8 Reasons Why Brands Should Work With Bloggers.

Do you remember the several times Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, even Twitter and other platforms have been down because of one issue or the other? 

Just imagine you were a brand with a time-bound campaign and several social media influencers had been contracted to achieve a target. What could they have done then? NOTHING. That is money wasted.

Do you know why? Because their platform of choice is not controlled by them. You can avoid such situations by using Blogger influencers instead.

Brands should work with Bloggers more than social media influencers because they have control over their platforms and are very prepared for any eventualities. In the long run, they are a more profitable fit for brands or businesses looking for online influence.

The 8 Reasons Brands Should Work with Bloggers

1. Evergreen content

The products and services rendered by organisations are evergreen, that's why they last for years and years. How better to showcase these products and services than via long-form content formats which are best on blogs? This means your brand will always be relevant within the context of SERPs and the searches people make - regardless of their ages, locations and professions.

2. Actual people with real experiences

Blogs are usually started from a desire to share personal experiences or purchases - from travel to fashion to events to makeup and so on. This varies from social media where accounts with no backstory to the owner or with instant celeb status tries to tell people about a product or service. It is easy to see that bloggers are normal people with normal and their evolution is visible across their posts over time. It is easier to listen to them and believe what they say.

And because they are real people, it is easy to relate with them thereby enabling them to build a community of loyal readers/visitors.

3. They are thought-leaders who have authority

You become a thought-leader by saying the same thing, over and over again in different ways. That's my definition anyways, here is another definition I like. But it is actually true and long-form content helps you to build that authority over time. A blogpost on a certain topic will always be at the top of searches and will always be the reference for others to follow or believe. Once you are identified as a thought-leader, your opinion and ideas are invaluable. Social media content is transient and unable to deliver the kind of lasting relevance a blog does.

4. Long-form content to share all the brand benefits

Tell me one social media platform with no character limit for the caption? None. That's the reason why on social media is most-important to communicate a singular message/idea/thought at a time. It is also advisable to repost/repurpose/reuse overtime because the algorithm moves fast and pushes past content to the bottom of the feed where it is left forlorn and forgotten - content even as recent as 2 months ago. 

With a blog, you can utilise long-form to breakdown a variety of products and services with details of each and links to drive adoption. 

5. Are present on multiple platforms

There is no blogger who ONLY is present on their blog site. At the minimum, they have a Facebook page and an Instagram page. A lot of them go as far as having YouTube channels, Twitter handles alongside a presence on Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat and a host of other platforms. 

This automatically means that they can promote your product or service on social media platforms in addition to their blog site thereby reaching out to a larger audience in the long run.

 

6. Content can be updated

Captions can be edited or updated on social media but the algorithm looks at it the same way - past content. Blog articles are never outdated because they can be updated e.g. an article about the Best Travel Destinations in 2018 can be updated to Top 10 Travel Destinations from 2018 to 2021.

Products can be added, dates can be extended, more benefits can be included and the price can be changed. All these do not affect the authority or ranking the article has on search engines as it will always be relevant to the search query of the relevant audience.

7. They are affordable

And dare I say, provide more value as well. 

With bloggers, it is easier to negotiate a package deal than with social media influencers some of which are only fueled by the 'success' of their counterparts who have reached celebrity status. 

They can provide a package deal which can include the blog, social media and even their email marketing lists. 

8. They are more accountable

How many times have you wondered just how many sales or leads that influencer campaign you did last week generated for your business? That's right, almost impossible especially with the limited link placements on platforms like Instagram and invisibility of dark sites like WhatsApp. 

Brands should work with Bloggers because with a blog, you can track every single sale, know how many people read about your product, where they came from, where they left to and even more granular analytics your brand will benefit from. 

Extra tip: people believe people over ads. Bloggers are regular people your audience believe because they look like them, know the same people they know, live in the same neighbourhood e.t.c. That's an extra reason to choose a blogger over an ad - in any shape or form - in 2022.

Looking to either build your brand blog or find a blogger influencer you would like to work with on an upcoming campaign? Shoot us an email to bloggersnbrands@gmail.com 

How To Blog in 2022. A 7-Part Series.

Early this year, I read a lot of articles and posts on 'How To Blog in 2021'. I always knew the importance of having a blog (or a website) and I've talked about it in a previous post here.

Knowing how to blog is an important skill that brands and individuals will need for the future. It is an easier way to build a community of loyal followers than social media. Also more stable and reliable too. 

Just in case you didn't know, Blogging is staging a major comeback in 2022. Are you prepared?

That's one of the main reasons why I created this 7 part blogging series - to teach newbie bloggers the fundamentals of blogging.

This series has been in the works for a couple of years now and is in 2 parts - The Beginner Blogger Series & The Advanced Blogger series. This 7-part series is the 'Beginner Series' and will provide the foundations of starting a blog in 2022

'How To Blog in 2022'

Here are the 7 parts of learning how to blog for a beginner

1. The 5 Important Questions To Ask Before Starting A Blog
2. The 6 Simple Elements You Need
3. The Best Blog Hosting Platforms (Free & Paid)
4. Unlocking Social Media
5. Looking Your Blog Best
6. You Need Content
7. Spread The Word In 3 Ways

Are you excited? Don't miss a single post in the series, click here 

3 Lessons From Davido's N100m Birthday Challenge

There is no single person who hasn't heard of how Davido a.k.a. OBO; raised over N100m from friends and family on his birthday yesterday in less than 24 hours (It's actually still on as at the writing of this post, over 150m has been raised and the goal is now N200m)

If you say you haven't heard, then you live under a rock. Period. 

Anyway, I'll just do a quick storytime before I share my 3 learnings from the challenge which I hope people will take to heart and really think about. 

There I was on my laptop, trying to publish the first episode of my podcast (shameless plug. Check it out here) and I realised that my work whatsapp group was buzzing with something around Davido. After a couple of minutes, I decided to go on IG to check it out for myself and I started following through myself. 

While everyone was looking at the amount raised and wondering 'GOD when?', I was thinking about what life lessons can be taken away from the whole activity. I came up with 3

• Be good to people. This is in essence the basic tenet of this challenge. Davido is known to be a generous celebrity and giver to those around him i.e. friends, family, employees and even fans online. This attitude made it easy for him to ask and receive in like manner from people - some of whom are even strangers to him. Lesson: be good and you will receive good in return.
• Ask. A lot of people are bypassed all the time because they are either too shy, or too proud or too timid to ask. If a celebrity like Davido can call people out and ask for a gift of N1,000,000, then pray tell, who are you not to be able to ask for assistance or better still, something that you have either worked for or deserve? Lesson: ask and you will receive.

JESUS CHRIST was on to something when HE said in Matt. 7:7 - Ask and you will receive.

• Show gratitude. People like to be appreciated. That is common knowledge. Davido didn't just receive the money and say thank you in private, he showed public gratitude which makes a person smile and feel just a little larger than life in that short moment. He gave each and every person their own '5 seconds of fame' which they all appreciate - whether they are humble enough to admit it or not. Lesson: no matter how big or small, always show gratitude to people who have reached out with good thoughts and/or deeds towards you.

There are more lessons to be learned for sure - especially for influencers and the brands that look to hire them for campaigns. I'll be addressing those directly in a subsequent blogpost.

Before You Publish A Blogpost, Ask These 5 Questions.

With the rise of personal websites, blogging is staging a huge comeback in 2022 and it pays to be prepared for when you hit publish on that blogpost. 

While it may be ok to write down your thoughts, share pictures or a story on that little corner of the internet that is all yours, it pays to ask the right questions to ensure your blogpost doesn't become another article relegated to the 1,000th page on google. 

There are important questions before you hit 'publish'

The 5 Questions To Ask Before Publishing A Blogpost

1. Is this specific to my niche? Why bother focusing on a particular niche or topic if you are going to post content that isn't within the context of the niche? There are certain times you can go outside of it definitely, but it has to be contextually related to you or what you typically write about. Explain it before you jump in with your blogpost.
2. Can my audience relate? it might be within your niche but not relatable to your audience maybe because they are 25 - 40 year old upwardly mobile professionals in the finance sector who do not understand why 15year olds do the things they do. 
3. Is this content worth sharing? be honest to yourself - is it really that interesting? is it unique? do people really want to know about it or is it just you being sentimental? It is ok to sometimes post selfishly, after all, it is your blog but always ensure there are no long-term repercussions. 
4. Will people engage with it? not clickbait but will they actually respond to it? You may or may not know how they respond to it especially with the rise of dark social but knowing that your audience engage is enough. It doesn't matter if it's just a huff and puff or a full-on response with a comment and share, the important thing is that they engage with it which indirectly means they have formed an attachment to it.
5. Is it catchy enough for people to come back? if they are attached to it they will come back right? Ensure your post makes a subliminal promise that way, the audience can have something to look forward to.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

4 Simple Content Ideas for a Beauty brand

I once worked as a social media manager for a beauty brand. One of the recommended strategies was to work with beauty bloggers so I reached out to the top ones. 

I knew all of them so it was easy to introduce myself and congratulate them on the work they do. Moving on to the brand, they were then told the products the brand would like to gift them and to share ideas of how they would work with the products.

All the bloggers replied the email with a question 'what do you mean by share ideas?' 

I was shocked!

I was already a brand exec then so knew about positioning, brand strategy, promotion and the like so I was sad they didn't know anything about it. 

Wondering what I was expecting them to share? Well, here are 4 ideas any of them could have easily latched onto

• I would work around a casual theme looking at how the products can be incorporated into a simple outing look
• I focus on products so incorporating the products into a shelf shot of everyday beauty products with a blogpost or caption around the different products is what I intend to do
• I have an event I'll be attending this weekend. It will be a great opportunity to feature this product and show how it can easily be used for high fashion/red carpet looks
• I'm a makeup artist so figuring out multiple ways to use these products is what I'll do

The idea of being a blogger is being able to be yourself in each and every instance each time infusing whichever brand on your rooster as part of your life. Effortlessly doing this, is what will make you a professional and sought after by brands as that seamless fusion is what they look out for. 

Photo by Angela Roma from Pexels

5 Steps on How To Work with Bloggers

You know how they say creative people need a little extra patience when working with them? Well, when working with Bloggers, you definitely need a little extra, but not necessarily patience. More like you need a little extra strategic thinking and a little extra time to create a plan of action + expectations. 

Here are some steps to guide you:

1. Have A Plan: Why do you want to work with a blogger? What are your expectations of the partnership? What kind of bloggers are you looking to work with? What platforms? These are the kind of questions your plan should have. Your plan should be concise, simple, clear and easy to understand.
2. Know Why: This 'why' is the expected result of the partnership. Do you want to grow sales or introduce your product to a different audience? Properly identifying this will help you select just the exact blogger to work with. They might have the same audience but different impacts on the audience so it is good to know and understand what success will look like in the end.
3. Start With A Bond: Bloggers are real people. They want to know you really care about them, their content and their brand. That you value all the work they put in. When reaching out, ensure it is from a position of knowledge of them and their work. Ideally, follow them and interact with their work for a period of time before reaching out with a business proposal.
4. Leave Them Be: A lot of times, brands interfere in the creative process after contracting a blogger. The brand forgets that one of the core reasons they selected the blogger was for their unique voice and style. Interfering with this, will contaminate the content they produce. Give them a guide i.e. colours, style, words e.t.c. but leave them to be the creatives they are so they can create great content for you.
5. Have A Great Offer: A lot of times the bloggers only have vanity metrics on their side (especially here in Nigeria), but considering that you as a brand can't boast of that, you need to decide what will be worth the bloggers while. Is it money? Is it a lifetime supply of your product? or maybe a reward or their audience or an honorary position as your brand ambassador. When you are the one approaching the blogger, you need to make sure this is sorted out so you don't get the boot.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

7 Reasons Why Brands Need Bloggers

Brands have switched outdoor billboards for website leaderboards. They've gone from paying modelling Agencies to paying Instagram models. They've also switched from press releases and briefings in the announcement of a new product or service to letting bloggers/influencers do it for them.

There's a reason why - because bloggers have a direct relationship with the audience these brands want to connect with.

Well, that's just one of the reasons though. Let me share the remaining 6 with you

2. Bloggers are trusted.

When brands share a message online, the audience already knows that they just want to sell. But Bloggers want to connect with the audience and are trusted because of their personal connection to the content they create. The audience, therefore, knows that if this blogger speaks positively about a brand, then the brand is worth checking out. 

3. It helps your bottom line. 

Yes, it isn't as affordable as when they first came on the scene but with the one-on-one connection Bloggers can provide a brand, they are definitely cheaper than mainstream media. So, you get more bang for your buck and more impact.

4. It gives your brand a personality.

Brands are businesses. And brands that have been unable to carve a personality niche for themselves in the class of the Nikes and Coca-Colas of this world, need help to carve this persona for themselves. Working with Bloggers can do this for you as based on the type of Bloggers you work with, the audience can immediately connect the brand to a kind of personality e.g. Pepsi - fun, loud, colourful, pop brand that loves music and football.

5. To provide you with content. 

Face it, brands are there to make sales not create content.  But the audience they seek to connect with want content they can consume. Bloggers create content so working with a Blogger helps you generate the kind of content your audience love thereby providing you with the content repository your brand needs.

6. It's easy to convert them to brand advocates.

Working consistently with Bloggers and developing an honest, sincere relationship with them will guarantee you a place in their hearts and in their content. Bloggers talk about the things they love so once they love your brand, they'll definitely talk about you and include you in conversations about thier favourite things.

Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash