Can bloggers help my business?
What opportunity do bloggers represent?
There is no doubt bloggers are making an impact on the marketing landscape and for a good reason… Some bloggers have upwards and tens of thousands of followers and can influence consumers buying behaviours through their posts.
Throughout my career I have always utilised influencers to build a brand or highlight certain products, only in the early days I would utilise celebrities. However, now even the smallest of business have access to bloggers and these people can be just as powerful on some level.
Over the last 7 years or more, I have been utilising bloggers more and more and they have proven to be effective on several levels
- Exposing consumers to
- Branding
- New Products (launches)
- Competitions
- Sales Opportunities
Typically the most passionate (hobbyists) make the best bloggers, looking at your product on a different level the average consumer, providing insights into the benefits or functionality. Showing your product in the best light possible.
The best part of this type of marketing it is low cost and yes depending on the size of their blogs, you could be talking to a very limited number of people however you are often only utilising your own product and these have a perceived values and a true cost.
Whilst, not every business model has bloggers available to them, you will definitely find influencers and these opportunities are generally low-cost options for marketing. In the early days, we looked to passionates in forums as they were the influencers of the time.
Recommendation: Look for passionates to help promote and drive your brand, understand they are not the salvation or the panacea but a step towards a new way of reaching out to and building your brand.