My discussions around paid content, for many years, typically went something like this:

Client: Hi. Amazing Media just emailed saying they want to feature our CEO as the best business influencer of [fill in month or year]. Is this legit? I’ve never heard of this outlet. Would you check it out for us?

Me: Sure. I suspect this is a pay-for-play opportunity, and it can come with a big price tag. Also, because you’re unfamiliar with this outlet, I suspect it won’t hit the target audience most important to your company. We’ll check it out and get back to you with a recommendation.

My colleagues and I would investigate and, with varying degrees of obfuscating from the outlets at issue, we would find it was a pay-for-play opportunity and often recommend to our clients to steer clear.

Sometimes these were paid broadcast interviews with fading celebrity hosts. Often these interviews would air at 3 a.m. on Sundays on some wildly obscure television station or streaming platform no one I have ever met would admit to watching. At other times, they involved free publications (meaning no one asked for them) so broad in nature that the concept of a specific target audience was practically a joke. In some limited circumstances, these paid opportunities were with good outlets, however, they were often still slightly off-target and, therefore, not worth the investment. In my 20 years in public relations, I have seen these types of unsolicited opportunities range from $2,500 to more than $80,000 for a one-shot deal.

So, of course, for many years I scoffed at these outlets and felt a duty to protect my clients from being taken advantage of.

However, the landscape of journalism is changing and, increasingly, we see paid-content opportunities with legitimate media outlets of value to some of our clients. With shrinking newsrooms and ongoing media consolidation requiring more revenue growth, some of these opportunities are – with a limited few industry trades – becoming de rigueur.

The question, of course, is, are they worth the investment? My evolved answer is, it depends. If the audience aligns with your target audience specifically, not generally, then maybe. The costs should also not exceed 2 to 5% of your total marcom budget for the year. If it’s more, it likely isn’t worth it for a single opportunity. Finally, you want to maintain control over the content for which you are paying. Don’t accept the default writer assigned to you from the outlet. I have seen this go very badly and at great, nonrefundable cost to the clients involved. Insist on your own, vetted and knowledgeable writer and maintain final veto authority on the content and the art that might accompany it.

Paid content, in this dynamic information age, is no longer something to be immediately scoffed at or ignored. Increasingly, this type of content should be built into your marcomm strategy, but carefully.