We’ve written about magazine advertising in the past, but what about the latest advertising trend – blog sponsorship.
What is it, Does it work and should you be including it in your marketing?
What it is:
Basically, blog sponsorship is online advertising – your advert is placed on the blog and readers can click through to your website. In addition, most blogs also include options for an article about your business.
How much does it cost?
This can vary widely depending on the popularity of the blog, how established it is and the what’s included in the package. Most bloggers don’t publish their advertising rates – you need to send for a media pack. Generally expect to pay from around $20 per month. The most popular blogs will be much more with rates comparable to print advertising costs.
Some blogs also offer the opportunity to only submit an article for a one-off fee.
The media pack should include up to date statistics about the blog’s website visitors as well as the advertising costs. You need to look at what percentage of visitors are your target customers. Only a percentage will be brides to be and a significant number may be outside your geographical area.
Does it work?
It can do, but you need to do it well.
Choose your blog(s) wisely. Look for blogs which reflect your style and offer a good value package.
The real value in blog sponsorship comes from showcase articles rather than the little advertisements down the side. Check out the articles written for existing sponsors. Are they well written and enticing with good keywords and links? Is this a one-off or are there ongoing opportunities? How many links to your website/social media profiles can you include in the article?
Make sure your photos are top quality.
And don’t neglect your little advertisement graphic – it will need to really stand out to get noticed, but also needs to fit in with the blog style. Make sure it is clear what you do but keep the message very simple to fit into the small space.
Should you advertise?
If you are looking to generate more business, then blog sponsorship is worth testing.
You need to approach it like any other form of advertising, so check out the advice from our series on bridal magazine advertising – much of it applies to online too.
Work out how much traffic you need to get to your website to make the investment worthwhile and whether this is realistic based on the visitor data of the blogs you are considering.
Make sure you can measure the results – it’s not enough to get more traffic to your website, you need paying customers.
Has it worked for you?
If you’ve used blog sponsorship we’d love to hear how it worked for you. Please leave a comment or drop us an email.