Selling software with advertorials and affiliates?

You probably know what an advertorial is. It's a page that:

• Has a clean layout (not much fancy design).

• Has a headline that could easily pass for a blog post title ("5 Ways To Cut Your Tax Bill By up To 36%").

• Provides the value (training/education/information) promised in the title.

• Segways into the pitch.

This is done in order to differentiate from competitors with loud, obnoxious selling tactics. And it can definitely work well, especially when compared to some of the sleazy biz-opp salesletters that popup every day.

But what about "legit" software? I'm talking about well-known software like LeadPages, Ahrefs, etc...

Most software salespages use the following principles:

• The headline clearly states what the software does.

• There's a demo walkthrough video or user interface screenshots (show, don't tell).

• They mention the features (presented as benefits).

Not much hype is needed. Either the software does what it says, or it doesn't.

Now, companies such as these also do a lot of content marketing. So, prospects often reach the salespage already warmed up and trusting the company.

For a company selling software that does NOT do content marketing - Do you think an advertorial would work well instead of a classic software salespage?

Or is it not needed because prospects will already be presold by the affiliate?

Maybe it will even convert at a lower rate than a classic sales landing page?

Again, let's assume traffic comes exclusively from affiliate endorsements.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance!