I have supervised influencers at 2 major work events and was surprised to see that quite a number of them are unaware of the leverage they have when speaking to brands about working with them in regards to an event.
First things first, although a vanity metric, the number of your followers is the first thing you can use to catch the brand's attention, but that's about it. The amount of leverage you can place on the relationship between you and your audience is the next best thing to that figure you want the brand to pay and most importantly, them reaching out to you for their next event.
Well, that's for influencers and we focus on bloggers here.
For a blogger to get an invitation to an event, there are 3 things they must have done right
- Attracted the audience the brand is interested in
- Being consistently featured in conversations around topics the brand is interested in
- Have a personality the brand would like to be affiliated with
- Can boast of consistent results from similar events as that of the brand
- Have worked with competition brands and delivered great vanity metrics
If you are sure you have done these right and secured that invitation to the event, then you will benefit from the rest of this post, otherwise, stop here and go do the above first!
Bloggers Can Leverage An Event in these 5 Ways
1. Tell it as a story
Bloggers tell stories all the time in their blogposts. They take the reader on a journey from the beginning to the end. When pitching to the Client, describe how you will invite the readers to attend the event with you by carrying them along on the story, sharing all the experiences and in some cases challenges faced along the way, the people you met, the food you ate. All this, while spicing the content with pros and knowledge about the brand.
Another story angle is to get to the event early before it starts and take your readers on a virtual attendance of the event from the entrance to the red carpet, the guests, the refreshments spread, the entertainment and finally your thoughts on the brand and the show.
2. Don't Miss The Highlights
If you can't tell a story, then you definitely should document all the high points of the event. The brand wants to reach your audience and there is no better way than sharing the most exciting parts of the event with your audience. That will make your audience feel like they missed a lot because they were not in attendance.
Make it into a blog post and you can title it 'The 6 Moments I fell off my seat at the [insert brand name] End-of-the-year Party Last Week'.
It promises excitement, it promises fun and positions your Client as an exciting brand. They will love you for it and you'll definitely make the top of their list next time.
3. Pick A Side
If you are a niche blogger, it doesn't mean you can't create content from an event - regardless of the type of event it is. You just need to be more creative. Applying this tactic to all events will definitely give you a niche approach that a lot of other bloggers won't consider.
For example,
- do you cover gossip, it means you say anything and everything so, give a side of wit to the event via commentary on the outfits you saw, how some of the guests arrived, the collection of meals that were served and so on.
- do you cover interior design, then focus only on the decor, the arrival stretch, the hall decor, the colour combos, the stage design
That way, you stick to your niche and stay true to your brand while also delivering value to the brand that invited you.
4. Interview Style
Yes, you can interview the guest, your Client contact and pretty much anyone you'd like to at the event.
It can be a vox-pop kind of video where they describe the brand and the event in one word, or say how they feel in one word or tell you where they were at that same time yesterday or pretty much anything.
What matters most is that you project the brand and project the event you attended while ensuring you maintain your organic, creative style.
There you have it - 4 ideas you can pitch to brands so they invite you to their oh so exclusive events.
