Blogging and advertising go hand in hand in the new age of technology where the internet opens up more and more possibilities for making money from home – online. First of all, what is blog advertising? Simple, it combines blogging and advertising through various methods.
A blog is a term created from the words “web” and “log” and is a website that provides commentary on a subject. Matter of the subject is determined by the author. Since blogs are run by an individual they usually harbor some sort of bias although the opinions are what draw an audience. Most authors of blogs are ordinary people just venting their everyday life. They can be of any age, gender, occupation, or even location. Some may even be completely anonymous.
A wide variety of subjects, authors, and style spread across the many blogs on the internet. Some can become very popular (also known as viral, another internet term) through wit, creativity, or humor. Sometimes, even the subject of a blog may be all that is needed to draw a large audience.
Audience is key to successful blog advertising – this is where the advertising part comes into play. One method is for advertising companies to place ads or banners around the website or off to the side of the blog. That way, when visitors come to read the blog that is witty, humorous, or whatever reason they visit it they may also peek at the advertisement.
This method has the advantage of being able to draw customers without interrupting the original content and thus will not annoy or deter potential buyers. Effectiveness is mostly due to the large quantity from the audience. While not everyone who looks at the advertisements will be swayed, there will definitely be a good chunk of a fraction whose curiosity will peak and thus click the ad.
Advertisement companies can either make deals with the webhost (owner of the site) or even the author of the blog him or herself. When the latter is true, there is another method of blog advertising that can happen.
Subject of the blog itself may very well be the advertisement. An advertisement agent may ask the author to pitch their product with an incentive – such as a small cut for the blogger. Now this is particularly effective but is risky at the same time. Risk factor is that the audience may feel annoyed or frustrated at the author if the blog is an obvious advertisement; visitors may claim the author sold out.
A way to solve the issue is to pitch the product in a discreet manner. For example, the blogger may casually they mentioned product X to help them with problem Y. This small advertising pitch is then padded through the rest of a story, event, or commentary that is the author’s usual regularly posted content.
Effectiveness with this method is far better than the previous two. Subtlety and trust is the key. Visitors have loyally been following the blog for weeks, maybe even months. When they read the subtle promotion they will stop and think – what if they have problem Y? Perhaps product X could help them too, after all a trusted source for news and commentary promotes it and had no problems with the product. It must be top quality.
Potential new buyers may then seek out the product simply because someone they trusted promoted it, similar to if a close friend or family member advertised the use of a particular item.
Now, this especially works with items with the purpose of entertainment. If a particular movie or game is advertised in the blog, the guest will assume that he or she may enjoy the entertaining product as well. After all, he or she has similar taste in games, movies, or music as the author since that may be one of the reasons for following the blog in the first place.