When you are a blogger and need to choose the best ad network, it may be tough to get through all the garbage and shady companies. You might find some businesses that won’t give you lots of money (if any) – they aren’t worth your time. That’s why you’re reading this list of the best ad networks for multicultural bloggers. Take your time and write down their names.
Before you get started
If you haven’t established a following, you shouldn’t try to work with brands.
You don’t have to have a huge following or get hundreds of thousands of views a month, but you do need to be influential. When you’re at the point where you’re getting 100 visitors a day, you are safe to start reaching out to brands. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.
Maybe you just started blogging, and you’re getting 30 views a day but have 10 000 engaged followers on Instagram. In that case, you can work with brands on an Instagram collaboration and throw your blog in as a bonus.
I won’t go too deep into the ‘what-ifs’ and loopholes, or I will be typing all day. The simple rule is that you need to have people to influence. Blogs don’t make money, influence does, and if you don’t have that influence, you don’t have much to offer to the brand.
The point of collaborations
If you are reaching out and trying to collab before you have any influence the relationship is going to be very one-sided and only benefiting you. The aim of collaborations is to create a mutually beneficial relationship with the brand: You use your platform to promote their product, thus generating sales, and in turn, the brand provides you product and compensation.
How to find networks to collaborate with?
There are three main ways that you can get in touch with brands: blogging networks, reaching out to brands directly, and the brand reaching out to you.
Each option comes with its own unique set of pros and cons, but they are all great ways to start building a portfolio of partnerships and a network of brand contacts.
What qualifications do you need to provide?
Sometimes networks consider bloggers individually. There are some factors that you should take care of when trying to join one of the paid blogger networks:
- Your blog stats – the easiest way to measure your basic stats is installing Google Analytics. Then you’ll get all the reports that may be needed.
- Social media channel stats & influence – the most crucial factor is your engagement rate. The best networks do not care about the huge number of your followers. If you can engage them, you’re already a winner.
- Representation & niche – is your blog about one specific topic? What is your blog demographic?
- Voice & authenticity – the more unique tone you have, the better. Keep your writing style – it’s a good fit for a campaign.
- Social connections – do you influence other bloggers or media networks in your niche? Show it.
List of the best-paid networks for multicultural bloggers:
BLOGHER
If you are interested in being published on a larger blog platform or monetising your blog and social media platforms, BlogHer is a network that might be right up your alley. This ad and publishing network partners with bloggers to create content and conversations that are centred around women. BlogHer also hosts two of the biggest and most popular blogging conferences of the year, BlogHer and BlogHerFood.
CLEVER
This influencer marketing network is one that many aspire to join. Bloggers and influencers who are selected to this network are given awesome opportunities to collaborate with brands to tell real stories in a way that will get people to engage.
SOCIAL FABRIC (BY COLLECTIVE BIAS)
It is a community where bloggers and other influencers get paid to do what we already love doing – creating original content for some of the world’s biggest brands. It’s also a great place to learn more about honing your skills as an influencer. They do have some requirements for joining, so be sure to work on the following:
- Must have a blog that is at least three months old
- Blog at least four times per month
- Original content and storytelling
- Unique and quality photographs (excluding stock photos and text only graphics)
- Professional and user-friendly blog theme
- Active on at least three of the top social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram)
Actually, you should work on those things regardless of whether you want to apply.
MASSIVE SWAY
This community is all about matching bloggers with great brands in a way that benefits both parties. Brands are able to make genuine connections with their audience by collaborating with influencers. Meanwhile, influencers are able to get paid to create content that bridges that gap between brands and their ideal customers. Everyone wins! Plus, the SITS community is pretty impressive for networking and education as well.
POLLINATE
This media agency was created by a blogger who really wanted to give bloggers the creative freedom to promote brands in a way that felt more authentic. They shoot for quality over quantity, so they really look for bloggers who are great at telling great stories and really engaging their audience. However, they require that you have 20,000 page views per month at the minimum, so if you are a new blogger, this may be one to put on your vision board for later.
ACORN
Many bloggers report that they love working with Acorn Influence. The campaigns are top notch, bloggers have the freedom to be creative, and they are renowned for adding personalised touches, such as handwritten notes and thank you gifts after campaigns (in addition to the usual compensation).
ACTIVATE
For those bloggers who are really committed to developing their social media presence, Activate may be right up your alley. It enables you to connect with other social media influencers and to collaborate with your favourite brands.
COLLECTIVELY
This influence marketing company is another excellent way for bloggers to collaborate with major brands, such as Old Navy, Hewlett-Packard, and Pandora. They are very picky about who they invite to join their team, but it’s worth putting in the application.
INSPIRED BLOGGERS NETWORK
If you are looking for a network that has its focus on blogger education and making connections as well as monetisation, then I recommend joining The Inspired Bloggers Network. It is a very active Facebook community boasting over 11,000 members. They also offer a variety of useful courses through Inspired Bloggers University.
Conclusion
Some of these networks require a larger following or larger number of page views, and others work with newer blogger. The best thing you can do is applying to as many as you are comfortable with and see which ones work best for you. Good luck!
