Why Is Branded Content Effective When Published by the Top 1% Publishers?

Which is better for you, a sponsored content article or a press release? Learn the differences between these two marketing tools and decide which one to use. Knowing how to use both could help your long-term marketing goals.

We will compare them and show ways they could help your business. Then, we’ll explain how to make top-tier sponsored articles and press releases. For best results, you need both, along with other strategies available. Traditional ads aren’t as effective nowadays because people have gotten used to them, and people dislike them since they take time away from what they are doing. A sponsored content article vs press release is a slow burn compared to the sudden flash of traditional ads. Yet, they help build a good relationship with your customer base for more leads and sales.

First of all, what exactly is sponsored content?

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), these are a type of native advertising. It’s a paid ad that matches the website where it’s published. Other examples include in-feed ads and search ads, and sponsored content does away with the direct approach of trad ads. It provides something that consumers like, such as entertainment or information. Instead of selling a product or service outright, it builds audience exposure that drives:

• Relevance, brand awareness, traffic, leads, conversion, and trust.

Sponsored posts come in numerous forms. They’re spread across several social media platforms and websites. Here are some of them:

• Pictures, YouTube videos, articles, infographics, sponsored tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook stories, Snapchat stories, and podcasts. As people see more of them, they start to see a company in a good way. If they find the content fun or valuable, they may try goods and services from the brand.

What is a press release?

Big companies may tell the public about the latest stuff they’re doing. Maybe they merged with another business. Perhaps they’re reporting about a new product launch.

News releases usually give information that the public must know as soon as possible. Companies may want the media to tell about it, so they’ll tell it to other people. A press release may share something about a brand so that reporters may report it in an article. It may somewhat serve as an online promotion of your business. Still, it’s best to keep your marketing and PR campaigns separate. The media might not report too well about your brand mixing both in a public statement.

Difference Between Sponsored Articles vs. Press Releases

You shouldn’t confuse a press release with editorial content, though. The main difference lies in how your message spreads on the internet. You pay a media outlet to publish your sponsored or blog posts. These native ads often have the words “paid promotion” or “sponsored content” at the start or end of an article. Meanwhile, a press release should encourage reporters to write about your brand. Your PR team should provide an angle that the media couldn’t resist writing about!

Sponsored content pros & cons:

Pros

• People trust sponsored content – Gen Z, Gen X, and Millenials like it more than traditional ads. Many of them think it’s more interesting.
• Increases brand appeal – As people read your sponsored posts, they may start liking your brand more. Those have to connect well with your audience, though.
• Helps you stay competitive – The internet gives the most extensive customer base ever, and content marketing lets you tap into it. Most companies already use sponsored blogs, so why shouldn’t you?
• Targeted towards consumers – It gives companies more creative control on what message they want to deliver

Cons

• It might backfire – Mess up sponsored content, and your brand image might take a hit. Thankfully, digital marketing agencies like LeadAdvisors can handle your campaign.
• You might lose your readers’ trust – Make sure you clearly explain what your content is about. Otherwise, your readers might feel you took advantage of them.
• This takes a long time to work – You need time to post enough content and gain a massive audience. That’s why marketing campaigns often involve other strategies.

Which is better for you, a sponsored content article vs a press release? Learn the differences between these two marketing tools and decide which one to use. Knowing how to use both could help your long-term marketing goals.

First, we’ll go through the details of a sponsored content article vs press release. We will compare them and show the ways they could help your business. Then, we’ll explain how to make top-tier sponsored articles and press releases. For best results, you need both, along with other strategies available.

Traditional ads aren’t as effective nowadays because people have gotten used to them, and people dislike them since they take time away from what they are doing. A sponsored content article vs press release is a slow burn compared to the sudden flash of traditional ads. Yet, they help build a good relationship with your customer base for more leads and sales.

What is sponsored content?

Before we get to press releases, let’s talk about sponsored content. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), these are a type of native advertising.

It’s a paid ad that matches the website where it’s published. Other examples include in-feed ads and search ads, and sponsored content does away with the direct approach of trad ads.

It provides something that consumers like, such as entertainment or information. Instead of selling a product or service outright, it builds audience exposure that drives:

• Relevance, brand awareness, traffic, leads, conversion, and trust.

Sponsored posts come in numerous forms. They’re spread across several social media platforms and websites. Here are some of them:

• Pictures, YouTube videos, listicles, articles, infographics, sponsored tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook stories, Snapchat stories, podcasts, and many more!

As people see more of them, they start to see a company in a good way. If they find the content fun or valuable, they may try goods and services from the brand.

What is a press release?

Big companies may tell the public about the latest stuff they’re doing. Maybe they merged with another business. Perhaps they’re reporting about a new product launch.

News releases usually give information that the public must know as soon as possible. Companies may want the media to tell about it, so they’ll tell it to other people. A press release may share something about a brand so that reporters may report it in an article. It may somewhat serve as an online promotion of your business. Still, it’s best to keep your marketing and PR campaigns separate. The media might not report too well about your brand mixing both in a public statement.

What is a PR wire release?

Companies might not have the time to wait for the media to publish their content on a press release wire service. They went away from TV and radio and into the internet. If people see your blogs on their websites, your brand may gain more respect, and it might stick in people’s minds as an industry expert. What’s more, print publications talk about your company. As it’s featured more often, you might catch the attention of magazines or journals. In turn, they could report more about your brand.

You may check out the biggest ones like PR Newswire and Business Wire. Still, they have some flaws. Later, we’ll discuss some of these problems.

Difference Between Sponsored Articles vs. Press Releases

You shouldn’t confuse a press release with editorial content, though. The main difference lies in how your message spreads on the internet.

You pay a media outlet to publish your sponsored or blog posts. These native ads often have the words “paid promotion” or “sponsored content” at the start or end of an article.

Meanwhile, a press release should encourage reporters to write about your brand. Your PR team should provide an angle that the media couldn’t resist writing about!

?If you’re going with a press release, it’s similar to sponsored content. You’ll often need to pay for both of them. There are ways to publish them for free, but they might not have much impact. As we’ve said, sponsored posts often give info that readers could use in their daily lives. Otherwise, they provide entertainment as videos or other online content.

PR could talk about topics besides their products or services. For instance, it could tell about an upcoming event. A company might say to the public about awards it won recently.

Sponsored Content Pros & Cons

Pros

• People trust sponsored content – Gen Z, Gen X, and Millenials like it more than traditional ads. Many of them think it’s more interesting.
• Increases brand appeal – As people read your sponsored posts, they may start liking your brand more. Those have to connect well with your audience, though.
• Helps you stay competitive – The internet gives the most extensive customer base ever, and content marketing lets you tap into it. Most companies already use sponsored blogs, so why shouldn’t you?
• Targeted towards consumers – It gives companies more creative control on what message they want to deliver

Cons

• It might backfire – Mess up sponsored content, and your brand image might take a hit. Thankfully, digital marketing agencies like LeadAdvisors can handle your campaign.
• You might lose your readers’ trust – Make sure you clearly explain what your content is about. Otherwise, your readers might feel you took advantage of them.
• This takes a long time to work – You need time to post enough content and gain a massive audience. That’s why marketing campaigns often involve other strategies.

Press Release Pros & Cons

Pros

• More websites will feature your brand – Some media outlets probably check your industry. If they see your brand in a press release wire, they might write about you too.
• More affordable than other ads – You may need some funds ready for a PR wire. Still, other forms of advertising might be more expensive.
• Shows your progress to everyone – As you post more PR about your milestones, people will see the trail you left behind, and that long record of progress could attract more attention to your brand.

Cons

• It could still be expensive – Every business owner wants the best for your brand. If you want the best services, it could mean $1,000 and up for every press release.
• It may not reach more customers – People don’t check the press release wires often.
• You might not get your money’s worth – You’ll need massive amounts of time and money to post just one press release. As others want attention from readers, they might not notice yours.
• Shorter lifespan – Press releases typically only stay relevant 1-2 weeks after the announcement. Anything older than a month is no longer relevant.