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.