Editorial is content that educates and engages audiences, rather than promoting products or services. It is a key component of the content marketing strategy that most companies adopt and can include thought leadership articles, profiles, and opinion pieces. Taking an editorial approach to marketing is a shift away from traditional advertising, and has been shown to increase customer engagement, brand awareness, and ultimately, leads.
In journalism, an editorial (also known as an op-ed) shares the author’s educated opinion on a current and often controversial or debated topic or issue. These pieces are designed to inform, educate, and entertain readers and have a lighter tone than standard news articles.
There are four types of editorial in journalism: Interpretation editorials explain the significance of an event or trend, criticism editorials discuss current events from a critical perspective, and advocacy editorials strive to influence or inspire solutions to problems. When creating editorial, it’s important to consider who you are writing for and how it will be used. Using the right tone and wording will help your audience feel connected and engaged with your content.
Editorial is challenging to create consistently in-house, and it is important to make sure your team has the right skills to produce high-quality content. Performing a content audit to identify gaps will also allow you to consider licensing editorial pieces from publishers who already adhere to strict standards. With proper planning, your editorial will be a key piece in the overall content marketing strategy that will help grow your community and convert customers.
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