I have just returned from 2 days at the Digital Parents Conference, which has been inspiring beyond belief. I learned many many things. All of which I want to share with you, but today I am going to share the experience which resonated with me most. That was the workshop moderated by Lorraine Murphy from
The Remarkables. Lorraine is a complete professional and during the course of her presentation, it became clear to me why her bloggers talent agency is so successful.
Lorraine's presentation outlined the the Win, Win, Win potential between Brands, Bloggers and Readers.
SO WHAT'S IN IT FOR BRANDS?
Lorraine produced a slide from A Nielsen Report called
Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages, The report, published in April 2012, is fascinating. You can read it in its entirety
here.
The take out message for me, was as follows:
"92% of consumers [surveyed] globally say they trust
earned media, such as word-of-mouth or recommendations
from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising." -Neilson
The Neilson Report also revealed, 70% of those surveyed, believe online reviews are the second most trusted form of receiving brand information. An increase of 15% in 4 years.
Neilson surveyed 28,000 people across 56 countries. Of those surveyed, participants said they viewed television(47%), magazines(47%) and newspaper ads(46%), as trusted forms of advertising A decline of around 25% for those mediums between 2009 and 2011.
NOW THAT BLEW ME AWAY AND IT GOT EVEN MORE INTERESTING.
Lorraine was prepared to share some of the survey results gathered last year, in relation to
The Remarkables' stable of
bloggers. Via a bar graph, Lorraine illustrated the reasons why those surveyed read blogs such as
Baby Mac and
Styling You.
The top reason those surveyed read
Baby Mac, is because it "Feels like catching up with a friend".
The top reason those surveyed read
Styling You, is because they want "Fashion Advice", but again, "Feels like catching up with a friend" was the third highest reason Nikki's audience visits her blog.
You can draw your own conclusions from the Neilson Report and
The Remarkables surveys, but mine are that the power of blogging is evident, it's effective and it's now an important strategic element of the media mix a brand must deploy, as part of a successful marketing plan.
Although the link between reader engagement and actual point of sale transactions requires more research, blogs with an engaged readership, are clearly an effective channel to consumers.
SO WHAT IS IN IT FOR READERS?
Obviously the trust between a blogger and their readers is paramount.
One of the ways to keep readers engaged, is to offer them something every time they visit your blog. This might be a recipe, beautiful photography, a giveaway or helpful tips. It is not about the blogger saying "Look at me!", but rather, it is about the blogger saying to the reader, "Here's what you are looking for".
The Remarkables' bloggers will not work with brands that are not a good fit with themselves or their readers. Blogging about stuff that does not fit with you or your readers, just creates a loss in credibility and is a complete turn off for readers.
Mrs Woog said she rejected a pitch from a brand on a giveaway, because she knew an online colouring in competition would not work with her readers and their kids. She re pitched to the brand and asked readers to create a name for the new product. It worked because it was a good fit with the humourous themes running through her blog. It allowed her readers to be funny along with her. The brand was happy, because the giveaway got an overwhelming response. The readers were happy because they were encouraged to engage in a very creative way and had the chance to win a fabulous kitchen appliance in the giveaway as well.
Trust is also maintained by clearly labelling a sponsored post at the top of the page.
Interestingly,
The Remarkables surveys showed 52% of readers read sponsored content, because they trust the blogger.
44% of readers didn't differentiate between sponsored content and free content.
The Remarkables surveys also revealed that readers understand the need for bloggers to make a living and are fine with sponsored posts, if there is a good balance between free content and sponsored content. Lorraine suggested 4 out of 7 sponsored posts a week would be way too many. For me, I think one every month or so is right for my blog. I would love to be able to do one giveaway per week too. I am only interested in offering prizes in giveaways I think you would love to have in your home, because I would too.
Lorraine suggested another benefit to blog audiences is that by reading bloggers they relate to, they are hearing from brands that will most likely be relevant and of interest to them. For example, the famous 'Condom Dress' post on
Mrs Woog's blog, which sold out the line at Seed and led to the crashing of their website due to excess traffic. Engaging with a blogger the reader likes and trusts, means that brand "noise" is somewhat filtered. Accordingly, readers will hopefully, only be exposed to brands that are relevant to their demographic. Brands which may be worth knowing about, because they potentially fill a need for the reader.
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE REMARKABLES
I have to say I was very impressed with Lorraine. She was prepared to share alot and it was appreciated by all the attendees of her workshop.
Lorraine revealed her fee schedule, which is a sliding scale based on unique visits.
For those who don't know, the total 'unique' visits to your blog represents the actual number of eyeballs viewing your blog. The number of pages readers view once they are there, is known as 'page views'.
The Remarkables minimum fee charged to the client for a sponsored post is $1500 for a blogger with 5000 uniques per month. This increases to $6000 for the bloggers with the biggest number of 'uniques'.
Lorraine is clearly working hard for her bloggers and clients. She also revealed that in the early days of the business, she contacted many PR's and brands and got very little traction in relation to agencies willing to pay for sponsored posts. This is now changing. She revealed that the budget for a blogger out reach event is often around $30,000. This is where say 30 bloggers are invited to an event to liaise with the brand and learn about its products. In addition to setting up the event, there may be an allocation in that budget to fly in and accommodate bloggers and also to pay for childcare. This strategy can get expensive for the PR company, with little of the budget left over to pay bloggers for posting. Bloggers are not under any obligation to blog about the brand if they are invited to theses events. According to Lorraine, brands were finding that in some cases, only a small percentage of bloggers actually did blog about the event and/or the brand.
Lorraine said this business model is changing. Brands are more interested in working with a smaller number of bloggers who are a good fit with their brand and sponsoring their posts. That is, paying them in cash. Her business now has so many enquiries, that she has had to take on another employee just to deal with all the interest from brands and PR agencies.
I queried with Lorraine the perception that the primary function of a PR company, was all about getting free publicity for a brand. I suggested this was the reason PRs don't want to pay bloggers. She said that used to be the case, but not any more. PR's and brands are slowly realising they need to pay bloggers to get the level of engagement they are looking for.
SO WHAT'S IN IT FOR BLOGGERS?
The fact that
The Remarkables have lots of new enquires about working with bloggers, inspired me. It was here that I decided to throw my hat into the ring. At the end of the talk, I waited to speak to Lorraine. I wrote my current 'uniques' on the back of my card......a movable feast depending on which product you use...... but I am no shrinking violet and thought what the hell, I've got nothing to lose. I handed her my card and the following exchange ensued:
Lorraine: "Ah yes Desire Empire, I've heard of you, hello!"
Me: "Yes that's probably because you have already rejected me once before!" with a laugh.
Lorraine: "Oh no, that's because when you contacted us, we had enough work to service our existing bloggers, but that's changing."
Me: "Really?"....with a questioning tone
I am all for putting it out there and seeing how the cards fall. I've had plenty of rejection in my life and it hasn't killed me yet, it has made me a better, kinder person and definitely a more interesting one.
There is alot of debate out there about
The Remarkables, but I embrace their business model. Even if I never become part of their team, I respect the agency greatly, because it is leading the way for those who follow.
Blogging at the level I and many others blog at, is not sustainable without some kind of fair remuneration. There is a lot of work involved. I love it and am passionate about it, but there comes a point to draw a line in the sand. For those readers who cannot accept that bloggers get paid to write about things they like and love, they need to understand that if it was not for this, my blog and many other blogs would have been taken off air years/months ago.
I have always said that blogging would be a great job if you were independently wealthy and could swan around to lovely events shmoozing with corporates and people who liked the same things as you. Or take delivery of gorgeous products from corporates who are hoping you will blog about them. Unfortunately mortgages, food, and utility bills need to be paid. There needs to be some sustainable level of remuneration for bloggers. Journalists are a different kettle of fish, because they are paid by their employers Fairfax, New Ltd, Consolidated Press or Conde Nast etc to attend events and recommend products they love in their writing. With the growth and development of online media the old PR model (ie. free publicity via product placement and product launches) is not sustainable in the long term, particularly for bloggers. I believe the growth of sponsored posts will free bloggers up to improve the quality of their content overall. Fair remuneration for bloggers is an essential element required to maintain the diversity and integrity in this extremely exciting burgeoning industry, which I am so proud to be a part of.
In conclusion, to answer the question about what's in it for bloggers. It's about working in a job you are passionate about. It's about connecting with like minded people, who like the same things as you do and for those savvy enough, it's about trying to make a few bucks to pay those bills, which never seem to stop coming.
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Speaking of sponsored posts. I am giving away a $100 gift voucher to spend in a fabulous online homewares store,
Allissias Attic Design here. The store is full of beautifully inspired French, vintage and Hamptons style pieces. You really don't want to miss this one. It's a good fit with my blog I promise and you my lovely readers, will hopefully love it too.
If it's more blogging tips you want, have a look
here