Blogging || Collaborative Post
Working with bloggers is something most brands are aware of now, but there are still many businesses yet to get on board or see the value that comes from investing in a little blogger collaboration. I've been blogging part time for five years and in that time I have supported start up businesses get their name out there, worked with big brands to help share their news or new products and shared reviews on toys, holidays, apps, websites and more. Many people have totally the wrong impression of what bloggers do, so I thought I'd share a little more about what blogging involves generally and how this can be of benefit to brands.
Why Your Business Should Work With Bloggers
Bloggers, or influencers as they are also known give businesses the opportunity to reach a niche engaged audience that will potentially go on to buy from a brand. The lovely thing about blogging is that as a blogger yourself you are part of a community of like minded people, and within that there are spin off communities created by some bloggers for their particular niche, such as organising the home, plus size fashionistas, new mothers, crafters or any other category you can think of. For a brand, this means that by working with the right blogger, you will have access to their community of like minded engaged individuals in the thousands. Bloggers give you a lot more 'bang for your buck', providing you with a great reach, to the right people and as they are mostly just 'normal' relatable people, their audiences have a lot of trust for their words and are much more likely to buy via an influencer recommendation, particularly women and teens who look more to social media for purchasing advice.
What to expect from a blogger
Briefs vary for all brands. You may want social shares only, stories on Instagram/Facebook, a full blog post, pinning to Pinterest, copy written for your site or products reviewed, the possibilities are endless. As the brand, you can create your perfect package which for me is usually a blog post and social shares, but you may want any mixture of tasks completed that work best for you and bring you the most from the collaboration. When it comes to blogging, it's not just writing a post, but most of us also create graphics, take great photographs and edit, which is particularly good when working on a review, to show your product in use or being styled by someone that people follow. We bloggers also spend a lot of time on our posts, writing fitting social media posts and sharing to our followers. Another way that you could work with bloggers is to offer an extra product or service for a giveaway. Some of the simplest giveaways I have done have been the most successful, with a £5 children's book having 86 thousand entries for example. Although not everyone that engages in a giveaway will necessarily be the right fit for your brand, we have the ability to have entry requirements such as tweeting links, visiting websites and sharing posts, which are all great ways of spreading the word and getting your name or product out there.
Find the right blogger for your brand
Just reaching out for bloggers in general is fine, but with a little more research you can find the right blogger to compliment your brand and ultimately yield you the most profit from your investment. Finding bloggers is easy, with Facebook pages packed with thousands of bloggers and using things such as the #bloggerswanted tag on Twitter will bring in bloggers looking to work with you. You could also work with agencies and sites like Get Blogged to find the right bloggers for you. The right bloggers will have a focus niche that fits your brand, perhaps a community based around the subject that fits your business and will reach the right people for you. If you want to be sure of the numbers involved, ask us bloggers for a media kit which will show things like our monthly figures and our social media follower numbers. This is useful when planning your budget as you'll have a rough idea of how many people will see the work and therefore what you may get from it. Bloggers can be very different, so you may want to build your own list of contacts for those that fit for you and that you felt were good to work with. This means that in the future you can quickly look to these bloggers when you have something like a promotion or new product launch for some quick, easy exposure.
Set clear briefs & budgets
One thing that makes a blogger or Micro Blogger happy is a clear brief from the off. The clearer your ideas can be from the start, the less changes will have to be made later on which makes things easier all round. Once you have your wish list, decide on a budget per blogger that works for you. All bloggers charge different rates, but things like follower numbers, engagement rates and DA numbers all play a big part. A blogger may charge more if they have a solid engaged community that they will access to promote your business, so you have to decide if it's worth investing a little more for the right person. We bloggers also have to pay for our sites, we use a lot of our time and work hard, so avoiding asking us to work in exchange for 'exposure' is a very good call, though simple Link Building is a more affordable way of getting exposure and tends to be a little lighter on the pocket. With review collaborations, depending on the product value some bloggers may ask for payment on top, though in my case if it's something I'd love to buy, I'm happy with the product alone. For items such as website reviews or app tests, I do charge a minimal amount for my time as an incentive.
What's in it for bloggers?
Aside from the obvious one of getting paid for our work, for me I get a lot more from it all. I've had the chance to try a holiday for our family at a time when we couldn't afford one, I've managed to put food on the table in harder times thanks to my blog and treated my kids to things I could only dream of. I've helped share brands and charity messages I've felt passionate about with no payment and helped companies again and again following successful collaborations, purely because I love and support what they do. Having the platform to share generally amazing products/brands/sites/businesses with our followers feels really good, especially when it helps a fellow mother soothe a baby or makes someone smile. Blogging is a great way of meeting people, feeling a part of something and having the chance to share words we would perhaps be too scared to say out loud, it's our own little corner of the Internet that is all ours and if your brand fits ours, then that's even better.
So if you're curious about working with bloggers, don't be afraid to reach out and test the water. Finding the right blogger and pitching the right briefs can lead to amazing working relationships that can benefit companies in so many ways. Bloggers are an affordable way of reaching thousands of the right people and spreading the word about your brand, so it's well worth considering for any future marketing plans you may have.
