Native Advertising – Jon Gelberg
SUMMARY
Jon is the Executive Editor at Inc. Media and has won over 20 awards in journalism and content marketing. On this episode, he explains what native advertising is and how it can be a revenue stream for you if you have a blog or you’re writing content anywhere.
He also says that there’s no writer out there that every article they write sings and so, it is crucial to build trust with your audience and to be consistently good. When you do that, you can create content that resonates with your audience.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Native advertising is a way for advertisers to connect with the audience of the publication that they’ve chosen to work with.The critical thing with native advertising is to understand and reach your audience and find ways to help them.
Publications can win a business by showing how their audience fits what the business is looking for best.
Readers and people looking for videos want content that speaks to them.
It takes quality writing to get people’s attention.
Get a blogger to represent your business because you can turn off your audience with bad writing.
Building up trust and being consistently good are the keys not to lose people.
When you write a piece of content, think “Is this for my benefit or is this for the benefit of the audience?”
TRANSCRIPTION: NATIVE ADVERTISING – JON GELBERG
Luis Congdon
Hey, Thriving Launchers. Today, let’s talk about how to add some extra revenue to your blog, magazine, or to your writing through native advertising, all that and more in today’s episode.
Kamala Chambers
We’re here with the executive editor at Inc. Media, Jon Gelbert. This guy has won over 20 awards in journalism and content marketing. You may have seen him on columns like Business Insider and CBS Interactive, and numerous other digital platforms.
Luis Congdon
All right, Thriving Launchers, let’s talk about writing and native advertising. Let’s get Jon on the call.
Jon, are you ready to launch?
Jon Gelberg
I am ready to launch.
Luis Congdon
There’s this whole thing called native advertising. Now, it’s new to me.
As somebody who writes for various magazines and loves Inc. Magazine, one of the places that Jon happens to be the chief editor at, I’d love to kick us off. What is native advertising?
What Native Advertising Is
Jon Gelberg
Native advertising is a way for advertisers to connect with the audience of the publication that they’ve chosen to work with.
Advertisers are looking to work with the owners and leaders of fast-growing companies who come to Inc. because that’s the audience they want to reach with their products and services.
They can reach with any number of ways, but brands are finding them by creating compelling content, engaging the audience, and showing either thought leadership or empathy or understanding of the audience that creates a favorable impression of the brand.
Kamala Chambers
I’d love to hear. Is native advertising diminishing content in a way to make it as an ad instead of just pure educational content?
Luis Congdon
Yeah, because that’s something I can hear you guys going.
Thriving Launchers, I can hear you guys going, “Well, but then maybe my blog or my website is going to start to feel like a commercial, and my readers won’t like it so much.” Kamala’s question is fantastic. Go ahead, Jon.
Jon Gelberg
That’s something we deal with every day with native advertising
Create Content That Doesn’t Look Salesy With Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
Some brands have to be educated regarding, “Our audience does not want to be sold to, and certainly not sold to blatantly.” The content either has no connection to what they’re selling or may gently lead them in that direction.
Luis Congdon
Yeah, we don’t want to be sold. People don’t like being sold to unless you’re in sales.
Personally, I love hearing people’s sales pitch if it’s done well, and in a classy way. When it comes to content though, we don’t want to feel like we’re being sold. We want to feel like we’re being educated.
What are some tips and strategies on how to utilize native advertising efficiently?
Thriving Launchers, you don’t have to get into native advertising to take these tips and apply them because maybe you have a blog and you’re creating some content that teaches people something. You want to say, “Hey, do you want to hire me as a coach?” or, “We have the coaching to help you improve this.”
How do we do that kind of plug in a way that’s classy and educational yet, still keeps that native advertising piece going?
Native Advertising As Under Content Marketing
Jon Gelberg
Well, native advertising is under the umbrella of content marketing.
Any size company can create content that engages their audience.
Let’s say you’re a small company. You want to demonstrate your expertise. You want to show the kind of advice or the service that you would give. But the important thing is to understand your audience, reaching your audience, and finding ways to help your audience.
Creating Positive Connection With Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
Native advertising is about creating a positive connection.
Kamala Chambers
How would businesses and companies start to implement native advertising?
Jon Gelberg
It can happen in many ways.
How Publications Can Do Native Advertising For Businesses
Jon Gelberg
One, they can do it on their own, but what they usually do and what we find is that they will reach out to multiple publications and have a specific ask in an RFP or Request for Proposal. They will say, “We are looking to promote X, Y, or Z. We have a budget of x dollars. What ideas can you show or what would you do with that budget for our brand?”
It’s a competition. You win the business by being the most creative, by serving the brand best, and by serving your audience best. You win the business by showing how your audience fits what they’re looking for best.
Native Advertisement As Another Revenue Stream
Luis Congdon
One thing I like about native advertising, Thriving Launchers is that it’s another revenue stream for you.
It’s a revenue stream for you if you own an online magazine, if you write content anywhere, or if you’re not stepping outside of the rules. As somebody who writes for various magazines, there are some places where I have to click “I was not paid or endorsed in any way to write this piece.” That aside, the native advertising can be a great tool.
If you have a blog for example and you’re doing excellent, you could approach companies and say, “Hey, we can offer some native advertising. There is some synergy here, and we could write a piece that includes your product or services that blends into our audience.”
One thing I’m curious about you Jon is, do you have some bits of advice or warning for people that are interested in getting into native advertising? What are some stakes or things they should be cognizant of other than just that blatant pitch? Are there other things that they should consider?
Rules Surrounding Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
One thing that has not come up yet, which is critical, is that FTC rules are surrounding native advertising.
The idea is not to fool your audience into believing that the content you’re getting from the brand is coming from your publication. Quite to the contrary, you have to make it clear that any piece of native advertising, whether it’s video, an infographic, or an article, is marked as native content, and as provided by a specific provider.
Luis Congdon
So you want to make it evident that you’ve been paid or somehow, there’s some connection? That’s good because I know that when people put links to affiliates and something, and they don’t tell me, and I noticed that it’s an affiliate or I see that they’re working together. I raise an eyebrow and go, “Was that really in my best interest or were you just being paid?”
Jon Gelberg
The idea is readers, and people looking for videos want content that speaks to them.
Importance Of Headlines With Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
What’s critical and incredibly important are the headlines that you write. Are you grabbing people’s attention? Is this something even though they know it comes from a brand, do they want to read it? Do they want to see the video? Do they want to be in an immersive hub type experience?
With the right budget, you can get very creative regarding mixing articles, videos, and quizzes. There are any numbers of ways of engaging the audience with native advertising.
Kamala Chambers
What are some of the first steps to get started?
Jon Gelberg
Let’ say for a small business.
Getting Started With Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
I’ve worked with some startups before coming here, and we created a trove, what we called at one place, the business learning center. We launched with about 15 articles all very specific to our business, but all helpful to people reading them.
We then, use those articles to pitch other media and show them the articles, and say, “Do you want to run them here?” From those articles that we initially produced in a very low budget, we were able to get into some smaller publications, and we built up this practice to the point where we ended up with two articles a month in the New York Times, You’re The Boss. You build it up.
Then, when you start getting bigger and bigger audiences for your content representing your brand, business starts rolling in, and it’s a great way to show what you are about and what you know if you have a sense of humor. All doesn’t have to be serious stuff. It should be fun, engaging, and entertaining.
Quality Writing In Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
The other thing that I will say here is that there are a lot of people now who are publishers because that’s what the web allows us to do, but it takes quality writing to get people’s attention. There’s a whole lot of content out there.
If you’re going to start creating content and you have the internal talent, that’s great. Write with that. If not, get a professional. Get a copywriter, get a blogger to represent your business because you can turn off your audience with bad writing or writing that is going to the wrong audience or just doesn’t resonate.
Luis Congdon
That reminds me of when I was sitting with John Maxwell at one time, and he said to me, “I’m as good as my last book.”
His whole point was that even though he’s written a lot of books, he’s world renowned, and one of the most prominent figures in leadership in our decade, he acknowledges and fully cognizant of the fact that he’s as good as his last book. If he puts out something that isn’t good, he could lose so much of it and throw away a reputation that’s been worked for very diligently and with lots of consistency, and hard effort.
I think you’re saying the same thing, right Jon?
Building Up Trust As Key To Native Advertising
Jon Gelberg
When you build a loyal audience, there’s trust. There’s no writer out there that every article they write sings.
But if you build up trust and you’re consistently good, that’s the trick. When we launched a series of articles here, some resonate far more than others. It’s just the way it is.
You hit a pain point, you hit a nerve, or you go into an area where someone hasn’t thought before, and that story can just take off. If it’s a story that someone feels, “Maybe I’ve read this article somewhere before,” then you’re going to start to lose people.
Kamala Chambers
Before we go, what is it that we haven’t covered yet?
What is the most important thing you want to leave the Thriving Launchers with that we haven’t already talked about regarding native advertising?
With Native Advertising, Work On The Craft Of Writing
Jon Gelberg
When you’re starting out, and speaking to your audience, work on the craft of writing.
When you write a piece, think “Is this for my benefit or is this for the benefit of the audience?”
Jon Gelberg
What do they like? What other things are they reading? What do they need?
Native Advertising And Writing As A Service Occupation
Jon Gelberg
Find their needs and serve the needs. This is very much a service occupation.
Luis Congdon
Thriving Launchers, that’s a great note to end.
Thriving Launchers, I want to give you one of the take away I’ve had from today’s episode.
Show Up To Serve With Native Advertising
Luis Congdon
One is to show up to serve. When you’re there to write, work with people, and syndicate a message, show up to serve. That’s what we’re here for at Thriving Launch.
One of the other things that I got, which was a great nugget for me as somebody who’s writing and working diligently to be the best possible writer that I can be is no writer on the planet every single time write something that sings and moves and is perfect.
Consistency In Native Advertising
Luis Congdon
But if you’re consistent, you keep showing up, and you show up to serve, you will build a loyal audience and a following. They’ll forgive you, and you can keep showing up so that you can continue serving.
With that Thriving Launchers, I leave you. I don’t know what you got out of it, but I hope you’ve taken a moment to think, take some action, and we’ll see you in the next episode. Keep thriving you all.
