Editorial is content that seeks to educate, engage or inform without promoting a product or service. It’s a great addition to your content marketing strategy since it can provide thought-provoking insight and education to audiences that may not otherwise find your company. Thought-leadership pieces are one form of editorial that’s commonly used to drive traffic to your company blog or website.
The op-ed is another popular form of editorial. Op-eds are often submitted by members of the public to media outlets in an effort to assert a stance on a topical issue, raise awareness or create debate. They can also be a powerful tool for building your personal brand and career. For example, celebrity Chrissy Teigen published an op-ed piece on her experience suffering from a miscarriage on Medium and it helped open doors to freelance work.
While writing editorials is a lost art, it still plays an important role in the publishing world. For instance, academic journals often include editorials to explain the connections between papers in a special issue or highlight key scientific, policy and political events in their field.
While many organizations develop editorial content in-house, it can be difficult to produce high-quality assets at scale. That’s why it can be a smart move to license editorial content from publications that already adhere to strict editorial guidelines. The best way to determine the type of editorial content that’s right for you is by conducting a content audit and establishing KPIs for your program, such as lead generation or brand awareness metrics.