A blog is a fun way to explore your hobbies and interests online, but it can also be a great way to generate an income. One of the ways bloggers earn a living from their blogs is by posting sponsored content. Sponsored content is written in the same style as everything else on your blog. The difference is that brands are paying you to write about them and their products.
Read on to learn how to choose sponsors for your content and what brands look for in the creators they sponsor.
How sponsored content differs from advertising
Sponsored content and advertising are both ways to promote brands on your blog. Sponsored content is written in your voice, with you acting as an ambassador for the brand, and appears within the main body of your blog. Advertising, on the other hand, is posted by the advertiser in its own voice, with its own branding, and usually within a defined ad space.
There are exceptions to this. Brands may ask to create what’s known as native advertising (or advertorials) for websites. These are articles that brands write themselves that are presented as part of the main content on your blog. The challenge with inviting brands to write native ad posts is in getting their writers to maintain the tone of voice of your blog; you don’t want native advertising to feel out of sync with your regular content, which could result in readers clicking away.
With sponsored content, you can discuss how you’ll present your genuine opinion on a client's products. The more honest you are, the more audience trust you’ll build. However, companies are unlikely to invest money in bloggers who consistently give unfavorable reviews, so it’s a balancing act.
Also, remember that you’ll need to adhere to the trade regulations of the country you operate in. It’s likely that you’ll have to disclose in your sponsored posts that the content has been paid for by the brand.
Choosing sponsors for your blog content
If you’re considering writing sponsored blog content, make sure to choose brands and products that fit your blog niche. If your blog is all about bikes for city commuters, for example, and then suddenly a piece of sponsored content about a mountain bike appears, your audience will quickly spot the difference. By making sure your sponsored content fits your niche, you’ll not only increase trust in your blog, you’ll also make sure your sponsorship clients reach their desired audience.
Choosing brands to sponsor your content is also about determining which businesses are interested in sponsoring content in your niche and will add value to your blog. One easy way to work this out is to look at your competitors’ blogs and see whose products they’re being paid to endorse. When competitors share their blog posts on social media, check the reactions and comments to learn which are the most popular, too. This will help you choose brands that’ll drive the popularity of your blog.
How to pitch to a potential blog sponsor
Pitching your blog is the act of selling its benefits to potential sponsorship partners. It’s worth crafting a polished pitch, since you’ll face competition from other bloggers. Even the best blogs can miss out on a sponsorship opportunity if a competitor goes to a business with a better pitch.
To give yourself the best chance of impressing potential partners, add a media kit page to your website. This page should be hidden from the navigation bar. This means that it can be seen by anyone with whom you share the URL, but your audience won’t stumble onto it while reading your blog. Consider password protecting the page for extra security.
Your media kit should include:
Your name
Contact details
Name and URL of your blog page
Monthly blog traffic statistics (how many people view your site and visit multiple pages, as well as how long they spend on each page)
Social media statistics (how many followers you have, what percentage of your blog traffic comes from social posting)
A description of your target audience in the style of a buyer persona (a description of a fictional person who represents your ideal reader)
A bit about you, your passions, your writing style, and what you can offer to brands whose content you endorse
A kit that includes all this information acts as a resumé for your blog and tells potential sponsorship partners that you’re a credible ambassador. You should include the URL to your kit when you pitch a brand you want to work with, and you can also send it to anyone who asks about working with you.
If you want to make your blog attractive to brands, ultimately, it’s about building and sustaining an engaged audience. That goes hand-in-hand with producing high-quality content, regularly, over a long period.