OPEN
INNOVATION
STUDIO
SUMMARY
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13 How brands select bloggers for campaigns
Introduction
20 Regulations & Connector policies
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How and when to disclose payment or sponsorship
PR agency V digital agency
23 Measurement & reports: What and Why?
19 10 Press release V sponsored content
How to make good sponsored content!
26 How to make a media kit
About Connector
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Hello! We want to help you become a more professional blogger! We have prepared a best practice guide where we will share our experiences in this exciting market. We invite you along to learn a little more about how brands work with bloggers and digital influencers for digital campaigns. Our objective is to promote best practice, promoting ethical behaviour and transparency while at the same time helping you make some money from your blog. Here you’ll find general tips and an honest overview of the market for bloggers work. This includes publication of sponsored content, how to approach brands, ways of disclosing ads and relevant case studies. You will also get to learn a little more about the Return On Investment (ROI) for campaigns in your blog! Ready? We hope you enjoy our guide and that we can work together soon! Conor & Ivan The Connector Team 5
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PR AGENCY V DIGITAL AGENCY PR AGENCY The PR agency is responsible for acting as an intermediary and strengthening the relationship between the client and the media.
tant that a PR agency knows how to identify who to work with and their audience so their campaign goals can be achieved.
Among the functions of the PR agency is the production of press releases, sending photos, press kits, invitations to events and sharing details of the product or advertised service. They work as a link between the company / brand and the media outlet to which the information is intended, either for traditional media (magazines, newspapers, radio) or for online media (websites, portals) and bloggers / influencers. It’s impor-
In this relationship, there is no advertising or media buying, any and all released content can and should be published by the free will of the blogger or influencer. What few people know is that not all PR agencies are responsible for the management of bloggers and influencers on the web. Often, digital agencies like Connector manage this task.
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DIGITAL AGENCY In addition to maintaining the relationship between their brands and the media, an agency seeks to oversee the market and to find media opportunities to promote the brand.
gage with bloggers and influencers, which can involve anything from invitations to events to sending press kits. Ideally these are personalised for the profile of the recipient.
These channels are hired for publication of content prepared by the influencer or the brand as agreed between the two parties.
Regarding the hiring of spaces on blogs and other digital platforms, materials are sent as a suggestion and the blogger can decide whether to get involved or not.
Example - Activation campaign for Huawei where Connector sponsored bloggers to invite their followers to discover what #OO was all about reaching over 100,000 interactions! Besides the work of media buying, many digital agencies have an internal department specialising in digital PR. Here they develop campaigns to en-
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For Nupo, Connector developed boxes of product samples so that in case of an emergency, the blogger can crack open a box and test the fast diet products.
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For Cooks Academy, we sent edible invitations to food bloggers to invite them to a unique foodie event.
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For Huawei we were Irish pioneers in using Snapchatters as media to disseminate the Huawei video Ad.
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Activation campaign of #OO paid bloggers to share some content
PRESS RELEASE V SPONSORED CONTENT
Rozanna Purcell in our PR Campaign to promote the Huawei Snapys
Now that the difference between the work of the PR agency and digital agency is clear, it’s time to understand the function of the press release and sponsored content! PRESS RELEASE
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A press release is generally a text document which contains detailed information about the product or service offered by the brand. In some cases it can come with a press kit with the product itself.
The press releases are sent so that the influencer is aware of the brands news. However, it’s up to them to decide whether the information is relevant enough to make a post about it when the publication is not paid.
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The suggestion must work as a foundation for the content creation. It’s worth mentioning that simply copying the press release in full is considered - almost unanimously unprofessional and unimpressive. The blogger can (and must!) share their personal impressions about the product in their review.
SPONSORED CONTENT
One of the main goals of sponsored content is to promote news from a brand which it wants to share with a specific audience. It’s important to make it clear that, in this case, the publication only happens after the contractual and financial agreement. It’s important that the contracting agency knows the correct guidelines. The idea is that the blogger receives a briefing containing all information and details on the subject to be disclosed.
“But if I publish a post based on the press release, am I not working for free?” No! Unlike the sponsored content, the release is a way to spread news and may be published freely by the blogger. That is, if you liked the suggested news and thought it was relevant enough to turn into content on your blog or fan page. If so, then feel free to share!
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HOW BRANDS SELECT BLOGGERS FOR CAMPAIGNS This is a common question from bloggers and influencers when they sometimes get disappointed when they are not invited to campaigns related to a brand that represents the profile of their readers. So to help you understand the rationale, we’ll explain how our selection process works.
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The first step is to define what the focus of our campaign will be. For you to understand this process, we have prepared two brief considerations:
QUANTITATIVE: Bloggers with the largest audience and reach are invited to share information to a wide audience.
QUALITATIVE: Influencers, with a strong presence in their niche, are invited to join campaigns that need engagement, creating ‘word of mouth’. This is not always related to who has the biggest audience or largest number of followers, but rather to those who have the power to influence people who follow them, literally. 14
Now it’s time to line up the profile of the blog with the product / service to be released, so we can connect directly with the target audience. We conduct a thorough search online and make a shortlist with the people considered most appropriate for the campaigns. We will also create a rationale stating the reasons for each choice that will be submitted to the client.
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Remember that the final decision is always up to the company, who can approve people or request alternatives. In the case of sending personalised press kits, we will often customise the gift in line with the main characteristics and personality of each influencer.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Demographic of visitors: What is their gender? What age group? What social class? What education level?
AUDIENCE: Page views, unique visitors, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, etc.
CUSTOMISATION: In some campaigns, a search is performed on the preferences of each blogger or influencer, so that we can prepare custom products according to their characteristics.
RESULTS: How many readers/ followers will be engaged? If available, what were the results of their previous campaigns?
Example - The Huawei Snapys activation campaign presented bloggers with 3D glasses preloaded with their most liked photos on Instagram. 16
HOW AND WHEN TO DISCLOSE PAYMENT OR SPONSORSHIP and consequently, brands, often involving stealth ads.
One of the reasons for the massive growth of blogging and social influencers is the fact that the posts are made by real people who give their opinion about what they are passionate about in their own lives.
And who likes to be deceived? To help you understand this area better and make your channels as transparent as possible for your readers, we’ve prepared a short (but effective!) explanation with suggestions on how and when to signal each type of post:
However, in recent months, we have noticed a deterioration in the relationship between the bloggers, readers
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SPONSORED CONTENT: Influencers, with a strong community, are invited to campaigns that need engagement, creating the sought after ‘word of mouth’. They can be given the content to share or to customise themselves but it has been paid for. Must be tagged and made aware that it’s sponsored content. Tag posts with #ad or similar.
RELEASE: This can be published without any tagging or signaling.
PRESS KIT: Like a product you received and want to publish a piece about it on your blog? It’s only polite that you make it clear, at some point in the text, that the product was sent to you by a brand.
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HOW TO MAKE GOOD SPONSORED CONTENT!
You’ve been asked to do some sponsored content and you don’t know how to engage your readers. Are you in doubt on how to write it? To help you with this task, check out the following tips and see how we love bloggers to adapt sponsored content.
ADD VALUE
BE TRANSPARENT As much as you identify with the brand, avoid suggesting it as a “tip from a friend” to your readers. You are being paid to share information and this is a type of advertising.
Good blog content should add new information and knowledge to the reader despite being an advertisement via a brand. Get involved with brands you like.
BE CLEAR
ATTENTION TO GRAMMAR
Be honest with your readers. In the case of posts involving reviews and tutorials, give your real impressions of the product. The post should take place naturally. And once again: flag it. If you don’t like a product, either say that or don’t post about it.
This tip goes for all posts in your channels, but it is worth mentioning here as well. Write a rough draft in MS Word or install a spell checking plugin on your browser and review as many times as needed. The free Grammarly plug-in is a great solution for checking grammar and spelling!
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Regulations
& Connector policies
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uch of digital advertising isn’t officially regulated. The ASAI - Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland– still doesn’t have the power to stop the publication of online pieces. However, there are ethical rules that are strongly recommended and based on the consumer protection code. The ASAI state all marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. Advertorials should be clearly identified and distinguishable from editorial. They also state that a free product given should also be disclosed by the blogger / influencer.
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CONNECTOR POLICIES SPONSORED CONTENT ALWAYS FLAGGED: All posts purchased by Connector on behalf of our customers should always be marked both in the categories / tags and through phrases at the beginning and end of the text.
APPROVAL: All sponsored content of the Connector clients must receive prior approval from the client and may go through amendments before being published.
COMPETITORS: We ask influencers to avoid sponsored content from direct competitors timed too close to each other.
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Measurement & reports: What & Why?
Your campaign has been published, now what? Measurement! Why is the measurement of results from the blog important? • • • •
So you can optimise the activity to boost the results. To justify the invested budget and see the proof of return on investment. To improve the strategy and future communication campaigns. To support decision-making and risk assessment.
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WHAT SHOULD YOU MEASURE?
REACH:
INFLUENCE:
ENGAGEMENT:
Reach refers to how many people see or potentially see some content. For example, your tweet impacted 3,000 readers and your post achieved 30,000 unique visitors in 24 hours. To measure your results, simply use Google Analytics and the built-in analytics tools of the respective channels.
Influence refers to the degree of attention and action that a particular profile or content may generate in others. For example: how many people have expressed a desire to buy a product after your post?
Engagement refers to the degree of participation and involvement of a particular profile or group of people regarding a topic or subject. For example: how many people commented or shared?
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Suggestions for metrics that may be presented after the end of the campaign: • • • •
Unique visitors / Page views Clicks on the tagged link Comments on the blog Interactions on each channel
These metrics are not fixed and depend on the campaign! Show ‘screengrabs’ of the posts and some of the key metrics. 25
media kit
What is a media kit and do I need one?
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The first step in building a media kit is to create a specific contact page on your blog. This page will be like an exclusive channel for business contacts and should only contain relevant data to the advertiser.
media kit is a document provided by websites, bloggers and influencers, presenting all key features, statistics and other relevant data for a possible advertiser. Its purpose is to assist those interested in finding all the information required thus improving the buyer experience.
It’s important that your forms of contact (email, phone, etc.) are present and clearly visible on the page. A full media kit can be reproduced on this page or general information with a link for viewing and / or downloading the full media kit is usually in a PDF or PPT file. Let this link be visible for future contacts.
The media kit works as a showcase, where you highlight your best features, persuading the advertiser to purchase advertising space and other forms of paid media within your site. Therefore, it’s essential for blogs that want to monetise their activities! 26
POSITIONING
SEGMENTATION
What does your blog talk about? This information may seem obvious, but is often overlooked in the process of making a media kit. It’s essential to describe the overall objective of your website, specify what you usually talk about especially if your blog is a niche blog. In this way, advertisers have a better understanding of your blog and about the kind of audience it attracts.
Inserting information about your readers like demographic data (gender, age, location, etc.) is important because the brands want to know if you can connect with their target audience through your website. The most relevant information for marketers is gender, age and location. Other information of use to advertisers are the online habits of readers. Data about the number of hours that readers stay online, if they buy on the internet and 27
what type of products they buy are very useful when deciding whether or not to align a campaign with your blog. If the number is considerably high, you can even include a percentage of how many readers bought a product recommended by you, raising your profile as a potential spokesperson for the brand or company.
STATISTICS For agencies and advertisers, we want to know exactly what audience you are reaching; that’s why it’s essential to provide actual statistics of your blog’s traffic. You can get this information through tools such as Google Analytics, Clicky and Quantcast.
If the user returns to the site within that period it will appear as a single visit.
The statistical data most requested by agencies are visitors, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate and average session duration. These metrics are usually published at intervals of one month (unique visitors per month, for example). According to Google Analytics the metrics definitions are:
Page views – Represents a page viewed by a visitor to a site. Every time a page is loaded by the browser is counted as page view.
Unique visitors - Indicates the number of unique visitors (unique people) on your site for a specific period.
Bounce Rate – Represents the percentage of visitors that came to your site, viewed only one page (called “entry page”) and left without clicking on any other page. Rates below 65% are considered positive because
Visits - Represents an individual session initiated by a visitor to a particular site and expires within 30 minutes. 28
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SOCIAL MEDIA
it means that users are interested in your content and are seeking more information on your site.
Inform potential advertisers of the social media platforms your blog uses. Disclose the number of followers of your blog via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and show the other sites you have an active community of followers.
Average session duration – Indicates the time spent by a visitor on average per session. You can also share the number of subscribers to RSS, newsletter etc. if the number of subscribers is worth sharing. Never disclose false information or falsify the quantity of stats.
If you have already done a campaign that has involved social media it is worth mentioning the number of tweets, likes and other shares, showing the type of exposure that the next advertisers can expect in future campaigns.
It’s recommended to always keep an honest relationship with your advertisers (and readers).
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PRESS
ADVERTISING SPACE AND RATES
If your blog has been mentioned in the press, on other established blogs or any other relevant media, it’s recommended that this information is included in your media kit. Positive terms are another proof of the quality and credibility of its content and enhance the value and positioning of your brand.
A media kit should clarify the options of advertising space offered, the sizes available for the ads and their positions on the site. There is no exact formula to calculate the price of advertisements and the most common procedure is to search the values charged by blogs in the same niche and do the calculations based on this benchmark.
BRAND AND DESIGN
Placing these values on the media kit is up to the blogger or influencer but is handy for the agency when they’re under pressure to deliver projects. Alternatively you can send the prices in the email text.
You should create a media kit that is easy to read with an attractive clear presentation that reflects your blog’s brand. A good strategy is to focus on the same color scheme, typography and any other elements that highlight your brand. Your reader and any advertisers must be able to identify your media kit from the look and feel. 30
The most common advertising ways on blogs are:
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BANNER ADS
SPONSORED CONTENT
SPONSORED REVIEW
A graphic ad which can be a static image that usually has a link to the advertiser’s site. In general, the cost of a banner is computed for display time (e.g. a month) and for every 1,000 page impressions (CPM) or each click (CPC).
The advertising message is linked as part of the editorial content of the blog. This content can be sent directly by the advertiser or written by the blogger, depending on the language of the blog.
Follows the same principles of sponsored post, except that, in the case, the blogger is paid to do a review of a given product or service. It’s good to make it clear to advertisers that sponsored reviews are not necessarily the same as 100% positive reviews.
It’s recommended that the theme of sponsored content has a natural fit with the blog. Otherwise, the publication can generate suspicion and discomfort for blog readers. 31
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SPONSORED SOCIAL MEDIA
PRIZE DRAW AND CONTESTS
You can sell sponsorship on your social media too.
For brands, prize draw and contests are easy and inexpensive ways to publicise their brand and products to a new audience. For bloggers, the rewards can come in higher ratings and a greater number of followers on social media, increasing its credibility by future advertisers.
To set the price, consider points like: What kind of content you are going to publish: Direct Upload, Product Placement, Direct Feed or Link Promotion. What time of the day / week / year is it? During seasonal and commercial peaks it is normal to increase your fee. Potential Reach? Keep your data up to date! What is your average engagement rate? What is the average engagement that you receive for your content?
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WHO YOU’VE WORKED WITH The media kit should contain a page with the top brands and companies that you’ve already worked with on the blog. These companies may be represented by their logos, which can contain links to the campaigns on the blog. If the blog has a success case with a particular company and the numbers of the specific campaign are significantly high, it’s worth highlighting.
In short, a successful media kit is one that clearly exposes the attractiveness of all the best features on your channel. It’s not necessary to include all the information listed in this post and it’s always good to remember that transparency and honesty are some of the factors that help to build a solid reputation of a blog with its audience and advertisers. 33
TOP ANALYTICS TOOLS GOOGLE ANALYTICS Google Analytics is the most popular web analytics platform on the market and can help you identify your most profitable marketing channels. Cost: Free Link: http://www.google.com/analytics HOTJAR While Google Analytics measures pageviews, Hotjar helps you analyse visitors, campaigns and optimise funnels. This platform allows you to understand exactly how people interact with a web page and how they navigate through your site. Cost: Free Starter Plan Link: https://www.hotjar.com
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Digital and Social Media Marketing Training SocialMedia.ie leads the way in the delivery of immersive digital, social and mobile marketing training and education. We specialise in offering our clients customised ‘hands-on’ one-to-one sessions or group sessions. Since 2010 we have presented to 5,000 people and clients include bloggers, agencies, brands and organisations like Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia. Sample Workshops:
Social Media Masterclass
Digital Marketing Masterclass
visit our site
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Blogging Masterclass
OPEN
INNOVATION
STUDIO
Connector is an open innovation studio. We leverage a fearless approach to creativity, a culture of learning and a fast moving startup environment to design digital ‘real world’ experiences. Some of these ideas build brand, grow market share and increase revenue for our clients while others become business drivers within our own eco-system.
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