Ever considered doing sponsored advertising? It’s your time to shine!

Sponsored advertising is nothing new. We’ve seen it line the stands of sporting events and heard it during the breaks in our favorite radio and TV shows. You know, the old, “we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.” But now, thanks to the internet, sponsored marketing has reached new heights.

The internet has a way of taking everything it touches to the next level, and marketing is no exception. The internet and social media are like stadiums full of sponsored ads with worldwide reach. And since the internet and apps run on data, businesses can leverage this information to target their audiences better than ever before. To stick with the stadium analogy, these days, companies aren’t just targeting sports fans; they’re reaching a specific niche of them.

It’s the dawn of an exciting new age for sponsored advertising, meaning that in the digital era, your business has a lot to gain from it.

How does sponsored advertising work?

In online sponsored advertising, brands get promotional content in front of their target audience. This is what we call growing brand awareness.

On social media, analytics determine who sees what sponsored content. If you use apps like Instagram, you’ve probably noticed the sponsored ads that pop up as you scroll between photos of your friends’ latest adventures. Perhaps you’ve also realized that those ads are often for products or services you’d actually consider buying. That’s the power of data-backed advertising.

On the internet, sponsored ads crop up when we search for items. If you use a search browser to look for a camping tent, you’ll be shown all sorts of informational and shopping content related to your inquiry. Among these results, you’ll find sponsored content — ads directing you to websites that have paid to promote the camping gear they sell. Sometimes sponsored content is so subtle that you have to look closely to distinguish these results from organic ones.

Sponsored ads vs. paid ads

Sponsored ads are a type of paid ad, so you can think of “paid ad” as a catch-all term. Businesses pay social media apps or browsers to post their content to a targeted group of viewers. Viewers usually stumble upon sponsored content when looking at other related information, like social media posts or search engine results. Sponsored content, however, is usually marked as such.

What are the pros and cons of sponsored posts?

Sponsored advertising is excellent, but it’s also not too good to be true. It’s a content marketing strategy like any other, with pros and cons and nuances that affect its success.

Pros

• Lead to sales: Since affiliate content is easily clickable, you can quickly turn viewer interest into leads and sales. Sponsored content can be linked directly to your e-commerce site.
• Better performance than traditional ads: Because these ads are clickable, they're more efficient than traditional print or display ads. They take viewers right to a site where they can purchase a product or service.
• Get higher engagement rates: Some pretty smart algorithms decide where to place sponsored posts, so your ad campaign will get in front of the right viewers, who are more likely to engage with your content because it appeals to them.

Cons

• Expensive to create: Unlike some less costly forms of virtual marketing, like using affiliated links, sponsored advertising requires thought and creativity. If you want to create eye-catching sponsored content that makes your brand look trustworthy, you may have to shell out for professional design.
• Possibly deceptive: Remember our sponsored ad example about the content on Instagram that’s so organically integrated into your feed you almost don’t track it as content you don’t actually follow? Not all viewers like the feeling of being “tricked” into seeing sponsored products, even if the content aligns with their interests. But, sponsored content isn’t going anywhere, so, as you use this resource for your business, just be sure to clearly mark the content as sponsored.

How to run sponsored ads

Many social media applications and popular web browsers will make it easy for you to purchase a sponsored ad. Facebook offers the option through their business center, Instagram has a similar initiative, and Amazon has a pay-per-click program.

If you want your sponsored content to come up when people search for a product on the internet, consider programs like Google Ads.

Alternatively, you can partner directly with influencers. Research, where your target audience spends time on social media or find new audiences you want to reach. Then, find influencers who are successful in these niches. The influencers you select don’t have to have millions of followers, just an engaged audience in your product area. Offer to pay them for an ad or send free products to pitch to their audience (and keep them for themselves).

Things to keep in mind

Sponsored advertising is constantly evolving, and there will continue to be new ways to promote your brand. Now is as good a time as any to see if this type of marketing works well for your business.

If you’re not ready to make a big investment, you could start off with a pay-per-click (PPC) program. Amazon, for example, offers this service. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, generating a lead for your company.

And, if you’re not ready to invest money in advertising altogether, try an entry-level affiliate marketing program, where you ask people who already know and love your products to promote them for a commission on clicks or conversions. If you’re ready to see what sponsored advertising can do for you, let Linktree help. Get your personalized link here.