{"id":60722,"date":"2020-06-23T22:09:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T22:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.glaciermediadigital.ca\/?p=60722"},"modified":"2020-06-30T15:01:53","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T15:01:53","slug":"understanding-sponsored-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lodestardigital.ca\/index.php\/2020\/06\/23\/understanding-sponsored-content\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Sponsored Content?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Content is everywhere, and everything is content.<\/p>\n

How can a business create and share material that will cut through the noise and reach their target audience?<\/p>\n

First, it is important to understand that your business needs<\/em> to be online because a brand is much more credible if it has an online presence. Consider this: when you\u2019re interested in trying a different salon or looking to purchase new sporting equipment, you take a peek at what the business and its customers are saying about it online, right? Well, people are Googling your business in the same way too and if there isn’t much information online, they’ll move on.<\/p>\n

Churning out content to keep your business\u2019 social feeds and blog relevant can be incredibly difficult if your team doesn\u2019t have the bandwidth or marketing experience. It is also hard to carve out a budget and hire someone in-house when you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re looking for or where to start.<\/p>\n

The good news is, there are other ways to share your messages and get your brand online. One of the most effective ways is through sponsored content.<\/p>\n

What is Sponsored Content?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sponsored content is a form of native advertising paid for by an advertiser but crafted and shared by a publisher. The publisher will already have a healthy list of subscribers, making it easier for the advertiser to reach new audiences and convert leads.<\/p>\n

Sponsored content is at the top of the funnel so it should be light and entertaining content that a reader would find useful\u2014it is not an opportunity for businesses to promote and sell. Instead, the goal is to expand the public\u2019s understanding of the advertiser as not only a business that is looking to make a sale but also as an expert source of great ideas and knowledge. Sponsored content positions the advertiser as a specialist in the field, and by partnering with a credible publisher, that positioning is verified. Once that trust begins to build, potential customers will organically take an interest in the brand and become curious about the products and services the advertiser offers. In other words, light the path, but let them come to you on their own.<\/p>\n

Sponsored content is usually formatted in the same way as editorial, and it falls into the in-feed subgroup, showing up as part of the usual feed. Therefore, it is not intrusive like traditional ads that pop-up when we\u2019re streaming content or tapping through Instagram stories. Instead, it shows up where the reader is already looking for something similar. When it is useful information, we don\u2019t mind that it is sponsored.<\/p>\n

In fact, sponsored content has proven<\/a> to be more engaging than display ads, it drives higher brand recall, and readers trust the content when a publisher shares it.<\/p>\n

Here at the Glacier Content Studio, we know sponsored content pretty well. Our community news and lifestyle websites draw in eight million cumulative monthly page views, which provides an opportunity for all kinds of businesses to reach a massive audience quickly and without having to do too much of the work themselves.<\/p>\n

Here are the types of sponsored content we currently publish across our local news networks (click on the images to view each project):<\/p>\n

Editorial Narrative Style:<\/strong><\/p>\n