Three sponsored content packages
It is not always easy to explain complex content marketing programs that involve a variety of content formats and distribution channels. Here are seven tips on creating packages that sell sponsored content:
- Go visual
Mike Dragosovich, CEO of Spotlight Media and national Niche Publisher of the Year, always aims for high visual impact and materials that do the selling for his team and shared them at the Niche Media Conference so other publishers do not need to reinvent the wheel. Just click on the grey buttons to download the pdf, which you can edit using Canva, to insert your brand:
This is a key skill for branded content when sponsors buy how they will “look” along with editorial. Note the trademark “spotlight” color yellow highlights key points, and the font is always super bold:
Like Spotlight Media, Editor & Publisher, also visually displays where the sponsored content will run and how it will look.
E&P uses red as their highlight color, along with extra “red pointers” circling where the client stories are in relation to surrounding content in print, online, and in the newsletter.
2. Consider a flow chart of all the channels reached
Along with the media kit, Dragosavich shared a sheet he calls “Sponsored Content Effectiveness.” It is genius, so we will walk through what is in the flow chart. Meanwhile, you can click on the grey button to download the PDF and Canva to edit from a PDF and change the branding and content make it yours.
Unlike the media kits and sales flyers that typically show big visuals of where the sponsored content will run, often with an editorial calendar, the Sponsored Content Effectiveness chart focused completely on results from all channels.
It starts the header, “How far can your sponsored article go?”
Then, from left to right, two pages outline how value and reach accumulate:
a. Pre-article process
What your company will provide, including interview, writing, photography, video, and what is “Theirs to keep,” i.e. use of photos.
Not thatGoogle Search is even included as well, since that is another piece of the value.
c. .The distribution channels are divided into client-owned, print, digital magazine, and promotions to the website, with the traffic counted summarized in yellow.
3. Add in everything that can be included
Spotlight’s “effectiveness” flow chart includes all these channels:
- Client-owned channel, “Your network” – Social media, email, and website, 12,000* Print – Printed and mailed, 35,000
- Digital magazine version – LinkedIn post, email, social media, 18,000
- FargoInc.com – Facebook boost, LinkedIn boost, Instagram boost, Facebook post, 65,000
How many media include the client’s own reach in the proposal? At the end of the chart is a reach of 130,000 in a bold yellow box.
Editor & Publisher has a similar, count all the channels approach, including the social media reach, on the first page of the media kit.
When Mike Blinder took over Editor & Publisher Magazine (full disclosure, the author has written for this magazine in the past on the editorial and later branded content side), his background as a sales consultant who would go into markets, craft sales materials for a drive around a particular product or package, and his team would then lead the drive. you can still see some of of these strategies in the magazine’s kit.
4. Maintain editorial control
Publishers set a high bar, and E&P’s sponsored content consistently meets their standards. E&P maintains client control for high-value content. For written sponsored content, the client is required to supply a client use case, and it clearly states that “Ad copy will be reviewed to meet proper editorial standards before approval” right in the media kit. Having written a couple of these, they are designed to show value to the reader in much the same format as other E&P articles.
5. Use testimonials
Next is a significant and convincing testimonial that E&P places on each product page – in fact, ten of them, with an image of the advertiser next to their quote. They are placed like interstitial ads between each product.
6. Include audio and visual media: Videocasts, Webinars, and Podcasts have great engagement
There is a plethora of great sponsored content products produced by E&P: A content link in the “Daily Headlines” newsletter, a printed page of business spotlights with a QR code and a bio, a dedicated e-blast, a content block in the “Morning Exclusives” newsletter, and the full page sponsored article in print and online.
But the most impressive that we want to spend some time with is the “E&P Hosted Partner Webinar.” 
It includes ongoing promotions of the webinar hosted by Blinder and taking advantage of his skills as a former radio announcer and speaker. Plus, the partner receives a full-page write-up of the webinar and a list of all of the registered attendees. There is even a subscription giveaway at the end of each webinar.
These webinars, priced at $4,750 have been popular both with attendees and advertisers. As always, the topics are carefully curated, and attendance is in the range of 100 to 300.
7. Give away the attendee lists and other captured leads
As always, the key is delivering value, and E&P has stepped up its game with these webinars and worked on the street with vendors. They are a more successful form of advertising than other similar offerings, more along the lines of an event than static sponsored content. Not only do they reach attendees in a more compelling way – an interview that often includes use cases from successful clients – but also, the advertiser receives a list of who attended.
If you are interested in linking your own tips and materials with ours, please send us an email to alisa@nichemeediainsider.com
