Recommended Tips For Bloggers That Wish To Work With Brands

7 years ago

Recommended Tips For Bloggers That Wish To Work With Brands

Basically I'd say 2016 was a very good year for me when it comes to working with Brands.

I worked with JiJi, Obi Worldphones, GearBest, Invicta Africa, etc. 2017 is starting off with a partnership with Romoss. Here's the question you may ask

How did you do that?

I'll explain the basics of working with brands and tips to make the partnership a success.

Working with brands is one of the smartest ways to monetize your blog while you're generating new readers.

Creating powerful brand partnerships is the holy grail of the blogosphere.

But there's one thing: it needs a bit of work and unless you’re very lucky, you'll have to put in a whole lot of effort on yourself.

The right approach and attitude can make it quite easy.

Here are my tips :

Tip #1: Build Your Brand & Reputation

I don't see my blog as just another blog, I see it as a brand.

The most important fact you should acknowledge is that not every blog in the world is in a position to partner up with high end brands. The Competition is very high and brands are very limited in the amount of bloggers they can work with.

Build Highly-Engaged Followers

You don't have to have lots of followers to work with brands, it's not a requirement. Although a few brands may need this.
However, brands are more interested in the quality of your followers over the quantity. That means having loyal followers, engaged comments on your posts and authentic communication over social media is very important. Your relationship with your followers and readers is very valuable to brands, so start off by really building that rather than simply trying to boost numbers.

Create A Strong Presence Online

Brands will also want to see a strong presence on social media: one of the most effective forms of advertising, it’s very important that you are on top of it. Again – quality over quantity reigns supreme

Tip #2: Create An Attractive Media Kit

A media kit is quite necessary in giving brands a quick and easy snapshot of what your blog is about. There are a few recommended things that you should add to it.

An introduction about yourself: give them a quick insight into your personality, why you started your blog and what is important to you. Let them get to know the face behind your brand. They want to work with you as a person not just your blog.

About your blog: Is it a tech blog? Entertainment? Sports? Define what your blog is

Blog statistics: Include your monthly page views, monthly unique visitors, how often you post, and social media stats. You can include your all time page views, average time on site and bounce rates if possible.

Your accomplishments: It's more like a CV, list any accomplishments you are particularly proud of. This can be events you covered, awards you've won etc. You can add list of brands, you've worked with or even have a section of its own for this with all the brand logos and a snippet of the work you carried out with them. You can check my blog page partner page at the bottom of this blog to see a sample.

If this is all in place, you now have to consider if your blog is a right fit for the brands you want to work with. This is important, and could save you a lot of time.

Ask yourself: is your blog relevant to their marketing needs? Can you offer them something different from other bloggers; a special insight on their products or personal experience relating to them?

If the answer to these questions is YES… well, you’re ready to go

Tip #3: Creating An Effective Email

In this part self confidence and optimism is the key rule here.

So let’s start off specific with the things you need to add to the email.

A clear subject line : Your title needs to be snappy and straight to the point. Give them the information they need so they know exactly what to expect from your email.

Don't start asking brands or their reps questions like - How are you doing?,How is work going?. Try to be professional.

Your email needs to be professional but enticing. Brands get a lot of emails per day asking for collaboration, so make their life a little easier by being transparent.

An introduction : Tell them all about yourself and what your blog is about (including your audience demographic and reach), as well as what you are looking for out of a collaboration. Also add what you love about their brand and why you want to work with them… try to keep this as unique as possible.

Benefits of working with you : Now you can go into even more detail. Let them know what they will gain as a company from the partnership.

You can add examples of previous successful partnerships you have taken part in to give an idea of how it could also work for them.

How you plan to market their product:

Try to be specific. Give them actual examples of what you could do for their brand, giving as many details as possible so that they don’t have to ask more questions.

What type of advertising will you provide:
Let them now how you will advertise your post, including individual statistics of all social media channels you plan to share it on.

Contact info and media kit: These two are compulsory. Make sure to include all relevant details for them to contact you on as well as your media kit in an attachment.

Show your true personality. Have fun with your email. Let them know what they can expect from you, and what you would expect from them.

.

Have a predefined idea of the brands you want to work with. Every email will need to be tailored directly for that brand. People can easily detect a blanket email a mile off!
Above all, show confidence and knowledge throughout all confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, neither will the brand.

Tip #4: Build A Long Lasting Relationship

When you’ve finally secured the collaboration.
Now you want to turn that into a long lasting partnership. There are a few things you can do to help make this a reality, many simply based around a good workmanship.

First of all, stay engaged with the brand.

Throughout the first collaboration, keep in touch every now and again to ensure they stay in the loop about your progress. Try to be an active communicator. Any positive feedback along the way should also be sent to them as soon as it comes in.

Next: Over deliver! Stick with what you have promised them and then go an extra mile to show them how dedicated you are to providing the best work possible.

That could be through the simple inclusion of personally designed graphics, professional looking photography or an increased social media promotion.

NEVER BE LATE. There is nothing more unattractive to a brand than tardiness!

Also remember: building strong relationships such as this can take time. Do not be deterred and never put all your eggs in one basket. Be prepared to reach out to many different brands before you get a bite. It will be so very worth it.