Advertising for the most part is all about reaching the target audiences likely to want to engage with you, to find out and more and ultimately looking to purchase. The way in which we advertise online today is greatly changed to just a few years ago mostly because people are now feed up with adverts, they are far more likely to act blind to the likes of banner adverts, delete spam emails and skip past commercial ads. Many internet browsers allow ad blocks to allow users to view websites without being sold to, email software has spam filters, social media allows blocking / muting of accounts that annoy us – There is a lot against us if we are looking to advertise online!
I still agree that nothing beats face to face marketing for business from the chat at the local pub bar over a pint or two to local breakfast business networking events, attending trade shows to sponsoring events – Getting your brand in front of possible key decision makers / buyers and doing so with a shake of the hand and directly instead of virtually is the best way to get results.
What about online though, is it now just too difficult, people are not response anymore, there is too much competition or it costs too much ie Google adwords? I think there is a very economical way that advertising online can work for business and that is Sponsored Blogging.
What is a Sponsored Blog?
It is simply a share online written article on a specific topic with relevant key words within of which one or some will contain external do-follow links.
How do we get our business in front of people who are not actually looking to be marketed / sold to?
The best way to get your brand out to your target audience online is to place yourself within the areas that they are gathering and of course, as we mentioned above, doing so if a way not to look like you are advertising / spamming otherwise you will get the old cold shoulder response!
Influential websites such as news channels / fan zones / networking platforms to include social media groups / pages / accounts are all places that you should be looking to get your content shared to. The likes of our own UK property news channel, Estate Agent Networking, has a direct target audience of estate / letting agents, property professionals, property interested consumers so that those looking to market to target these audiences can look to share content with rich quality readers / followers / members / subscribers. Simply by sharing engaging blog content on relevant topics be it what is trending in the UK property news currently, educational articles, key topics of debate etc you are then likely to guarantee readers and a well positioned link within the piece you share, especially if the article is well received, is likely to be clicked on and investigated further.
Sponsored blog content that are successful will have a clear and eye catching title and lead image, the content is well written with clear and concise points addressed within it. The blog will also have key words that will contain link(s) so that those reading it have a chance to click on an external URL to read / find out more. Sponsored blog content is not only great for here and now direct marketing, archived well read blogs can continue to drive traffic for months / years to come as well as improving SEO.
How much should you be paying to place Sponsored Blogs on key industry websites?
There is much variation in this due mostly to quality of the website and size of its audience you are looking to engage with. I has seen prices as little at £10 for basic small blogging websites to over £1,000 for nationally / internationally read websites with huge social media following (many will share your sponsored blog with their social media groups also to increase traffic). Estate Agent Networking charges just £49 + VAT for each sponsored blog posted and also shares them with a community of 60,000 followers across their social media accounts.
Author: Christopher Walkey
Founder of Estate Agent Networking and an internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Twitter and LinkedIn.
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