BLOGGERS AND YOUR BRAND

 

Wise words from The Publicist

 

 

 

 

According to new research released today, 93% of the female bloggers surveyed are eager to partner with brands. How ironic then, that 60% have never been approached by a brand or agency to work on a campaign!

50,000 women bloggers in the BlogFrog network were surveyed in April, and these bloggers give brands and publicists a great insight, and help us to understand the most effective ways to partner with them and generate brand affinity.

The following information can help you and your brand, so grab a pen and take notes:

• Compensation matters. 90% are interested in working with brands, so long as there is some form of compensation. Compensation could be in the form of free or discounted products or services, traffic to the blogger’s blog, press and notoriety. Only 15% of bloggers said that money had been exchanged for a brand partnership.
• Joining forces for a good cause. Campaigns that include an element of social good increase trust levels for 56% of bloggers surveyed.
• Who referred your product or brand to the blogger? 70% of bloggers trust a brand more that is promoted or recommended by someone they know from a blog or social media.
• Bloggers view brand collaborations as a positive not a negative. Almost all women bloggers have positive opinions on brand sponsored social media and blog campaigns. They are open to partnering, as long as it is authentic, high quality, helps generate revenue for the blogger, and is fun!
• Build a relationship. Almost 60% of female bloggers indicate they want long-term, deeper relationships with a few special brands. So read blog posts, comment on blogs and engage in the conversation happening online.
• Is your publicist doing their job efficiently? Of the brand and product pitches bloggers receive, most are rejected by the majority of bloggers. Only half the bloggers accept more than 20% of the pitches in their inbox.
• David .vs Goliath. Apparently, publicists and brands are saturating the top 10% of bloggers based on readership while possibly overlooking smaller, niche blogs that are quite influential and carry loyal readerships.

How interesting, right? This info clearly shows us that publicists need to be active listeners and participants, to authentically engage with these influential women online. In other words, keep it real and actually care about what bloggers are saying to you.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that brands such as Purex, Disney, Kraft, Silhouette, Proctor & Gamble, and CSN were given high marks for their blogger relations. If these multi-million dollar corporations are taking the time to engage and connect with bloggers, don't you think you should be doing it too?

*The results by the BlogFrog survey were analyzed by the independent social media research company, the Social Studies Group. You can check out the full research report here.