How To Write An Advertorial: 2 Examples

Several advertising textbooks suggest advertorial or editorial style advertising always outpulls conventional advertising layouts.

While it's true that readership of an advertorial can be anywhere from 5-10 times that of regular ads, it doesn't always follow that response is superior. Every serious marketer knows the answer lies in testing.

Two things are for certain.

First, most small business advertisers are so busy aping institutional advertising, they aren't even aware of the advertorial approach, which can often clobber bigger and better capitalized competitors.

Second, print advertisers who test standard advertising layouts verses editorial layouts are rare indeed, and often see wide variation in response between the two formats.

I like the way this small business advertorial heads off everything from price objections to the potholes in the store's parking lot. This quarter page ad had numerous insertions in the mid-1990's and went head-to-head with far bigger furniture chains.

This ingenious ad within an advertorial hails from mail order veteran, Mark Haroldsen.

This ad give prospects twice as many opportunities to respond. Those inclined to read editorial copy have got it. Those attracted to standard layouts have it as well.

Keep in mind, while reading this ad, how revolutionary the concept of buying homes with a PC was back in 1989.

The "ad-within-an-advertorial" approach may be the least used, yet ripest possibility in full page space advertising.