You guys probably don't know but I actually work for a luxury fashion retailer in Italy, I won't go into too much detail but one part of my job is working with bloggers. So today I thought I would just talk about a few things that I have found when working with bloggers. I'm writing this from a luxury fashion perspective, I know that beauty brand or highstreet will probably have a very different out look and way in which they work.
So let's dive in with some key topics starting with....
Numbers and stats
Ok guys look, we know when you're faking it. You have over 200K followers on instagram and only 100 likes with 4 comments, c'mon we have to check these things. Don't get me wrong I know many bloggers will inflate the monthly visits a little but personally I would prefer you to be honest. The thing is unfortunately numbers really do mean a lot, because sometimes the people above you don't care that a blogger's engagement levels are higher than the followers because they want to go for the ones with the biggest reach. They want their brand to be see by thousands. It sucks but sometimes it just is how it is.
Payment
This one is always a little cringe, no one ever wants to out right say my posts cost X amount, but sometimes it's just easier to be upfront because then we know whether this could be a partnership we can actually develop. Some brands cannot pay flat fees but would rather work on a gifting or giftcard basis, which some bloggers are happy with and others not so much. The value will also depend on your reach and sometimes when we specify a value it's really because we can't go higher.
Agencies
Nothing annoys me more than when I recieve an email saying "Great, I have cc'd in my talent manager who will discuss with you". I get it, I know some bloggers are really big and don't have a lot of time to be going back and forth with negotiations however you have to see it from the brand side sometimes as well. If I'm reaching out to you it is probably because I actually really love your blog and would personally love to work with you, I want you to be excited to at least interested to work with us too! When you cc in your manager it just gets very impersonal, so we can lose some of the excitement of working with you. Also I work with some amazing bloggers who have very big numbers who I know are managed by an agency but work direct with us and it is so easy because the conversation doesn't have to go through a middle man.
Content
To be honest, I'm really flexible with this one, once I come to an agreement with a blogger in terms of fees, I am happy for them to write whatever content they would like, it's their blog after all. Don't get me wrong, if it's in a video make sure you mention the brand or if it's a blogpost still mention the brand. Remember the brand you are posting the content for, are they a mono brand like Alexander McQueen or a retailer like NET-A-PORTER, if it's the latter still mention the retailer even if the designer item you bought is Gucci, it's a Gucci handbag you bought from NET-A-PORTER. Another thing to note is to be honest with when you will be able to get the post up, we are just as excited as your other readers to see what you have posted.
Affiliate Links
All about measuring performance, lots of bloggers are signed up to affiliate networks or platforms that work with networks, like rewardStyle for example. For us this is so important because we need to see the level of engagement, sometimes the audience isn't a great fit and they is absolutely fine we will tailor how we work with bloggers and other times we try something and see a massive amount of engagement which is a pleasant surprise. The good thing about affiliate links is that you can also earn money from each sale you make as well so it's kind of a win win situation to include them .
So I guess the key things are, be honest... about everything, fees, schedules, content, we can often get things done a lot quicker if we know everything to start with. Don't take it too personally if a brand can't work with you because of your numbers, sometimes it's really out of our control. If you're excited about the brand, tell us it'll make us love you all the more.
What tips do you have about working with brands?
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