As content marketing has grown in popularity, there has been a growing appreciation of the kind of things bloggers can bring to an organization.
There can be a tendency to regard bloggers as somewhat cheap labor however, with a belief that they can be bought off by a freebie in return for a glowing write up of the product or service.
A recent study from Penn State casts severe doubt on the success rate of such a strategy. Indeed, rather than feeling indebted by the freebie, most bloggers revealed that they actually felt empowered by the offer.
Blogger engagement
“We were concerned with how accepting compensation or products impacted how control mutuality—where both groups feel that they are winning from the relationship—was experienced by organizations and bloggers,” the authors say. “What we found is that we don’t have an off-balance relationship, in fact, we actually found that the bloggers who accepted compensation tended to believe they have more control over the organization that provided the compensation.”
Recent changes in regulations have required bloggers to disclose any promotional material they’ve received in the process of writing a review. Alas, the study found that these guidelines have not changed how bloggers behave.
“We found that a lot of bloggers don’t think they are in the role of influencers, but they clearly are influencers,” the researchers say.
Income or content?
The study also provided some telling insights into the way bloggers approach such engagements. It emerged that the majority saw such agreements with PR agents as a chance to get some interesting new content rather than a means to make money.
The same appeared true from the PR perspective, with most regarding blogger outreach as a means of getting the word out rather than as advertising.
“The bloggers want to write a review about a product and you can’t do a review without the product,” the paper says. “At some point there has to be a balancing of needs.”
This was particularly evident when it came to writing negative reviews, with most bloggers adamant that they would not compromise their credibility by writing false reviews in return for compensation.
Suffice to say, the sample used in the research was relatively small (~150), so it would be unwise to draw too many conclusions from the findings. They do nonetheless provide an interesting insight into the way bloggers approach such relationships.
Do you agree with the findings?
That's good to hear. You wouldn't want bloggers feeling that they had to compromise their credibility just because they've received a freebie, so a very positive finding, especially as so many bloggers must struggle to make money from what they do.
Yes, it was pleasantly surprising, although of course, I'm conscious that people often say what they think people want to hear rather than the reality, so self-reporting always has to be taken with a pinch of salt.