Press Release or Advertorial: When to Use Which

Press release vs advertorial: the short answer

A press release and an advertorial can both end up as an article on a news site, so they are easy to confuse. They do different jobs. A press release reports that something has happened or is about to happen: a product launch, an appointment, a funded project, an event. An advertorial is a sponsored article that explains a topic, usually a problem your customers have, and presents your company as part of the answer.

The quick rule is this. If you have news, write a release. If you have a message that should stay visible and findable for a long time, write an advertorial. The rest of this article shows how that rule works in practice for brands that want coverage in Romanian online media, and when it makes sense to use both.

A note for readers outside Romania: “advertorial” is used there much as it is in English, meaning paid, editorial-style content, and “press release” is the usual term for a news announcement. On the sites a publishing agency works with, both formats are paid placements, which is why honesty about what the text is matters more than it might in a newsroom. If you want to see how we handle releases, the press release publishing service page explains the process.

What a press release is for

A press release exists to put a piece of news on record. Its readers are, in theory, journalists, editors and anyone who follows your sector. It is written in the third person, in a neutral tone, with the most important fact in the first paragraph. Someone who reads only the headline and the opening should know what happened, to whom, where and when.

That structure is a strength and a limit. It makes a release quick to scan and easy to reuse, but it also means a release works only when there is something new to report. “Our company continues to deliver solutions” is not news. “Our company opens a second workshop in Cluj-Napoca on 1 March” is.

Typical triggers for a press release:

• a product or service launch (the step-by-step model for a product launch release covers the structure in detail);
• an opening, relocation, merger or new partnership;
• an appointment or an award that can be verified;
• an event, with date, place and how to attend;
• the start, progress or completion of a funded project, including projects with European funds, where publication is often part of the project’s obligations.

For the full mechanics of writing and distributing a release, see our complete guide to the online press release. This article stays on the choice between formats.

What an advertorial is for

An advertorial is a sponsored article built around a topic rather than an event. Instead of “we launched X”, it asks a question the reader already has (“how do I choose winter tyres for a city car?”) and answers it usefully, with your company appearing where it genuinely fits. It is written to be read from start to finish, which allows a more relaxed tone, examples and a clear structure with subheadings.

Because the topic is chosen in advance, an advertorial can be planned around a search term, a target page and an anchor text. That is why it is the standard tool when the goal is lasting visibility in search. If you are new to the format, our article on what SEO advertorials are gives the background.

An advertorial still has to be useful on its own. A text that is only a long advert gets rejected by editors and ignored by readers. If you are interested in how to keep a brand story credible without hype, read brand storytelling in advertorials without superlatives.

Side by side: form, tone, lifespan and links

The differences are easiest to see in a table. Treat it as a general guide rather than a rule, because individual publishers have their own habits.

Notice what is not in the table: a ranking. Neither format is superior. A release about a real opening can earn more attention than an advertorial about nothing in particular, and a well-planned advertorial can bring steady visits long after a release has been forgotten.

How to decide: five questions

When a client asks which format to use, these five questions usually settle it. Answer them in order.

1. Is there genuine news? If you cannot state the news in one sentence with a date or a place, you probably do not have a release.
2. Is the news time-sensitive? An event next Tuesday cannot wait for a slow content plan. A release can go out within days; an advertorial usually needs more planning.
3. Do you want visitors to find this in six months? If yes, the content should answer a question people will still ask, which points to an advertorial.
4. Do you need a specific link on a specific anchor? That is normally an advertorial job. A release can carry a link too, but its text is shaped by the news, not by the anchor.
5. Who must be able to cite it? If the audience is journalists, partners or an auditing body, a neutral release is easier to cite. If it is potential customers, an advertorial usually reads better.

Three scenarios (hypothetical)

The following cases are invented to illustrate the logic. They are not examples of real clients or results.

A launch with a date

A fictional company, Nordic Pedal, will present a new range of electric cargo bikes at a trade fair in Bucharest. The date and the stand number are fixed. This is a release: the news is concrete, it has a deadline, and journalists attending the fair may want a clean source of facts. An advertorial could follow after the fair, explaining how a cargo bike replaces a second car for a family, but it would not replace the release.

A service that has been around for years

A fictional accounting firm in Cluj-Napoca has served small companies for a decade and wants to be found by founders who ask “do I need an accountant for a sole trader business?”. There is no news here. A release would be forced. An advertorial answering the question, with a clear explanation and a link to the firm’s relevant page, matches the goal.

A funded project

A fictional training centre completes a project co-funded from European funds. Publicity is part of the project, and the beneficiary needs a public, dated, permanent page as evidence. A release is the natural format, because it is factual and citable. The details of what to keep for the project file are covered in the article on proof of publication for EU projects.

Using both in one campaign

The two formats work well as a sequence because they answer different needs at different times. A simple pattern for a launch looks like this:

1. Week of the launch: a press release with the facts, a quote from a named person and a link to the launch page.
2. One to three weeks later: an advertorial that explains the problem the product solves, using the launch only as context.
3. Later in the campaign: a second advertorial from a different angle, such as a buying guide, a comparison of approaches or a case from the field, published on a different type of site.

Each text should work alone. Do not copy sentences between them. If the same wording appears on several sites, readers notice, and editors reject material that looks recycled. Vary the angle, the examples and the anchor text, and spread publications across suitable categories rather than concentrating them in one.

It also helps to agree in advance what you will measure. A release is judged on whether the news reached the right places and the facts were reproduced correctly. An advertorial is judged over a longer period, on whether the page is indexed, receives visits and supports the page it links to. Our article on measuring PR coverage lists realistic indicators for both.

Mistakes to avoid when choosing

Calling something news when it is an advert

Releases that announce “a leading provider of solutions” without a concrete event waste the format. Editors tend to see through them, and so do readers. If there is no news, choose another route.

Writing an advertorial as a stretched release

Take a release, lengthen it, add a few adjectives, and you do not get an advertorial. You get a long, dull release. An advertorial needs a reader question, a structure and practical content.

Disguising paid content as independent journalism

Romania’s advertising law, Law 148/2000, prohibits disguised or subliminal advertising. In practice, avoid wording that suggests a newsroom independently investigated your company when you commissioned the text. Paid “independent reviews” are among the forms we refuse under our publishing rules. This is general information, not legal advice; ask a qualified adviser about your specific wording.

Expecting the same result from both

A release does not make a page rank, and an advertorial does not make journalists call you. Neither format comes with a promise of rankings, traffic or press pickup. Each is a tool that helps when the content is genuinely good and the site is a suitable home for it.

Next step

Start with the news. Write down, in one sentence, what has changed in your company, and in another sentence, what question your customers keep asking. If the first sentence is strong, you have a release; if the second is, you have an advertorial; if both are, you have a small campaign. When you are ready to turn the first into a published piece, you can submit it for press release publishing on Romanian sites in our portfolio, in line with our publishing rules.

If you are still deciding, write to us with the news and the goal, and we will tell you plainly which format fits and whether a sequence would help. You can reach us through the contact page.

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