This isn’t a topic I normally write about but I feel inclined to say something. I’ve been a blogger for over 10 years. I started blogging before sponsored posts were even a thing – when putting ads up on your blog was considered “selling out”. I’ve watched the brand-blogger relationship grow and develop into something great, and now I’m watching it fall.
Back in the day, brands contacted bloggers because they were good story tellers. Blogs were full of personal anecdotes, tutorials, coupons, recipes and other rich content. Bloggers could take a brand’s product and organically weave it into an everyday post. Readers saw bloggers casually talk up certain products but didn’t notice an actual advertisement. What readers saw was how products A, B or C fit into every day life. Bloggers created a personal connection with products.
As the brand-blogger relationship grew, brands began to see bloggers as influencers. Stories of using products in every day life were leading to increased sales. After all, a mom using a product is more trustworthy and appealing than an ad written by the company or a paid endorsement by a celebrity. Brands saw the reach and influence bloggers had over their markets and began more of an advertising vs sponsored post relationship.
Advertising vs sponsored story posts is a huge backward step in the brand-blogger relationship. Remember, bloggers are story tellers and it’s story telling that leads us as influencers. Advertising minimizes our ability to write organic stories and therefore decreases our influence.
Brands are now demanding that their products take center stage. They are telling bloggers the stories they should write and key points they need to highlight (often reiterating the same things readers have heard through traditional advertising). Bloggers are forced to write from a marketing perspective and decrease the personal aspect of the story. This comes across as unnatural and unorganic. While bloggers understand that products need to be featured, making the product itself the focus of a post creates less appeal for readers. Readers see an advertisement and skip over the “story” all together going straight to the tutorial. This misses the key points the brands want to convey. Focusing on actual stories, not products themselves, gets readers engaged and emphasizes personal connections with the product.
The addition of forced photos showing products in a “hero” image or on store shelves further pushes readers away. People who read blogs aren’t looking for advertisements, they are looking for organic stories. Forced photos are not organic content. High quality photos of the finished craft or recipe without a featured product (i.e. advertisement) draw people to actually read the post. Non-advertorial photos are more pinable on Pinterest furthering engagement with the post and therefore, product.
So what should the future of brand-blogger relationships be? How about going back in the past. Let bloggers do what they do best – tell their stories. Let bloggers organically weave products into everyday posts. Let bloggers advertise without pushy advertising. Let bloggers create a personal connection with products. After all, that’s why brands contacted bloggers in the first place.
