#IMPACTinsights series kicks off with a panel discussion on best practice blogger outreach in the changing media landscape.

The first #IMPACTinsights breakfast has revealed the key to successful blogger outreach is avoiding “canned campaigns” and showing a willingness to collaborate.

IMPACT Communications Managing Director Nicole Webb, together with a panel of three high-profile bloggers, spoke at the event this morning (February 6), discussing the challenges and opportunities of blogging in 2015.

All three panelists agreed they had been approached by a number of brands to write posts about products they had no interest in – which would have been obvious if the brands had done their research.

Blogger Jennifer Jenner (JJ) from 84th & 3rd said marketers needed to work harder to find the right fit between blogger and brand.

“If a coffee brand wanted to approach me for a campaign … a little bit of research would uncover that I only drink tea,” she said.
The bloggers agreed they would prefer to work collaboratively with brands to create content, such as videos – rather than pushing out brand-created content.

“Video content that’s created by brands, to me, is an ad. And I don’t want video ads on my site,” JJ said.

“There’s a very big space for partnering with bloggers on native video content as sponsored campaigns… People are really hungry for videos… but it has to be done well and in the right way.”

Visits to blogging sites have increased by more than 50 per cent in the past two years, The Truth about Brands and Blogging, a whitepaper released by IMPACT Communications found. This highlights the growing influence of bloggers and the necessity of their inclusion in campaigns for optimal results.

IMPACT Managing Director Nicole Webb said there was a significant disconnect between brands and bloggers.

“Bloggers play a critical role in creating brand advocacy and while marketers believe blogs are powerful, most fail at blogger outreach because they simply do not understand or fund activity in this unique medium,” she said.

“Marketers need to shift their thinking from targeting the most people, to targeting the most influential and the most engaged. It’s no longer just about mass reach, but also about personalisation.”

Bloggers involved in today’s event included JJ from 84th & 3rd, and Stacey Deutscher from A Healthy Mum, and AJ Wilson from Savingsguide.com.au, who shared their personal blogging experiences and gave advice on how to work best with bloggers.

For a complimentary copy of IMPACT’s whitepaper, contact IMPACT Communications.