Native advertising · Marketing
A sponsored article carries a label, link terms and a date it comes down.
Content marketing is what you publish on your own site. Native advertising is what you pay another publication to publish, in their house style, with a label saying it was paid for.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Native advertising is paid placement made to read like the publication's own work: a sponsored article, a partner content slot, or a recommendation widget under somebody else's story. GullySales buys the placement, gets the label, the live period and the link terms in writing, and briefs the publication's writer.
Two things are on sale and they are priced apart. The placement is the slot and how long it stays there. The production is whether their writer writes the piece or you supply the copy.
The label is part of the deal. Indian newspapers and magazines mark advertorials as advertisements under the Press Council's norms and the advertising code, and the wording is the publication's call. You also answer for every claim in the piece, so a sponsored article is checked like any other advertisement.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- B2B and software companies whose buyer reads two trade publications and nothing else
- Financial and healthcare businesses that need a considered explanation rather than a banner
- A brand launching a product that has to be explained before anyone can want it
- Companies with a real story and no journalist returning their calls
- Founders whose buyers check whether anybody outside the company has written about them
- Businesses publishing well on their own site and wanting a larger room to do it in
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- Anyone buying this for search rankings, because a paid link is marked no-follow and the gain never arrives
- A business that needs orders this month, since the article is read by people who were not looking for you
- Owners who will not let an editor change a sentence, as the publication keeps final say on its own pages
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“The article went live and nobody came”
It sat under a label, three scrolls down a section page, with no reason to click anything. Traffic from a sponsored article has to be planned for, and the plan starts with where the piece is promoted.
“We paid for a link that does nothing”
The publication marked it no-follow or sponsored, which is how Google asks paid links to be tagged. The ranking benefit the proposal hinted at was never on offer.
“It disappeared after the contract period”
The live period sat in a clause nobody read closely. The URL printed on a brochure now returns a page that cannot be found.
“A claim in the piece had no proof behind it”
The writer repeated a line from your brochure, and nobody could show where it came from. A claim you cannot support is your problem, not the publication's.
What we do
Everything that is included.
Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.
Publication shortlist by reader
Which titles, trade publications and newsletters your buyer opens, taken from your own customers, and which of them sell native placement at all.
Placement terms in writing
Where on the site the piece sits, how long it stays live, whether it goes into the newsletter and onto social, and what happens when the period ends. The order or insertion document carries all of it.
Label and disclosure agreed first
How that publication marks paid content and where the label appears, so there is no argument on the morning it goes up. Wording such as sponsored content or advertisement feature is theirs to choose.
Link terms checked
Whether links to your site are followed, no-follow or marked sponsored, how many are allowed, and where they may point. Assume the link passes no ranking credit until the publication says otherwise.
The argument and the proof, before the article
One point the piece exists to make, agreed with you and the editor, and a file of evidence for each claim in it. Finance, health and similar subjects are checked with your own adviser first.
Production or supply, decided early
Their writer plus an interview with your founder, or your copy through their edit. The first costs more and reads like the publication. The second is cheaper and still goes through their editor.
Recommendation widget buys
The discovery slots under other publishers' articles, where you supply a headline, an image and a destination page. The platform's current rules decide what it accepts, and the landing page has to hold distracted traffic.
Tracking and reuse
A tagged link so visits from the placement show in your own analytics, and the published piece put to work in sales emails and proposals. A placement is worth more as proof than as traffic.
How the result is measured
- Referral visits from the tagged link
- Enquiries traced to that referral source
- Page views and time on page, where the publication shares its own report
- Cost per click on widget placements
- Days the article stayed live against the days contracted
- Sales conversations where the article was sent
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How it works
How the native advertising work runs
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Find where the buyer already reads
We ask your customers which publications and newsletters they open, then check which of those sell native placement and on what terms.
- 2
Fix the argument and gather the proof
One claim the piece will make, and the evidence behind it. A sponsored article with nothing to argue is the most expensive brochure you will buy.
- 3
Negotiate placement and terms
Slot, live period, label, links, newsletter inclusion and social push, all written on the order before any payment is made.
- 4
Brief the writer or draft the copy
An hour with your founder or technical head gives the publication something its own writer could not invent. We run that briefing and sit in on it.
- 5
Clear the edit
Drafts move back and forth, and the publication keeps the last word on its own pages. We argue the points that matter and let the rest go.
- 6
Measure it, then reuse it
Referral visits and enquiries from the tagged link are read against the baseline recorded before work starts. The article then goes into sales conversations for as long as it stays live.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Is a sponsored article good for SEO?
Can we run it without the sponsored label?
Who writes it, us or them?
How long does the article stay online?
Who answers for the claims in the article?
What does a sponsored article cost?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
By industry
Native advertising, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.