Sponsored Content Needs More Than Good Storytelling, It Needs a Good Story

Sponsored content doesn’t have to be an oxymoron. As publishers and marketers double down on their commitment to providing deeper branded experiences, instead of traditional advertising, the rules of the road are becoming clearer on both sides. And more so than just four or five years ago; conventions for doing it right have emerged. In talking to a range of publishers of various sizes and categories, we found that the practices ensuring sponsored content maintains a publisher’s voice and integrity take remarkably similar form. Getting it right, making sponsored content serve the interests of readers, publishers and their clients remains a complex process that starts with basic organization and goal setting but also lends itself to certain content formats, as well as execution and measurement regimen.    Think like editors In talking to sources, the consensus seems to be that creating authentic sponsored content starts with how the operation is organized and connected to the editorial team.  “We are a full-service, one-stop shop,” says Adam Ochman, senior VP, creative and strategy at Leaf Group, whose brand portfolio includes Hunker, LiveStrong.com and Well+Good. A full staff of writers focus solely on branded content, with little outsourcing, he says. That keeps the branded content team in day-to-day contact with the company's editors and processes to ensure its brand voices are ingrained. “We operate more like an editorial enterprise,” says Outside's Sam Moulton, who... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-03-05 17:34:24 UTC ]
News tagged with: #social distribution #key metric #user experience

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Sponsored Content Needs More Than Good Storytelling, It Needs a Good Story'


Martin Sorrell-backed S4S Ventures, Bertelsmann invest $10M in data asset management outfit as it blends new content, analytics-based marketing for clients

The recent explosion in content has created the need not only for more sophisticated tools to manage it, but better ways to attach data and analytics to the content in order to better optimize it at the right time for the right opportunity. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2022-11-22 05:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recent explosion #bertelsmann


Oh good, TikTok is breaking into bookselling.

We all know books have the power to move us to tears, and that those tears have the power to move books. Last year, with the sudden rise on popularity of certain titles, the publishing industry realized that BookTok might have the ability to shape the market. One reader cries on camera about... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-18 18:44:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #move books #sudden rise #madeline miller #publishing industry


Choosing to Bear Witness: Writing the Story of a Body

My clearest memory of my freshman year of college takes place in the emergency room of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where I was studying English Literature at Boston University and living on the eighteenth floor of Warren Towers, in Tower C, in a room with southern exposure. Despite... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-17 09:53:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #boston university #bear witness #freshman year #english literature


How brands are keeping audiences engaged in a competitive content world

Arthur Gerigk, senior director of product management, Google Ads Today, consumers navigate a widening variety of digital content from text to image to video — and they choose to spend their time in the experiences that feel most natural and intuitive for them. Ahead of the holiday season, Google... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2022-11-16 15:33:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #senior director #product management #holiday season #google partnered #digital content


Beneath Its Pink Cover, ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ Offers a Story About Power

The best-selling debut author Bonnie Garmus created Elizabeth Zott, a chemist battling a sexist 1950s establishment, as the role model she craved — and found that readers wanted the same. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-11-16 14:07:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #role model #readers wanted #debut author


'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Alters How Superhero Stories Handle Death

Comic book saviors get resurrected all the time. Chadwick Boseman’s 2020 death made that impossible for Black Panther’s sequel. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-11-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black panther #wakanda forever #comic book


Why media investors are saying publishing company VC funding slowdown is a good thing

The venture capital market is slowing -- and while that might be a good thing for some investors, it'll likely be more difficult for media companies to raise capital. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2022-11-10 05:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good thing #media companies


Hoopla Offers 'MasterClass' Content to Libraries

Four of MasterClass's popular streaming tutorials are now available to public library patrons via the hoopla app with more classes to be added monthly. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Review: The biggest, most intricately ambitious little story you'll read this year

Irish author Claire Keegan is one of those U.S. 'discoveries' who have been known back home for years. With 'Foster,' she earns that acclaim and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-11-01 14:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ll read #back home #irish author


“A Ghost Is a Memory.” On Bodies, Belief, and the Places Ghost Stories Live

The proprietor’s name is Amy (except that, of course, it isn’t). She’s a kind, petite woman in her forties, the owner of a ghost-themed bookstore in a small southern city. I won’t tell you which city. It’s for your own safety. This is, after all, a ghost story. And most importantly: it’s true.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-31 08:57:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ghost story #bookshop #bookstore


Cover reveal: See the cover for Luis Alberto Urrea’s Good Night, Irene.

Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Luis Alberto Urrea’s Good Night, Irene, the latest novel from the bestselling novelist and Pulitzer Prize and NBCC finalist, which will be published by Little, Brown, this spring. Here’s how the publisher describes the novel: In 1943, Irene... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-21 13:30:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good night #literary hub #bestselling novelist #publisher describes #pulitzer prize


The Eerie Experience of Watching My Science Fiction Story Become Real

On May 13, I finally got to read my wayward science fiction story “It Is the Voice That Unnerves Me” in The Dread Machine. I had been submitting the story since the spring of 2019, and had thought many times about consigning it to the “retired” list. I knew every word, sentence and section break... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-10-20 11:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #electric literature #science fiction


Movie Alert: 'The School for Good and Evil'

Something evil this way comes to Netflix this month: 'The School for Good and Evil,' based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Soman Chainani, which launched a bestselling book series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #movie alert #bestselling book


20 Must-Read Horror Short Stories

There's no better time to read horror short stories than October. With Halloween fast approaching, dive into these 20 spooky tales. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-10-17 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short stories


Eurovision 2023: 1969 joint-winner Lulu says 'you have to be a good loser'

The former Eurovision winner had backed Glasgow, which lost to Liverpool in its bid to host the 2023 song contest. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2022-10-08 07:32:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lulu


‘Good Asian,’ ‘Squire,’ Win Harveys; Gaiman Inducted in Harvey Hall of Fame

'The Good Asian' by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandrew Tefenkgi and 'Squire' by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh won Harvey Awards; and Sandman creator Neil Gaiman was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame, during an awards ceremony held at Friday night during New York Comic Con. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #friday night


‘Miracle find’: rare Don Quixote and short stories could sell for €900k

Sotheby’s describes 17th-century Cervantes editions as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for collectorsOne day in the early 1930s, a young Bolivian diplomat named Jorge Ortiz Linares walked into the illustrious Maggs Bros bookshop in London to ask if they might have a particularly fine edition... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-06 13:44:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #early 1930s #don quixote #waiting list #bookshop #short stories


Amitav Ghosh on the Importance of Re-Centering Stories of the Land

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-03 08:59:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #emerging stories #amitav ghosh #emergence magazine #online publication #sacred connection #narrated essays


Storytel Rolls Out Its Audiobook Service in France

The Stockholm-based audiobook corporation Storytel, in association with some of French publishing's biggest players, goes live in France. The post Storytel Rolls Out Its Audiobook Service in France appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-09-27 10:14:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #france appeared #audiobook service #french publishing #biggest players #audiobook


A Summary and Analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’

‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ is one of the best-known short stories by Flannery O’Connor (1925-64), who produced a string of powerful stories during her short life. First published in the collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find in 1955, the story is about an American family […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2022-09-26 14:00:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good man #powerful stories #short life #short stories