Navigating the Waters of Blogger Relations

Why it’s important for your brand to partner with bloggers and micro-influencers.

Implementing bloggers and micro-influencers in your marketing strategy integrates public relations and digital media to reach highly-targeted audiences in a more effective, efficient and trustworthy way while helping build localized brand advocates and supporters.

These bloggers and micro-influencers are all around us, telling us where to travel, what to do with our free time or how to be better versions of ourselves. And that’s exactly why they can be great advocates for your brand: because people listen and trust them.

First, let’s define who we’re talking about. A blogger is just that – one who blogs. It can be about anything: food, lifestyle, travel or gaming. If it’s found on the internet, odds are someone is blogging about it. A micro-influencer is an individual that, by standard definition, has less than 100,000 followers on their social platforms. Often, these two overlap as social media has become paramount in successfully sharing blog content.

Partnering with bloggers and micro-influencers is becoming an increasingly necessary tactic when considering how to reach and talk to your customers in a cost-effective, organic way. Bloggers/micro-influencers are generally viewed as unbiased individuals who partner with brands they trust to bring news, reviews and deals to the general public. In fact, working with these influencers can have a significantly positive effect on your brand. Just a few of the positives:

• They have highly targeted, often localized audiences/followers (both in geography and industry).
• Their content is perceived as original and honest, making it more meaningful and trustworthy because they’re “normal” people living their life in the community rather than big-name athletes, political figures or celebrities who are being paid big bucks to sponsor a brand. By partnering with bloggers/micro-influencers, your brand will be exposed to their followers with positive sentiment from the get-go because they trust the blogger to provide them with honest opinions.
• Working with bloggers isn’t just a public relations effort anymore. It allows for increased SEO, heightened brand credibility, larger visibility on social media and additional branded content.
• Working with these individuals is highly cost-effective. They recognize partnering with companies that are good fits for their brand help not only the business but also can grow their social influence and reach.

So, who’s worth partnering with? Brands often think they need the “who’s who” of influencers to back their brand. While those influencers can be beneficial, it’s not necessary for effective market penetration if you’re looking at who your true potential customers are. The right blogger/micro-influencer needs to be a fit for your brand, have the ability to connect with your target audience and produce quality content that’s relevant.

Many businesses try to force these relationships to work. Every blogger/micro-influencer relationship needs to be mutually beneficial. The business should benefit from coverage, and the blogger needs to feel appreciated and see the benefit for their efforts. These agreements are easy to build if you begin by researching the influencer’s content and setting parameters with expectations early on so you’re always on the same page with what each side earns from the relationship.

Bottom line: if you feel your marketing efforts are sluggish and your audience isn’t receiving your message, give a blogger a try. A fresh voice to put a face and personality to your brand might just do the trick.