As some of you may already know, I provide Digital PR and Blogger Outreach services to brands, as well as freelance writing and full-time blogging. I have met and worked with so many cool brands, as well as bloggers. And many of the brands have stayed on as regular clients. But I have also met many brands that do not understand the value of bloggers and what we can bring to the table. So this post is for them.
Majority of the bloggers I know and follow, are super creative and dedicated to their blogs. They churn out many well written and engaging posts every week, that strikes a chord in the hearts of their readers. Their blogs are the best platforms to showcase products and services. Especially if it is a new business, or a not so popular brand. Investing in bloggers is the best thing you can do for your business, and I will tell you why:
People relate with bloggers
Their blog posts are word of mouth referrals and they are what people want to read and see these days. I will believe a review on a blog, than in a magazine. I don’t watch ads on TV, that is what the rewind button is for. And I don’t pay attention to ads in magazines and newspapers when I do read them, because they are just way too many and I can’t relate with them anyway. But I read hundreds of blogs each week. I comment on hundreds of blogs each week.
Bloggers are story tellers, and people relate with stories, written by real life people. Unlike outright adverts the public just consumes. Setting out a budget for a blogger outreach campaign should take priority over any other advertising budget.
Value for Money
You get value for money when you invest in a blogger outreach. Whether you send out products for review, or you pay bloggers for sponsored posts or tweets. As long as you target the right bloggers in your niche, you will get return on investment. Where, brand get it wrong is where they target blogs that do not have much to offer in terms of traffic, followers and quality, or target blogs that are not relevant to their niche. Once you employ the right outreach person (ME), then you can be rest assured your campaign is in good hands.
Still on value, once a blog post is on a blog, depending on arrangement, it can be on there for as long as the blog remains online. So millions and millions of people will come across the blog post and your brand at some point. Unlike other forms of advertisement that lasts only for a limited period of time. How many people read old newspapers or old magazines? Not many, if any.
I know many business owners are obsessed with getting featured on the mega big blogs and magazines. But there are high quality medium-sized bloggers that will give you a better return on investment, if you get the right hands to find these blogs.
I also know of brands that look down on bloggers, and can’t see the value in them. Well, blogs are like reality TV shows, Hollywood looks down on. The beauty in similarities of both blogs and reality TV shows is that they are here to stay.
What are your thoughts on the blogger – brand relationship?