When content meets sponsorship
A clever strategy or a trick?
Have you heard about the Trojan Horse? The Greeks used a big wooden horse to hide soldiers inside, fooling the Trojans by sending it as a peace offering. Today, this story is remembered as a symbol of great strategy.
The same strategy is being used now by marketers in content marketing, sharing content to attract readers, but as soon as you click, there it comes, the sponsorships like a flood. Sometimes it’s even impossible to read the article without accepting or buying whatever is being offered. This strategy is compared metaphorically in the article “Trojan Horse Marketing,” written by Tom Fishburn, as audiences can sometimes feel deceived.
We, as marketers, must ask ourselves if using the trojan marketing is ethical or not. I get caught by this experience multiple times a day, and it’s annoying.
The article Trojan Horse Marketing mentions that, at the end of the day, the long-term objective of any marketing program is sales. So, content marketing is a balance of storytelling and salesmanship.
I believe sponsored content marketing is not unethical if it is well-balanced.
Here are some steps to ensure that balance:
- Do not overload your content with sponsorship
- Always deliver what you are offering
- Deliver real value,
- Be honest with your audience.
