Making the headlines

Think of it as a soft-touch approach to selling, a way of promoting your products and services without having to hit prospective customers over the head with the literary equivalent of a baseball bat.

Place the right kind of editorial in the right publication and you’ll have an amazing opportunity to engage with your audience in a much more meaningful way than by advertising alone.

A well-crafted editorial will provide a useful platform to:

• Inform and educate
• Entertain and persuade
• Consolidate brand values 

Informing your audience

It will also, importantly, imbue what is essentially an advertising feature with an added dollop of gravitas, because – when well executed – it appears to the untrained eye akin to any other impartial news or magazine article.

It should, perhaps, go without saying that if your editorial lacks professionalism, then your message will inevitably lack authority, but I’ll say it anyway: if your editorial lacks professionalism, your message will almost certainly fall short of its potential (and maybe even flat on its face).

Tips for getting it right

So, how can you make words work for you and become a fluent editorial (or advertorial) writer?

• You know your audience, so make sure you speak their language. Getting the tone right is crucial to conveying your proposition.
• List the points you’d like to put across and try to link each to a benefit to the customer. If you’re offering something unique or special, make sure to mention it: ‘Our sensational indoor leisure facilities enable holiday-makers to enjoy year-round breaks, whatever the weather.’
• Don’t switch perspective. Once you’ve chosen a narrative point of view (usually first or third person), stick with it.
• Aim for flowing prose that tells a story with a persuasive narrative thread – you want to make it easy for customers to read and remember.
• Top and tail! Pick an attention-grabbing headline and try to end on a high note; you don’t want readers to think you’ve simply run out of steam. Consider adding a call to action or a special time-limited offer. 

Finally, check your piece several times for spelling, grammar and consistency or it will come back to haunt you.

Go professional

If, on the other hand, you’d like a first-class editorial piece without spending hours poring over every detail, you may want to consider delegating this particular task to a seasoned professional. I’d be happy to discuss your objectives and supply a competitive quote!