Written by: Corey Janoff
This post was originally published on our previous blog website on April 4, 2018 and has since not been revised and/or updated.
One thing that drives me nuts is when someone says, “I want to buy this product or service because I read an article or blog post that recommended it.” Now, the product or service may be fantastic and exactly what you are looking for, but you just read an advertisement, not an unbiased product review. For as long as companies have been selling products, they have been creatively advertising their products. Smart companies are constantly evolving and want to stay one step ahead. As the Great One, Wayne Gretzky once said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”
People claim to hate advertisements (although we always look forward to watching the Super Bowl commercials). We DVR our favorite TV shows so we can fast forward through the ads. We have ad-blockers on our internet browsers so the banners and pop-ups won’t display. We hit the “skip ad” button on YouTube the moment it allows us. We change the radio station in our car when a commercial break comes on. Companies aren’t stupid – they know we do this. Heck, the people in charge at the companies do it also! As a result, they have to find ways to mix their advertisements into the content we consume.
The Modern Day Commercial
It’s not a commercial break anymore. It’s a sponsored read during the show. If you listen to the radio, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Take podcasts for example. More and more people are consuming their radio shows and literature via podcasts. Well, podcasts generally don’t have a five minute long commercial break. They mix in sponsor spots throughout the show. In the middle of the show, the host will say something like, “This next segment is brought to us by McDonald’s. Have you tried the new fresh, not frozen beef Quarter Pounder with cheese? Let me tell you, I tried this the other day and I was blown away. It tasted like I grilled the burger on my own backyard grill. So fresh. So juicy. Not chewy and tasteless like those frozen patties they used to use. If you haven’t tried it, do yourself a favor and get into a McDonald’s ASAP.”
Obviously McDonald’s is sponsoring this particular podcast in this example. However, you’re not going to fast forward, because it is only ten seconds long. If there are two hosts, or an interviewer and an interviewee, they might have a little back and forth about how great the new Quarter Pounder is. Or they might make a comment about how much they love the fries at McDonald’s before continuing with the show.
Product Placement
Even more subtle yet effective is product placement in the movies and TV shows we watch. Most of the clothing, cars, beverages, etc. are there because some company paid big money to get them there. Why is he drinking a Coke in that scene? Why not a Pepsi, or an iced tea, or bottle of water? And why is the logo on the bottle so clearly visible?
Why does the team have Nike uniforms in this movie? Why not Adidas or Under Armour? Why not a brand-less uniform? Because Nike was willing to pay more than the other companies to get their gear in the movie!
Sponsored Content
This is the main thing I wanted to get at with this blog post. Most of the blogs and articles you read online today that discuss a product or service are sponsored content. Companies will pay thousands of dollars to a popular blogger to get that blogger to write one post about their product.
You have probably noticed none of my blog posts have reviewed any particular company’s products. I’m still waiting to get a call from a company willing to pay me lots of money to write about their stuff….
About a year ago I had a conversation with a marketing rep for one of the many student loan refinancing companies. They were one of the newer companies that was looking to gain traction in the physician student loan market. I work with a lot of physicians, so naturally I get solicited frequently by these types of companies. I agreed to meet with them to learn more about what they have to offer. It is also prudent for me to stay informed about what is available in the market, so I can properly advise my clients.
Since they were new, out of curiosity I asked about their marketing strategies and how they were trying to get their name out there. One of their goals was to get as many write-ups as possible by publications and blogs that physicians read. One popular blogger in particular, who is one of the more well-known bloggers for physicians, had a pretty steep asking price. In order to get said blogger to write a post about their student loan refinancing program, he wanted $4,000 for the post and a 2% commission on any loans that come from readers of his site. They can track that via links embedded in the post, or via a discount code readers can enter when applying to refinance online.
My first thought was, good for this guy. If he has the ability to ask for that much, then more power to him. Shoot, if just one person clicks a link in his post and ends up refinancing $250,000 worth of student loans (probably about the average balance for a physician finishing residency or fellowship) that would be a $5,000 commission!
My second thought was, that’s pretty deceitful on his part. Here he is portraying himself as the go-to guy for online financial advice for physicians and he is really just a salesman. He “advises” his readers to go with his sponsors’ products (as he should, since they are paying him to do so).
Well, he’s not the only one. His asking price might be steeper than others due to his reader base, but this is common practice in the blogging world. How the heck do bloggers make all this money writing freelance blog posts online? That banner ad for Amazon on the side of their page can’t be generating that much ad revenue. Now, most bloggers don’t make any money blogging. The ones who do earn the majority of their income from sponsored posts and speaking/consulting gigs that come as a result of their popularity.
News Outlets Do the Same Thing
A lot of newspaper publications engage in this practice as well. Every once in a while I will click on an article in the Wall Street Journal titled something like, Best Digital Cameras for Under $400. Usually they will review five cameras and talk about how great they are and what type of photographer each one works best with. There is no ranking, but they’ll write about how this one is best for nature photos, this other one is best for photographing people. This last one has a super-fast shutter speed, which makes it great for action shots or photographing sports.
I automatically assume the camera companies paid WSJ to write about their camera. There’s no way this writer went out and tested all of the digital cameras priced under $400 for one dinky article and narrowed them down to the top five. Someone from WSJ probably called a bunch of camera companies and asked if they wanted to participate in this article for a nominal fee of $X. At the very least, the camera companies were asked to send a free camera to the writer in return for a positive review.
The local news frequently does things like this as well. They will do a feature on a company and it is usually not because of astute proactive journalism. When my dad, a vascular surgeon, opened his new clinic for varicose vein patients, he had to get the word out that he was open for business. He contacted one of the local news stations to see if they would do a piece on the vein clinic. I think it cost him $5,000 and it was a several minute long segment on a couple of the procedures they do while showing before and after photos. In the days following the airing of it, they had tons of new patients calling to make appointments. Well worth the cost.
He is currently in the process of retiring and closing down the practice, so don’t bother trying to make an appointment.
Advice or Advertisement?
Keep that in mind as you consume your content. Why is this particular company’s product being recommended? Are there other similar options out there that aren’t mentioned that might be better for me?
If it’s a product review, odds are it is sponsored. If it’s a nonchalant mention of a particular company’s product, there is a decent chance that company is a sponsor of the website, but not necessarily sponsoring that particular article/post.
This isn’t a bad thing. It can be very helpful for readers/viewers who are able to learn about something new and useful that they were previously unaware of. However, be sure to use your brain and do your own due diligence. Just because your favorite blogger recommends XYZ service doesn’t mean you should use it. Or maybe it does. That’s for you to decide.
