Three formats, one audience. Choosing between display advertising, sponsored posts and affiliate partnerships is simpler than the industry makes it sound: match the format to the job you need done.
Display: the baseline
Display units sit beside our reporting, clearly separated from it, and run through our display technology partner. They are the right tool for awareness and steady presence: your name next to the content your buyers already read, billed per thousand impressions. Display will not explain a complicated product, but it keeps you visible between launches.
Sponsored: the story
A sponsored post is an article about your product, written with our editors and labelled at the top before the reader starts. It costs more than display and works harder: this is the format for a product that needs 800 words and honest photographs to make sense. The label is non-negotiable and the rules are public; SIG 08 covers them line by line.
Affiliate: the long tail
Affiliate placements put your product in our clearly marked roundups and reviews. We earn a commission when readers buy, which means the format only works if the product genuinely reviews well. There are no placement guarantees: editors pick on merit, and a product that disappoints them does not get in at any commission rate.
Match the format to the job, not to the budget line.
A first campaign, step by step
- Pick the one publication whose readers match your buyer. Not all three; one.
- Run display for four weeks to establish a baseline.
- Read the weekly reports and watch what readers actually do.
- If the audience responds, add a sponsored post to go deeper.
- Review everything together at week six and decide what earns a renewal.
The media kit lists every format with audience snapshots, and the advertisers page walks through how placement works from first email to weekly report.