A Bloggers Beginner Guide to Working With Brands

This week’s (epic!) post is all about making sure you know the lay of the land when it comes to working with brands.

It’s clear to me that for any blogger wanting to work with brands, finding the information they need to do it well is a minefield; there are so many assumptions and connections that happen out of sight. Today I am going to bring some things into the light to help you out – we’re going to talk about the background information that you need to know, as well as get practical about the kind of opportunities you might expect to get pitched.

The following comments are not exhaustive nor are they definitive. There will always be exceptions to the rule but my goal here is to help you understand the lay of the land so you can make better decisions about which brands you work with and get the most out of any pitches that land in your inbox.

When an email lands in your inbox, the first thing you need to understand is who it is from. Is it the brand directly, their PR agency or one of their digital agencies who look after their media buying/advertising/social media/SEO? Each of these people have got different goals for their projects, and different budgets. For example, the role of a PR agency is to secure free coverage for their client so they will generally not have budget for bloggers (though increasingly PR agencies are trying to include blogger outreach services for their clients and are getting access to small amounts of money for bloggers. Still, 8/10 they won’t have a budget.) Unlike a PR agency, the goal of a digital or media agency is to secure advertising so they are more likely to have a budget. If they are an SEO agency then one of their goals will be links so they will want you to use “follow” links rather than “non-follow” links in your post – an important assumption to be aware of.

The bottom line? Working out who you are dealing with will help you uncover a bit more about their goals and the possibilities from the outset. This will help you when you are negotiating the project. If you don’t know who has emailed you, find out .

Most of the time budgets have been set by the time the email reaches you and certainly the decision about whether there will be a  budget at all for bloggers has been made well before any emails are sent to bloggers. Don’t be mad if there’s no budget, think about the opportunity value to assess a) if there is one and b) what it is: – a relationship with an industry influencer? an opportunity to deliver something of value/interest to your readers?

As bloggers we talk a lot about the importance of relationship when it comes to the way brands and agencies pitch us. It is equally important to think about the relationship approach from our side of things. Yes, there are awful pitches that don’t deserve the time of day but there are also ones that might not be perfect, might not be something we want to pursue, but are sent by a real person who is just doing the best they know how. These are the people you want to build a relationship with yourself! They are the people with the clients, with the future opportunities and most of the time these are the people who want to get it right. Before you dismiss someone because they haven’t coughed up cash the first time they email you think about playing the long game.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting you do everything that comes your way in the hope that “one day” you get the kind of campaigns you want to do. What I am suggesting is that go gently my friends and be savvy. There are lots of ways a blogger can benefit from working with a brand without being paid – assess each opportunity as it comes along and don’t ever underestimate the value of a good connection.

 
My guess it that you are probably part of a secret/closed Facebook group with other bloggers. Right? In there you share your experiences of blogging generally but probably also asked questions about the pitches you get and how to approach different emails. Right?

Well, brands and agencies might not be in secret Facebook groups together (wouldn’t that be a riot?!) but they do go to conferences, tradeshows and other events where they chat about the industry. In fact, it’s quite a transient industry with high turnover meaning that people are often moving between agencies and jobs. Conversation is fluid and constant.

The bottom line? Working with bloggers is high on the radar of the marketing and PR industry at the moment and they talk about it, bloggers, how to get the best ROI (return on investment) for their clients and sometimes they even talk about you – the bloggers they have loved working with and the ones who have given them headaches. If you make a great impression it will be noticed and talked about and that’s a great asset for you and your blog. My mother used to always say to my sister and I when we’d head out: “Girls, remember who you are and behave accodingly.” I guess she knew that the way you act in the world speaks volumes about who you are, even when you think noone’s looking.

It’s just worth remembering that PRs are people too and as with everything we do, relationships matter.

 
Ah the WIIFM? factor. This is when a blogger talks about what they get out of a brand arrangements and it’s important thing to consider. If you’ve been approached for an “opportunity” that amounts to nothing more than free publicity for a brand then it’s probably not a true opportunity. And it’s totally Ok to decline to be involved in those ones. But, I’d also like to flip the question for a moment and suggest an alternative, or at least additional, factor: The WIIFMR factor, or: What’s in it for my readers?

If you look at some of the most successful blogs you will see that they always deliver what’s best for their readers and that includes sharing brands that they have not be paid for. So my advice is to always keep in mind how you can help your readers and if a brand can offer you a way to do that then that’s a valuable opportunity for you.

When we talk about looking after our readers we can’t skip over the issue of integrity and trust. The reason people read your blog is because they like you and that leads them to build up trust in you. In the industry this is called the “know-like-trust” factor and it’s what makes a blog successful. It’s also what makes bloggers appealing to brands. Before you agree to any campaign with a brand you need to be absolutely sure you aren’t going to damage the way your readers perceive you – not only would doing that diminish your value to brands in the long term it would damage the essence of your blog which I’m confident is what you really care about.

The bottom line? If you are going to work with a brand make sure it’s worth it and make sure you do it really well.

• Product Reviews & Giveaways

This is by far the most comment pitch you will get. The general idea is that you will be sent a product to review and then write about your experience. Most of the time you will also be given product to enable you to run a giveaway though if the product is high value then this might not be possible.

The ACCC has released new guidelines which say that “you should not write reviews when you have not experiences the good or service reviewed or reviews which do not reflect a genuinely held opinion. It should be obvious but it’s really important that you actually test the product before you write this sort of post in order to main your integrity with your readers.

The guidelines also include a comment that any incentive you have received in the writing of your review should be prominently disclosed to you readers. But we all know that right?! (YES!)

Tip #1: Bloggers should not be responsible for postage to prize winners. Make sure you clarify with your contact at the outset that they will send prizes and that you will supply the delivery details.

Tip #2: It’s OK to stipulate a minimum value for these posts – this normally relates to the value of the giveaway. For instance, you might require that all giveaways be a minimum value of $100. Where a single product is worth less than this amount you might be supplied with multiples for the giveaway. So, say the product is worth $20, you are able to giveaway 5 of them to make a total value of $100.

Tip #3: It’s OK to say the things you didn’t like about a product. In fact, it’s reviews that show the good and bad sides of a product that are the most helpful for readers. If you feel that there’s nothing good you have to say about a product and you don’t want to give blog space to an entirely negative post then the best thing to do is to go back to your contact to let them know how you feel. Honesty is always the best policy.

Tip #4: If you are running a giveaway, have a read through this post from Laney Galligan about running a legal competition in Australia it will be of immense value to you.

Tip #5: Once you’ve read Laney’s post about running a legal comeptition you will want to think about the practical way to do this. Rafflecopter is a popular program and one you will see lots of bloggers using. Laney’s post about things to know when using Rafflecopter is highly recommended reading to make sure it works for you.

• Sponsored Posts

Sponsored Posts are another common way brands work with bloggers and are often of great interest to bloggers because they involve payment.

Sponsored posts are when a brand will ask you to either write an information post or product based post and will pay you a set fee for this. These posts are most common when a brand is asking a blogger to post about something for which their is no product to review or giveaway – it might be to promote a service they offer, an event that is coming up or some other information that they want to communicate. Sometimes however, the payment will relate to a review and my advice in that situation is as per the Review and Giveaway comments I’ve just made above.

Tip #1: Disclose, disclose, disclose. At the very top of your post make sure you mark it as “sponsored”

Tip #2: Some agencies will ask you not to use the word “sponsored” but instead to say “in collaboration with” or “brought to you by” or another more vague term. My view is that your relationship with your readers is worth 1000 times any sponsored post fee! It’s absolutely OK to push back and set your limits and if they decide not to proceed, though you’ve lost a few $$ in the short term you’ve also made your blog a whole lot more valuable in the long term.

Tip #3:Sometimes you will be asked what you charge for a sponsored post and sometimes the brand or agency will have a set budget. It’s up to you whether you want to accept a set budget if it’s less than your normal asking rate but my tip is that if you are open to this you should mention it in some way in your media kit. Sometimes an agency won’t approach you if they think you only accept your stated rates and you could miss out on opportunities you’d actually be interested in if you don’t indicate that you’re flexible.

Tip #4: Different agencies have different policies but it’s common for a brand to want to read your post before it goes live. If this is the case it’s important to let the brand know that you will only accept changes that are of a grammatical or factual nature – they can’t change your tone or style or messaging. Keep it real! Ask them to use the “mark up” feature when sending any comments back so that you can see what they are asking for and easily accept or reject the changes.

• Events

Brand-blogger events are on the rise and you might find invitations hitting your inbox for these as they year goes on. Brand events are a great opportunity to network with a brand direct;y as well as with fellow bloggers and they can often be a lot of fun!

Tip #1: Make sure your location is listed on your “about” or “contact” pages so that you get invited to the relevant events!

Tip #2: If you’re invited to an event as “Mummy blogger” double check that children are welcome and find out they will accommodate them. It’s an unfortunate reality that most brands do not factor children in when planning events for Mummy bloggers and that can make them really hard work (and I’m putting my own “mummy blogger” hat on here and thinking back to some doozies I’ve attended with my kids). It’s just best not to assume when there are toddlers involved!

Tip #3: Don’t ever go to a brand event just to catch up with other bloggers if you don’t have any interest in the brand. We’ve already talked about the value of good relationships and you don’t want to get a reputation as a blogger who is only in it for a good time.

Tip #4: Don’t be disappointed if you miss out on an event – there are loads of reasons this happens and it’s almost never personal. I’ve previously shared tips on how to deal with not being invited and I suggest you check this post out if you’re feeling like you are missing out.

Tip #4: There’s not contract requiring you to blog or tweet or Instagram about, or at, an event BUT if you like it, like the people and think it’s of interest to your readers then be happy and be social. The trick? This is an opportunity to share relevant, interesting content that you know your readers are interested in so keep the focus on that rather than on everything they and your fellow bloggers are missing out on.

• The ones to avoid

Ok, let’s talk about the DOOZIES. You know the ones, they normally start “dear blogger” or “dear sir/madam”. What to say?! Most of us don’t have time to respond to every email we get let alone the impersonal, off topic ones. If someone wants links, wants to pay you $5 or even $20 to host something on your site for year, just leave it be. If someone wants you to run a promotion for their gambling website on your parenting blog again, it’s not worth your time. The key is to sort through who are the spammers and who are the novices and respond accordingly.

Tip #1: Be smart about what you say yes to and what you spend time responding too. There are only so many hours in the day.

Tip #2: You don’t need to respond to every press release you get sent though if someone has taken the time to include a personal message a quick reply is a lovely, relationship-building gesture.

Tip #3: Try not to be rude. Most of the time the person who has sent you the email doesn’t understand bloggers and has forgotten that they are writing to a real live person; don’t make the same mistake in your response.

• Other ways to work with brands

There are many, many more ways to work with bloggers than the ways listed so far – things like ebook collaborations, ambassador programs and guest blogging for a brand site. As the industry evolves so too will the opportunities. Now is the time to be finding ways to stand out, to build great relationships and so start dreaming of how you’d like to collaborate with brands. There’s nothing stopping you from it being you who starts doing the pitching! If you’ve taken the time to find out who’s who in the industry, to understand what their different goals and budget availability is and you can demonstrate the value you offer a brand and your readers then you’re going to be very well placed to do great things with brand partners.
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We’ve really only touched on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how to work with brands but my hope is that this post provides you with some of the background information you need to ask the right questions of the brands and agencies that connect with you. The goal is always to deliver value so my final suggestion is to ask yourself, before saying yes to any more pitches:

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