That’s fantastic, and you should keep utilizing them. However, content marketing alone will not be sufficient to reach the most significant people. You’ll need to do more to increase brand awareness and obtain a competitive advantage. Sponsored content might be the answer to giving your business the competitive edge you’ve been searching for. It’s ok if you have no idea what sponsored material is or how to utilize it. It’s never too late to start.
How to use sponsored content works to boost your brand’s visibility?
Recognize the distinctions between native advertising and content marketing.
The bulk of your existing promotions is most certainly classified as content marketing. Content marketing is usually concerned with the broad picture and long-term objectives. As a result, marketers place a premium on lead nurturing, leading to sales conversions. The conversion funnel is an excellent illustration of how to approach content marketing at various stages:
This is a never-ending process. Examine some of the preceding examples to see how they might be used for each step of the funnel. Newsletters, manuals, demos, blogs, discounts, and videos are all part of it. The list might go on forever. These promotions enhance brand recognition and assist in moving customers along the sales funnel. Native advertising is similar to traditional content campaigns in that they aim to raise brand awareness. Native advertising is something we’ve all seen before. Even if you aren’t aware of it, you have undoubtedly been exposed to them when surfing the web. Native advertising is adverts that are integrated into a page’s headlines. They’ve been disguised to look as if they’re simply another item. To illustrate what I’m talking about, look at this sample from the Yahoo homepage:
To make the native advertising stand out, I’ve highlighted it. You could have missed it the first time you looked at the list if I hadn’t pointed it out. This is because it follows the same format as the rest of the articles on the page. The size of the title and subtitles are the same. The colors and typography are identical to the non-sponsored material. The thumbnail image is also the same. You’d never realize it was a paid commercial if it wasn’t for the term “sponsored” printed above the headline. You pay for your screen real estate with native adverts. Consider it a virtual billboard. The purpose of these adverts is to stimulate the curiosity of prospective buyers. Native advertising is often not distributed via your distribution methods instead of your content strategy. These two marketing techniques will complement one another. Your content strategy will generate sales, even if a buyer discovers your company via a native ad.
Don’t deceive yourself.
You must ensure that your sponsored material does not deceive your viewers. It should be explicitly stated that it is a sponsored commercial. In reality, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has regulations requiring companies to disclose their relationships with corporations that pay for advertising. You will not only be breaking FTC standards, but you will also be misrepresenting your consumers, which is a poor idea. You don’t want to be known as someone unethical. This applies to both the firm that is showing the advertisement and the brand that is being promoted. Here’s an illustration. Let’s imagine you run a business that sells sports shoes. Several websites rank shoes. One of them is paid to write a positive review for one of your items. The FTC endorsement guidelines state that it is in violation if a review is not identified as paid material. There’s no need to be deceitful. This is because the vast majority of customers are unconcerned with native advertising.
You don’t have to influence another website’s content website just because you purchase ad space on it. Just emphasize that you want them to follow the FTC guidelines. Even if the website is not yours, you must ensure that your ad is appropriately tagged.
Do some market research on your intended audience.
To operate a successful sponsored content campaign, you must first determine your target market. Then, gather as much information as possible about this demographic and their purchasing patterns.
You’ll need to understand stuff like:
- what kind of advertisements they’re searching for
- the platforms on which they spend the most time
- which sites they go to
- what blogs they are interested in
- their main email provider
This will aid in the appropriate display of your sponsored advertising. Consider our previous example of the Yahoo homepage. If you learn that most of your target market utilizes Yahoo Mail, you might think about running a sponsored ad on that site. Websites aren’t the only place where you may find sponsored material. Sponsored content has taken over social media nowadays. If you discover your target audience has specific social media preferences, you may utilize this information to your advantage. For example, we know that 70% of Instagram hashtags are sponsored. However, just because a hashtag is branded doesn’t guarantee it’s being used to promote a product. Here’s an illustration of the difference. Anastasia Ashley, a pro surfer, and model, announced this sponsored content on her Instagram profile for Ellie’s Table and Google:
This campaign will reach a broad audience since Anastasia has over 1.1 million Instagram followers. Instagram just launched a new sponsored content option to assist companies and influencers in adhering to the FTC guidelines mentioned previously. This ad is identified with the “funded partnership” location tag and the “sponsored” hashtag, as you can see. We’ll go through social influencers in more depth later. But, for the time being, make sure you learn all you can about your target market. This study can assist you in making your sponsored content even more successful.
Change up your approach.
Sponsored content is available in a variety of formats. As you can see from the samples we’ve looked at so far, they’re all rather distinct. You may vary things up in various ways based on the sort of ad you want to run and the demographic you’re attempting to attract. Experiment with as many different kinds of sponsored advertising as you can to find which ones perform best. You may even send out a paid email newsletter. To begin, look for a newsletter relevant to your business and target market. Then, contact them directly to see if they’re interested in running a sponsored ad. Determine your objective ahead of time. This will make communicating your ideas to the firm in an issue much more straightforward.
For instance, you may approach them with the following ideas:
- in their mailings by repurposing your present material
- increasing the number of people who get your newsletter
- direct response marketing with their target market
This may be accomplished in a variety of ways. You may wish to incorporate graphics and videos in addition to typical newsletter content. Create a unique URL to monitor all of the leads generated by this campaign. You shouldn’t have to depend on your new partner’s metrics to be sent to you. Consider thinking beyond the box. What other kinds of sponsored advertising might help you expand your audience? Have you considered listening to podcasts? Take a look at how ZipRecruiter partnered with Daymond John’s show to promote their brand:
Podcast advertising might be much more helpful than you would expect. According to research, 75% of individuals who listen to podcasts take action after hearing a sponsored advertisement. Furthermore, people listen to around 90% of the duration of each episode, indicating that the bulk of them aren’t skipping advertising. Don’t get trapped thinking that sponsored content has to be in the shape of an article on a website’s homepage. There are several options for you to explore. I highly advise you to try them out.
Keep your spending under control.
The name is self-explanatory. Sponsored material is going to cost you money. That isn’t to say you have to spend a bunch on it. Sponsored advertising, like the rest of your marketing activities, must be kept within a budget. On the other hand, sponsored material does not have a defined price. The price will vary depending on the distributor and platform.
These are some of the most essential elements to consider when deciding how much to spend on various sorts of sponsored ads:
- the amount of time a person spends on a page
- sponsored article word count
- CPM (Compound Per Minute) is a (cost per thousand impressions)
- website’s page rank
- capture of leads
- engagement
- PPC (Pay Per Click) (click-through rates)
- traffic to a website
- amount of time an advertisement is seen
- the number of advertisements
- Subscribers to email
- Followers on social media
It may seem not very easy, but it’s relatively simple. For example, running an ad on a website with a high rating and a lot of traffic will cost you more money. Likewise, influencers with 100,000 followers might get a higher fee than those with just 5,000. It’s up to you to consider these factors and choose how much you’re prepared to pay to expand your reach.
Make connections with social influencers.
As I said previously, there are many different methods to operate sponsored content campaigns. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, for example, are all excellent places to start. However, since these social media sites are not the same as conventional websites, your marketing tactics must also be adjusted. The simplest method to achieve this is to use social influencer connections. Remember how I mentioned sponsored content should mix in with the rest of the page it’s on? A similar idea may be used in social media. For example, the sponsored material should seem to a user going through Instagram as simply another photo or video in their feed. There are several services on the web that can assist you in connecting with social influencers if you don’t already have any ties with them. Buzzsumo and Klear are two of my favorites. These systems help you in managing influencers across numerous social media channels. Here are the top platforms for user interaction in response to social influencer-sponsored content:
I recommend that you look for influencers on at least a couple of these social media platforms. Working with several influencers can help you expand your reach and, as a result, expose your business to a larger audience.
Allow sponsored content to help you with long-term initiatives.
Sponsored content is a sort of native advertising, as we’ve previously established. This is not the same as content marketing. However, this does not imply that the two marketing categories should be carried out separately. Your long-term marketing objectives must constantly be considered throughout the decision-making process. When running a sponsored ad, keep these points in mind. Your content marketing initiatives will benefit from the most effective forms of sponsored adverts. Recall the conversion funnel I mentioned previously. Your sponsored content has the potential to broaden your audience and create leads. As a consequence, your content strategy has the potential to increase conversions.
Examine your findings.
How can you tell whether your sponsored material is effective? You can’t simply put up advertisements and hope for the best. You must take the time to evaluate your findings. You’ll be able to make changes this way. Get rid of the advertisements that aren’t generating leads and keep the ones that are. For example, you may track the performance of your native advertisements using platforms like Linkedin’s lead generation forms.
Setting up an A/B test for your sponsored content is another option. The entire point of reviewing your outcomes is to assist you to remain inside your budget, the thing I’ve already said. You could find that some of your cheapest advertising is producing the best results. You may be able to cut some of your more expensive campaigns to save money. Only via analytics will you be able to find this out.
Conclusion
It’s fantastic to take advantage of free advertising. However, if you want to acquire an edge over your competition and expand your reach, you’ll need to invest some cash. Native advertising and sponsored content are a refreshing change from typical content marketing. Recognize the distinctions between these approaches and work to complement one another. Don’t deceive yourself. Ensure that your sponsored material complies with FTC guidelines. Investigate your target market to learn what sorts of advertising they want to view and which platforms they prefer. Don’t limit yourself to one form of native ad. To keep your approach fresh, use a variety of sponsored material. Forming ties with social media influencers is your best chance to offer sponsored content on such sites. Stick to your budget and examine your performance to make any required changes. If you use native advertisements and sponsored content in conjunction with these ideas, you’ll be able to reach a larger audience. In order to create a successful sponsored content campaign, one must first understand the basic concepts of sponsored content. These include the DTC business model, where an advertiser pays a publisher for every time their ad is shown on the publisher’s website or app.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does sponsored content help advertisers reach their audiences?
A: Sponsored content is essentially a form of advertising that utilizes the audience’s interest in products or services they may be interested in. For example, you might see a post on Instagram with an advertisement for some new shoes and decide to click through to learn more about them.
How do you leverage content?
A: Create a story, character, or object and give them some dialogue so the user can interact with it.
What is leverage content marketing?
A: Leverage content marketing is the process of creating and distributing compelling, unique, and valuable content to your target audience that helps you sell more products.
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