In today’s digital world, brands are increasingly turning to bloggers to benefit from their influence and help promote their products and services. Working with bloggers, when done right, can be a great way to generate publicity and increase visibility. Being a blogger myself, you may expect me to be biased, but I want to prove to you how valuable bloggers can be when matched with the correct brands, and how both parties can come together to create something great.
1) Bloggers can make you the star of the story
It is well known that online research has a huge influence impacting the decision making processes of consumers. In fact 84% of people buy products based on the description in blogs and 18-34 year olds value blogs as the most important information source when making purchasing decisions.
Research Now has also carried out a recent in depth study sharing some interesting statistics on bloggers as brand advocates and the positive impacts bloggers can have.When a blogger writes about your brand or product they have the ability to influence consumer decisions, offering their personal opinion and experience. Brands who reach out to bloggers are able to get their stories told through compelling content, beautiful imagery and informative videos.
In fact with the majority of purchases I make I search online to find reviews in order to find out if the product does as it says and to find out whether the product is right for me. This is one of the main reasons I started my own blog, in order to share my honest reviews of the products I use, recommend and love.
All in all, bloggers are often great storytellers and when they write about you and your brand/products they are able to put you at the centre of the story!
2) Bloggers are in touch with your target audience
Successful bloggers have communities who are engaged with them. When one of these bloggers writes about your brand they create a connection, direct to your target audience. Reputable bloggers write about products they believe in to maintain credibility and authenticity, however some bloggers accept payment to promote products; this is why selecting bloggers who are genuinely passionate about your brand is important, it means that the review of your brand will be genuine, and more valuable as a result.
3) Bloggers can help you to expand further into social media
Social channels can attract a huge audience, making them extremely powerful. They are a way for bloggers to share posts in order to reach followers and an even bigger audience when a post is liked, shared and retweeted. This means that when you collaborate with bloggers, your brand/product is able to benefit from this relationship.
4) Bloggers can drive new traffic to you
A good post that links to your site entices users to click through to check your site out for themselves. This is a great way to build links and gain exposure to your target market in ways that can be measured. Therefore, helping you to identify how successful a particular post has been and how you should continue to work with a particular blogger in the future.
5) Bloggers can make you look cool!
The truth is, consumers don’t usually trust brands immediately. Instead, we find it easier to trust other people who have tried and tested products themselves. According to Forbes, data from Forrester states,Therefore, within a socially driven world it is vital that there is a form of legitimacy across a brand’s messaging, which is where bloggers come in. By working with bloggers it helps form the proof of your product messaging, through sharing high-quality and honest reviews, the trust generated by bloggers is then shared with your brand, helping you to build trust among those who matter most (your market).
6) Bloggers are good for your SEO
A website that attracts high quality links is likely to outrank websites that don’t. By working with bloggers you can benefit from high-quality, natural links. One genuinely written article, with a link for reference can prove very useful for readers, and search engines value this as a signal of quality, associated with you brand and the blogger who has written the article.
Brands that have a long list of supporters also tend to have a high number of links, built naturally by being talked about online. The fact is that the SEO benefits of brand and blogger relationships are huge and by building relationships you are creating a sustainable network that will grow alongside your brand and audience.
7) Bloggers are good sales people
Bloggers can help drive sales through their personal recommendations with the ability to influence buyers. One post from a blogger can bring huge benefits, so imagine the impact of a several bloggers talking about your brand. Bloggers can in fact be your brand’s greatest advocates and when treated well they will want to write about your brand more often. The power of brand advocacy is huge and here is why:Once a blogger has written an honest review of your brand, the relationship doesn’t need to end there. You can offer bloggers things like discount codes to share with their readers, it offers the blogger a way to treat their readers whilst also reflecting well on your brand and your customer service.
