What is a Sponsored Post?
As you delve into the world of blogging and continue growing your audience, you will most likely hear the term “sponsored post” or “guest post.” These are just two examples of how sponsored posts are called, so don’t let the names trip you up.
A sponsored post is when you, the blogger, receive payment to publish an article on a specific topic. Sponsors themselves could supply the blog posts, or you could be asked to write the post. Regardless, the post will contain a link pointing to the product the sponsor is attempting to sell.
Why should you use sponsored posts?
As blogging becomes more and more popular and is more frequently used as a method for selling products, the popularity of sponsored content is increasing. Sponsors realize that paying for a full blog post instead of a small banner ad in a sidebar leads to a better return on investment.
From an SEO perspective, advertising posts are effective for improving your search engine results. Embedding the link inside an article, instead of just having a banner ad, signals to the SEO bot that this particular link is appropriate (or non-paid). This also helps advertisers with referral links, adding an extra boost to their SEO.
What are the benefits of working with sponsored posts?
From a professional marketing perspective, you are obtaining different benefits from working with blog owners on sponsored content.
1. Sponsored bloggers will provide you with an authentic message regarding your brand
When you pay bloggers for sponsored posts on their websites, you are gaining marketing space, avoiding overly promotional content. This is because bloggers are paid to communicate about your product and brand in a way that is natural and authentic that will intrigue their target audience. It doesn’t sound like a sales pitch, and readers are likely to trust a voice they’re familiar with, and your chance of gaining additional clicks increases.
2. Gain access to an already rapt audience
Paying bloggers for sponsored posts on their sites to give you access to an already established and entertained audience. This audience includes bloggers’ unique visitors, followers on any social media outlet, and email subscribers. You may never have access to this potential target audience, regardless of the level of marketing and SEO you put into your brand.
Return on investment for one sponsored post can be measured through social engagements, additional followers on social sites, blog comments, and increased traffic your brand’s website gets.
3. Now you have additional traffic on your platforms
You may notice an increase in SEO due to the audience that your sponsored blog posts provide. Through the blog posts, the writer is driving traffic to your brand's website and social media channels by linking directly to your brand’s website or your social networks. The greatest point is that bloggers also gain traffic to their websites when they share their posts and tag your brand.
4. You will gain original content without breaking a sweat
Producing original content has become increasingly difficult for marketers and those in the public relations domain. Bloggers are continuously creating new content to promote their blogs. When you purchase sponsored content, you are gaining your original blog post for your social media channels.
Utilize this new content on your blog, website, Facebook pages, or even e-newsletters. Most bloggers will welcome cross-promotion and may even sell you content rights.
Get paid to review products on your blog
From a blogger's perspective, publishing sponsored posts is an excellent way to gain an audience as well as additional revenue. The benefits of promotional blog posts aren’t only for advertisers, but for blog owners as well.
1. Additional money
This is a no-brainer. When you are chosen to write a review, the advertising company will provide you with a product or service to analyze. Depending on the brand, you can charge for your time to write the blog post and for the advertising space where this particular post will be placed. It’s up to you as the writer and blog owner to decide what the cost is for each sponsored post.
2. Free products
Since sponsors are looking for honest reviews and opinions on their products, they will more than likely provide you with a sample of the product. This gives you an opportunity not only to get paid to review products on your blog but also to check out the service or item before accepting the task! The review should be honest but should also make your audience want to purchase or use the sponsored product.
3. Earn more recognition in your industry
When you provide sponsored content, you are seen as an expert and an influencer on this particular product. You will not only gain more recognition through your channels but also through the channels of the sponsor. This is one reason why sponsored posts work for both, the blogger and the brand, there is a give and take between audience members.
4. Gain additional followers and a bigger audience
As we discussed previously, the benefits of sponsored blog posts are for both sides – the blog owner and the brand. Through the use of social media outlets, your blog post will be shared far and wide, thus, gaining an audience not targeted on your own.
Social media sharing, regardless of the platform (meaning Facebook, Twitter, E-Newsletters, etc.), gives additional referral links and even more. By adding a sponsored post on your website, you could potentially increase your website traffic as well as some social fans and likes!
How to find advertisers to use your blog
There are many different ways to get requests for sponsored posts. Many of them require hard work and dedication. However, there are some web services that can help you find sponsors who need blog space and are interested to hire professional writers.
Adsy will match you with marketing companies from your niche. It’s easy to start, just visit our main page and set up your publisher profile.
From this point forward, marketers can reach you when they need written and published content. They will give you a task to be published on your website.
There are other ways to make advertisers pay for blog posts.
1. Promote a product on your website
Join an affiliate program and start promoting another person’s product. While an affiliate link isn’t technically an ad, they do provide a way to generate extra revenue while building your audience and proving yourself as a competent blogger.
2. Use targeting advertising
Using different marketing solutions, like Google AdSense, you can provide advertising for various websites from your niche and target the same audience you write for.
3. Talk to companies – ask for their support
While this may not seem like the best way to gain advertisers, it is an option. If your website is relevant in the niche, you have decent web traffic and a steady following on social media, you can approach a business that you are interested in and ask if you can provide a sponsored post in exchange for a product or social shares.
You can also demonstrate that you have advertising space available for purchase, thus, offering different blog posts or space on your website for a small fee.
How to write a successful sponsored post
Here’s where it gets fun. Now you have the sponsor paying for an advertising post, and you’ve been given a product to review and write about. How can you ensure that your post will provide sufficient traffic and click-through, and the advertiser will continue to order sponsored content?
1. Be authentic, always
When you are writing about a sponsored product, don’t change the overall tone of your blog. You don’t have to make everything sound like a marketing post. Instead, you can write as usual.
If the product you’re reviewing wasn’t up to snuff due to operator error, talk about it by all means! People like to hear that bloggers are human, and if you’ve messed up using a product, they won’t feel like they have to be perfect either.
2. Your headline matters
Use a headline that will grab attention and make your readers want to continue reading until the last sentence. Typical marketing phrases, like “Product Review on XYZ! Read today!”, do not make someone click on the title, read about the product, and why someone should utilize this particular item.
You have to catch the attention of your readers! Using a headline, like “Why I’ll never replace *insert product here*” provides readers a reason to read your article.
3. Add different media types
Remember, blogs are made for entertainment purposes. Add different media types, like images and even videos into your sponsored posts. You can help your audience gain a better understanding of the product you’re sponsoring and provide them with a blog post that stands out from other blogs on the internet.
4. Give your readers the “why”
Don’t simply mention product features. You need to explain to readers why they should use your sponsored product. How can it help them? Can it make them better at something? Will it make them healthier? Will it assist them to get rid of a bad habit?
Providing the “why” to your readers shows them that you care about potential benefits from the product, not that you are only attempting to sell them something they may (or may not) need.
It all comes down to money
The main reason for ordering sponsored posts is to gain followers for advertisers and to make extra revenue for bloggers.
While rates vary from blog to blog, having an idea for a base charge is extremely important. Various sources state that charging $100 is decent and fair. It’s a reasonable price to start with, especially for someone new to sponsored and advertising posts.
Utilize your favorite SEO Analytic tool? and discover how many page views you get on a monthly basis. When you are quoting your rates for a sponsored post, be ready to provide facts and marketing data to the company, so they could estimate the expected audience.
Conclusion
Sponsored content is a fantastic way to gain additional revenue, followers, and a broader audience for your blog. For a marketer, collaborating with bloggers from your niche, whose audience you have not reached yet, increases your traffic and gives potential customers.
What do you think about using sponsored content? Do you know some tips and tricks to help bloggers make their posts successful? Tell us in the comments!
