When I started out as a journalist in the late 1980s I noticed that the newspaper carried pieces that looked like a news article but were in fact an advert.

There was a headline.

The words were laid out in columns like a news article.

There was occasionally (but not often) a photo to match the “story”.

To the casual eye it looked like a news story.

The giveaway, if you looked closely, was the word “Advertisement” or “Advertisement Feature” in a narrow banner at the very top of the page.

When I first saw this I thought it was a bit sneaky.

Making an advert look like a story so people were (a) more likely to read it and (b) more likely to believe the “story” being told.

But when I reflected on it…

I thought how clever of the people who thought that up.

It felt like this was a “new” thing in newspapers.

But the term advertorial is said to date back to the 1940s.

And the reason you keep seeing it in newspapers today?

Like any successful advertising.

Because it works.

Why not see how you could use it as part of your marketing mix?

(Oh, and if you wanted a hand with writing that from someone with journalistic experience, you know who to call).