Having a blog is not enough for monetizing – bloggers are fully aware of it and are constantly looking for new ways of improvement and monetization. One of the most popular methods is to sell advertising space for sponsored blog posts, and as easy as it seems to be, it is not easy. Today, we are going to get you through the process of getting prepared, fully ready and conscious for sponsored content.
What are sponsored blog posts?
A sponsored blog post is a piece of content (not always it is a written article; very often it can be seen as a bunch of photos, videos, interviews, infographics, animations, social media posts or charts) that was published in collaboration between a blogger (or a vlogger, a writer, a journalist) and an advertiser (a brand, a project, an individual).
This cooperation is always sponsored and paid for in a way. The rules of cooperation are often based on the amount of money or products to give in exchange. Not many bloggers provide with pricing. However, this practice can still be seen. The pricing depends on many factors including the scope and length of collaboration, but not only.
Who can sell sponsored content?
Basically, each and every blogger can sell their blog posts for brands. However, we decided to highlight a few popular groups:
● Lifestyle bloggers – because they can cover a whole range of topics, they are attractive to many brands and can write about, pretty much, anything. This category provides a lot of opportunities to make a campaign for commercial purposes and very many products.
● Fashion and beauty bloggers – they can publish beauty reviews, photos of outfits, shopping recommendations and attend fashionable events to write about them. They are popular among e-commerce brands.
● Music bloggers – they make reviews of the newest records, take part in concerts and festivals, collaborate with musicians.
● Food bloggers – they can be either great cooking specialists who show their ways of preparing mouth-watering meals, or they can be food-seekers who tend to go out to discover and review new flavors to write about them afterwards. Sometimes, food bloggers also are to travel to explore cuisines and cultures. Restaurants, venues, and manufacturers are among those who want to gain sponsored blog posts in collaboration with foodie bloggers.
● Travel bloggers – they sell sponsored blog posts for the sake of traveling. They can publish reviews of the whole regions, places, and venues.
● Car bloggers – they are keen on creating content related to automotive, which is excellent for car brands interested in placing some ranks, tests or reviews.
● Parenting bloggers – they write about upbringing, children, maternity or paternity, and they collaborate with brands offering products for kids.
When should bloggers start thinking about selling blog posts?
Bloggers first need to provide added value and drive traffic to their blogs. Defining goals and making a strategy on growing the blog may help with being noticed by brands. Also, it is worth preparing a small offer for those who could be interested in collaborating.
The way to sell first blog posts can be tough and long, but it actually pays off in the end. Go through our checklist to ensure you are ready for making serious money!
- Is your blog attractive enough? Ensure that you provide added value to your followers, you spoil them with photos in high-quality and your content brings something new and fresh. No-one wants to waste their time reading something generic, and advertisers may not want to spend their money on sponsoring content at that blog.
- Can I provide my clients with useful metrics? Your blog without a set of statistics can mean nothing to potential advertisers. Be sure that you use and understand Google Analytics and other analytical tools to track and optimize results.
- What can I offer? Offering “sponsored blog posts” is not enough. Identify advertising spots: should it be an article, or maybe a banner? Can you mention a brand, offer a product placement or maybe make a series of interviews? Can you provide invoices? How much should you charge?
- What makes your blog unique and worth investing in? You have to specify the advantages of collaborating with you. What can you make to stand out of the competition? What about your social media reach? You need to know it before you start pitching.
What are types of sponsored content?
If you think that sponsored content is all about publishing articles, you are quite wrong. There are more ways of making money on content! Blog posts are the most popular form, both among bloggers and advertisers. Depending on the rules of established cooperation, the blog post can be a long or short post, full of photos or just plain text, stand-alone or sold with a package of social media posts for further distribution. The sponsored blog post can be delivered by a third-party (a brand, an organization, a person responsible for a particular project) in a few methods, too: as a set of links to be pasted in a post (standard practice is to include affiliated links to track conversion), a draft prepared and accepted by a brand, a share of an article published on a brand’s channel, or even a ready material delivered. However, that last option is not too common, as bloggers prefer to prepare a post themselves to make it look more natural and trustworthy.
Also, blog posts can be interactive and consist of charts, infographics, video clips, interviews or other, non-standard forms.
How to get sponsored blog posts?
If your blog is fully prepared – or at least you think so, it is not so difficult nowadays to find advertisers that would be willing for even a small collaboration. Check out our practices to see the best way for you!
Marketplaces come as a natural choice
There are a few popular marketplaces on the Internet where both bloggers can make offers and advertisers can find some high-quality influencers. One of the most popular marketplaces is Whitepress.net where, as a blogger, you can set up your profile and improve it to be more noticeable by advertisers. You can set up your prices and preferred types of collaboration. Another marketplace worth checking out is Linkhouse.Co, where you can find global orders. Where is the catch? The competitors, but the fantastic popularity leads to many possibilities for successful cooperation.
Facebook groups to save the day
Bloggers shouldn’t neglect influential groups on Facebook, where not only can they offer their services but also answer on advertisers needs for various collaboration. Bloggers should make a list of groups, follow them and check them from time to time to find the best deals.
Benefit from social media monitoring and social media listening
Social media monitoring tools cost no fortune but can make a fortune. If you configure it right, you can find exciting projects a step ahead of your competitors and get in touch with brands interested in influencer marketing.
If you don’t want to use paid tools, you can rely on Google, Google Alerts, Google Trends, and manual searching, but it will be time-consuming and may not bring the results you need, want and expect. Give tools a try during a free trial period and see if you find them helpful. If so, maybe you’ll invest a dime?
Contact agencies directly
You can also try and directly pitch some agencies or brands with your unbeatable offer. To stand out of the competition, the proposal needs to reflect their needs and be catchy. Provide agencies with your statistics, portfolio, examples of collaboration with brands if you have any to make yourself look professional.
These solutions can work wonders for brands seeking influencers for campaigns, as well!
How far to go with sponsored blog posts?
Many bloggers not only make ends meet with sponsored blog posts – they merely made it their way of living! Very often the first collaboration causes the next one, and the next one, and another one… and then it gets to the point where bloggers can resign from their currents jobs and get dedicated to blogging. This doesn’t sound like a dream any longer – this is the reality of many bloggers.
They often start with sponsored blog posts but go much further than that. They become brand ambassadors, have their own brands, produce goods, have their own TV shows and channels, go offline and are real celebrities.
Brands often need a confirmation that bloggers can and will deliver, and the proof is nowhere but in the pudding. If a piece of sponsored content bloggers were responsible for is not only correctly written, but also brings results and real money to a brand, they can be interested in more extended, and in many cases even lifelong, collaboration. Aiming for this way of collaboration is beneficial for both sides: advertisers can be sure that the blogger they already know will deliver the value and they don’t have to look for anyone new to cover their campaigns, and bloggers are loyal and dedicated to projects of a brand they know, respect and often love. Needless to say that long-term collaboration is stable source money and impacts on credibility or brand awareness. Some of the most known cooperations between bloggers and advertisers started with just a single project and got to the point where the influencer became a real brand ambassador and got paid for only being loyal to a brand or showing up a small product on social media.
As long as we support efforts for monetizing your blogging activities, we need to admit that to be really successful on what you’re doing you need to be passionate about it, and blogging should be your way of life, not only a hobby! When it is a hobby, but also a passion, it can also be a great way for generating an additional income – and if you can make great money on it on a regular basis, why not to do it? With our guides, tutorials and good practices, you can start planning getting very first sponsored blog posts and earn money for something you do – and, more importantly, love doing.
