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Friday, April 17, 2015

Why brands should work with bloggers to promote their business

Why brands should work with bloggers to promote their business


Are you considering working with bloggers but don't know where to start? Maybe you're just not sure why working with bloggers would be valuable for your business... Allow me to show you how working with bloggers can help to grow your business and increase your customer base.

Firslty let me say that most bloggers, like myself, don't open up their blog to working with brands without properly considering all the pros and cons beforehand. Those who offer brand collaborations have weighed up the value it can bring to their readers and the value they can bring to the brand. Most bloggers will be interested in creating ongoing mutually beneficial brand collaborations, rather than just earning a quick buck, which means long-term benefits for the brand.

WHY YOU SHOULD WORK WITH BLOGGERS


Bloggers offer a unique way to market your business directly to your target market as they already have an engaged and captive audience {both on their blog and social media channels}. Bloggers offer the virtual equivalent of word of mouth marketing, being able to promote your products in a conversational tone with an engaged audience. In a lot of cases bloggers can offer a more measurable and cost-effective return on investment than traditional advertising channels, especially for small businesses.


HOW TO CHOOSE A BLOG THAT FITS WITH YOUR BRAND


It's important to find a blog that's going to align well with your brand. Its worthwhile considering the following points to ensure you partner with a blogger who will meet your needs and be the right fit for your brand.

Stick to your niche
Campaigns will work best with bloggers who target the same niche as your business because you'll get your brand message across to potential customers who are already receptive to it and likely to take action. Instead of spreading the word across a broad spectrum, the majority of the time its best to use more targeted campaigns to reach the right customers for your business. For example if you sell kids clothing it would be best to align with a parenting blogger or a fashion blogger who specialises in kids fashion as they're already communicating with your niche market.

Choose a blog with the same target audience
In addition to choosing a blog within your target niche, you can go even further and refine your promotion by choosing a blog with the same target audience. Again coming back to the kids clothing example, your niche would be parents and your target market would be parents with young children so a parenting blog that is read by 25-45yr old women with children is going to be the best fit. This way you know your campaign is going to reach the exact people who you want to see it. You can usually find audience demographics in a bloggers media kit, or request specific statistics via email.

Quality over Quantity
It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and want to go with the blog that has the biggest following, that's natural, but take a moment to consider those numbers further. Its just as important to look at the level of engagement a blog {and its relevant social media channels} gets rather than just taking the follower numbers at face value. A smaller blog with an active, engaged and targeted audience will deliver a better result than one with large numbers, but no engagement.

A few ways to gauge a blog's engagement level is to look at the number of comments left on recent blog posts. Likewise, the number of likes and comments left on social media platforms {some readers feel more comfortable interacting via social media than on an actual blog post}. Check whether the blogger actively responds to comments left by readers to encourage conversations. If you want specific stats regarding engagement you could request Facebook insights or blog post statistics which most bloggers will be happy to provide upon request.

Consider your campaign objectives
If your objective is simply to create brand awareness, without a specific call to action, then a blog with a large following could be the best way to go as it has the potential to get your brand "seen" by a lot of people. However, if your objective is more specific like selling a certain product then its best to choose a blog with a more targeted audience who are likely to be potential customers and take action.

Read testimonials
Bloggers often have testimonials available either on their work with me pages or via their media kit. These give you an idea of other businesses they have previously worked with and how happy they were to collaborate with them. They also give you an insight into what the blogger is like to work with, which can all help you decide if they would be a good fit with your brand.
"I have been very happy to work with Toni. She has done a couple of reviews of our personalised products in a very honest and professional way. She was very good to keep in contact all the way via e-mails as to update on how things were going. I can highly recommend working with Toni – and hope to do some more work with her in the future" - Tea, Name My Stuff
"FMY has been a great fit for our brand Tiptoe & Co. Toni really understands the delicate balance between what people like to read and see, and what a brand likes people to know about their products. Her reviews are well written, she uses great photos and she takes the time to tell a story - that is why other parents can relate so well to her blog and one of the reasons for the success of FMY. We are looking forward to working with Toni again very soon!" - Chelsea, TipToe & Co

Contact the blogger
If you've found a blogger you think will be a good fit with your brand then contact them. Most bloggers prefer to be contacted via email, which should be easily found on their blog {usually on a work with me or contact me page}. Bloggers are a friendly bunch and we're happy to answer any questions you may have.

Most bloggers have a relationship with their readers based on trust and in order to maintain that trust will not promote products they don't truly believe in so don't be discouraged if some bloggers are not interested in partnering with your brand. Its better in the long run to partner with bloggers who truly believe in the brand and can convey this to their readership without damaging their valuable relationship with their readers. Honesty and transparency between a blogger and their readers plays a huge part in building a loyal readership, so working with a blogger who will honour that relationship built on trust will deliver a better result.

>> To find out if your brand would be a good fit with Finding Myself Young, please visit my Work With Me page.

Would you like to comment?

  1. very good tips for brand owners who have no experience working with bloggers yet :)

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

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    1. Hopefully it will help those brands to create some great relationships in the future :)

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  2. Great tips, especially for small start-up brands to clearly define the brand/blog relationship so that it is mutally beneficial. (Came here via #FYBF)

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    1. Yep, I think some brands {especially smaller ones} just aren't sure how to go about creating relationships with bloggers as it can be quite daunting at first. Hopefully this makes the process easier for them and results in positive brand/blogger collaborations.

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  3. Great tips Toni, I don't think a lot of brands realise the potential exposure working with a blogger can provide their brand, I love finding that perfect brand that I know my audience will love and working with them.

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    1. Exactly I think there's a lot more potential than a lot of brands realise. It's always exciting to find a brand that's a perfect fit for your blog and readers :)

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  4. I love this :) Great tips. Now, brands... look over here *waving* ;)

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    1. Haha exactly, lets hope the magic of the Internet points them in this direction :)

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    1. I figured I may as well explain it straight from the horses mouth so to speak so they can get an idea of working with a blogger directly from a blogger instead of an agency. We all need to help each other out every now and then :)

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  6. These are great tips.. thanks for information.. I will be sharing with my followers..

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  7. Great tips. I have to say it is nice to see more brands working with bloggers these days! It can totally be a win/win for both parties - as long as it is the right fit!

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  8. Great tips Toni!
    Hope the little poppet is doing better this week xx

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    1. Yep she's doing better, her eyes are still a bit sore, but they're getting better each day.

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  9. This is great for businesses to read. Working with a blog is definitely beneficial if it's the right fit.

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  10. Great tips. Working on both sides of the field....blogging and brands/PR I think brands have a lot to learn when it comes to working with bloggers.

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    1. Oh yea there was A LOT more I could put in this post but I didn't want it to turn into a book :)

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  11. This is great for potential brands to understand what they might get. But also great insight for me to help find these relationships in the market place. Thanks for the post. Enjoyed it. Mel xx

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  12. I'm amazed at how many pitches I get from brands targetting pregnant women/new mums ... um sorry guys that train left the station a long time ago! Happily I am now making more connections with brands that better suit my demographic of middle age!!!

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    1. Haha I get so many unrelated ones too. I swear some of them just batch mail out to a bunch of email addresses without actually looking at the blog.

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  13. It's always good to revisit this topic as there are still so many brands who kinda get it wrong. I know people complain about batch emails but sometimes even those ones can be an opportunity.

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    1. I always read them all and respond to any that are relevant :)

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  14. That's a really great read. I've been sending some of my potential clients to your blog to read it because some businesses still don't understand how great bloggers can be to work with and how influential you are and hard working! Janyne :-)

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