I’ve been blogging for awhile now, and while I don’t have a huge following, I have been lucky enough to partner with a few national brands like Macy’s, Shopbop, and Shea Moisture over the years. It used to be all about the numbers, but there are definitely other factors that come into play when brands are researching bloggers to work with.
If you’ve been wanting to collaborate with brands but aren’t sure why it’s not happening yet, here are a few reasons why brands may be skipping over you.
They Don’t Know How To Contact You
One of my creative clients recently held a private blogger event and I handled the outreach. I can’t tell you how many blogs I went to that did not have their email address listed anywhere on their site (or even their SM platforms). Some didn’t even have a general contact form. Guys, you have to have this posted somewhere! That contact form is fine, but for most businesses and brands, they’re including flyers, forms and other attachments in their pitches to you and your email address is much easier to use. If a small local business can’t figure out how to reach you, how do you think a national brand feels?
Your Site Isn’t Optimized to Show You’re A ____ Blogger
Anytime I work with a brand on a more localized level, I always ask how they find me. 9/10 times they tell me that they googled “Memphis Fashion/Lifestyle Blogger” and then reviewed my blog to see if the partnership would make sense. I’m self-hosted on WordPress and use Jetpack and All in One SEO plug-ins to make sure my blog itself and the blog posts are optimized with my keywords so that people can find me. Whatever platform you’re on should have some equivalent of this so do some research and make sure it’s added.
Your Pictures Need Some Help
While you don’t necessarily have to have a DSLR Camera, you DO want to have good photos on your blog. Brands are using visual content more than ever, so they want to make sure that if they partner with someone the product will look its best. You can use your phone or even a point and shoot if you can’t afford a good DSLR, just make sure your photos are crisp, clean and bright. Skip the flash and use natural light when you take your pictures. Composition (the framing/styling of your photo) is subjective to taste, but if the photos are clear, you can up your chances of brands reaching out to you.
You’re Not Consistent With Posting
Just like your readers, brands want to know that if they reach out to a blogger, they’re going to be one that posts regularly. This doesn’t mean you have to post all day every day, but it DOES mean that you can’t post once today and then nothing else until December and expect brands to want to work with you. Now, some bloggers balance their blog posts with consistent posting on a SM platform like Instagram or Facebook, which is totally fine, but you still need to be posting regularly in order for brands to take your blog seriously. BE ACTIVE.
You’re Not Engaging
Whether it’s on your blog or on your Instagram account, engaging with your audience is more important than ever. Brands want to know that you have real influence with your audience-that people trust in what you say and that you’ll actually talk about the product/service you promote. Some people have huge Social Media followings but very low engagement (which could be a sign of a fake following, but that’s a conversation for another day), or they have a ton of comments on their blog from people but they never respond. Brands are over that. They want to know that your engagement is real before they work with you, so make sure you’re building community with your peeps!
While there are other variables that can affect why brands aren’t reaching out to you just yet, making sure that you’re at least doing these 5 things can help improve your chances of working with them.