If you’re happily blogging along (or vlogging, Instagramming, Snap Chatting or whatever) you might be taken by surprised to discover that what you write or photograph is of little relevance compared to your conversion rates. What that means is your ability to convert what you show or talk about into sales for the brand concerned.
My inbox is literally bombarded with affiliate agencies pushing me to sell you stuff, digital agencies who’d like to swap a pile of make-up for me to promote a brand’s Twitter account or the brands themselves who’d like it please, if I could send them all my affiliate stats so that they can show their marketing team how good I am at selling.
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Affiliate linking, as I’m sure you know, is a method by which a blogger/vlogger uses a specially created link which will cut them in on a minute profit (and believe me it is tiny) should you decide to buy a product you’ve seen on said blog/vlog via that link. Many bloggers/vloggers are open about affiliate linking – it’s really the norm now and I personally find that BBB readers are understanding about it; the option is always there not to click the link and source the products some other way and I’d take no offence at that whatsoever. Actually, it makes sense to have a look around to see if you can find the product slightly cheaper or with a better deal – I look, but I don’t always have time to do deep research.
However, I’ve never been under so much pressure as now to prove myself not as a blogger or beauty expert but as a salesperson. Unilever has just employed a new agency specifically to look at conversion methods – in a nutshell, to discover how they can make more money by converting conversations to sales. One of the first things that happened when I opened my Periscope account was a native advertising agency chasing me to ‘quietly’ promote products. It’s interesting that in 2013 Coca Cola found that on-line buzz did nothing in terms of short term sales, and yet other brands will say that social media is everything for their sales.
But, the bottom line is that everything you say and everything you do on line as a blogger/vlogger or whatever is being watched, monitored and converted into a potential sales mechanic. I don’t have any control of who is watching and why – I find myself on my affiliate sites looking at conversion rates to try to better understand my own ability to give readers what they want. If I know what I’m driving and where it’s easier for me to know what to write about – the things that interest readers, but I find it more than annoying to get an email every five minutes from affiliate agencies saying I’m not ‘performing as well as I could be’. Pushy isn’t the word for it. I’m also getting it from *cough* integrated digital PR offices… when once a PR might ring you for a coffee and a chat, now they’re ringing to see what you think you can sell for them.
Actually, slightly a side point, but I am seeing traditional PR completely undermined and ruined by ‘integrated digital and PR’ – it doesn’t work; employing a digital person who has no PR skills and more importantly, no press contacts, is fairly pointless, as is using a PR person who has few digital skills to improve digital outreach. ‘We’ll have to ask Marketing’ is one of the most common phrases I hear at the moment and I have never known PRs as undermined and powerless as they are now. It’s a chain of pressure – Marketing pressurises PR who in turn pressurise us.
Ultimately, many brands are just looking to effectively move blogs and vlogs into vehicles that work for them. There’s no point in harping back to the good old days when blogs were edgy and exciting voices on the internet – from personal experience, it’s hard these days to hold your nerve and be the chooser rather than the chosen when pound signs are flashed in front of your eyes. If you’ve put all your eggs in the blogging basket, your choices are difficult.
I feel despondent sometimes that nothing will change – this barrage will only get stronger – but along the way, this pressure is quietly ruining everything. Like anything that becomes a strong trend, it passes over time. There’s no long view in the strategy of pushing bloggers/vloggers to their limits; tides turn very easily and quickly and one day, the current stream of product pushers will be yesterday’s news. I could, quite honestly, go on for pages here – I could easily name and shame the worst offenders; the brands that push and push and push for coverage (and consequently sales) but can’t even be bothered to do a re-tweet or a re-gram. In fact, they’re rather outraged that they’re supposed to be part of a social media circle – surely a lipstick is sufficient? I can tell you that a brand that I used to love refuses point blank to be any part of social other than promoting their own channels, despite the fact I’m looking at £500 of sales converted from my site to theirs in a couple of hours. That’s why affiliate stats are useful to me – I can make choices. My biggest ever sales conversion was £11,000 worth of products in one day (and obviously I have the stats to prove it!!). It was as big a surprise to me as anyone and it’s certainly not an average day! On that count, I know I won’t miss any brand, but they’d miss me. On other days, nothing at all converts. Those stats are fairly small fry compared to bigger sites, let me say. So, it does give me a little bit of armour to withstand the pushing and strength to make decisions NOT based on being pressured or bullied but presenting what I think my readers will like. If you’ve bought a product because you want it, then I’m happy. I really couldn’t give two hoots whether the brand is pleased or not. I’m really over being pressed by marketing via PR to be their virtual shop assistant and somehow having to prove myself to the brand. How about you prove your product is worth its salt and stop behaving as though the internet is your free shop floor?
Right, I’ll shut up now but conversion is my current aversion!
Transparency Disclosure
All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
15 comments
Really interesting read thanks, it doesn’t sound like a sustainable situation. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next few years. I hope it doesn’t stress you out too much in the meantime!
Really enjoyed reading this. I have only been blogging for two years and already I have seen a difference in some brands when different agencies have taken over and are after this specific thing but I choose not to work with them because to me that isn’t what my blog is about. Xx
Love your insights Jane. They always convince me that whatever my standing in the bloggersphere I shouldn’t be swayed from my view that I should write what I want and when I want on mutually agreeable terms. I’m not in sales or marketing and have no wish to be but I’m happy if what I write helps individuals, PRs and brands achieve their aims.
Thank you for always being so honest and upfront Jane. I’ve lost interest in a number of well known blogs because they’re increasing like advertising campaigns. I trust your advice, it doesnt seem at all £££ driven. I’m embarrassed to admit, I thought your links to retailers were simply to be helpful…. dur! X
sometimes they are! some links are affiliates, but much of what I write about hasn’t launched yet so there is nowhere to link. Smaller retailers aren’t on affiliate programmes so it’s an absolute mix of unaffiliated links, affiliate links and no links at all! #picknmix
I understand that your blog is your living but I don’t want a blog written by a salesperson. A guide who points out the good stuff and what to avoid is fine. At the moment you get the balance right don’t waiver
Thank you Jane for your posts, especially this one. As another beauty blogger, I feel as though I have so many of the same thoughts and experiences – it’s nice to read these types of articles because it makes me feel not so alone. I really appreciate your insights and it’s a breath of fresh air that you so forthcoming. I applaud you for being brave in speaking out about these topics – you do it well. I believe many blogs are able to convert content into sales because of long established reputations, reader trust and good content. I think blogs are really a valuable resource and the fact that some of us are able to monetize our hard work is amazing. BBB has always been a go-to for me and I enjoy reading it.
I too believe that as a blogger it is important to understand one’s stats and conversion rates. But the stats such as affiliate stats only tell a part of the story. I think the influence is so much more than what you can actually measure – what about all the sales driven that are from someone reading an article on BBB then going to the stores and physically buying something?
Anyhow I feel as though I am rambling. From beauty blogger to another, I feel the same pressures. Being able to run a blog as a business is a blessing but also comes with so many challenges. There is so much behind the scenes activity that goes on. I feel as though it’s a juggling act! Thank you again for writing these kinds of articles, xoxo.
Thank you – you’re so welcome. Shop floor sales generated by bloggers aren’t measurable so therefore they don’t have any digital value. Actually, one interesting thing I hear a lot from brands who pay digital talent to come to store is that while many people do come to see the person, sales aren’t really boosted. So they get a very full shop that people who really did want to buy product can’t get into, and a lot of people to see the ‘celebrity’ rather than purchase anything.
It would be impossible to measure shop floor sales like that but I would imagine beauty bloggers drive loads of those as even seeing a swatch with description isn’t always enough for me to cough up my cash to buy online (often with p&p costs on top) so I’d usually head off to the shops to look at the product myself, pay with vouchers where possible, forego postage costs and hopefully get a few free samples and test other products I might like to buy in the future.
Interesting food for thought… as an independent PR with smaller indie brand clients my concern for them is always that they simply don’t have the budgets to hire all of these big digital/affiliate agencies and so the big boys get bigger whilst the new innovative brands find it harder and harder to break into the market… it’s so hard to get distribution these days without huge budgets to support retailers also, so blogs like yours that review products based on their merits are vital is supporting these brands..
I think a lot of the blogs that have caved to these pressure tactics, will soon fold themselves. If they wanted to be a sales rep, they’d go & do it, & I think they’ll soon wear of it once they realise they’re not to be the next Zoella.
Eventually it will be the few who stayed true to themselves….& then they will hold the balance of power with PR’s.
Thank you for your insightful comment – I think you’re right, but it’s less and less something I want to be a part of or have the patience to wait for. I have some thinking to do next year.
I read a few beauty blogs but yours is one that I really would miss if you closed it up. However, I also don’t like the thought of you doing something that now frustrates you, just to keep readers happy.
I hope you continue your blog (or to write about beauty in some way) but only if it has reward for you too Jane.
I think I just need to think about my work/life balance thing… I can’t close it completely for some time to come but I’m thinking of ways to downsize the workload if you see what I mean! But thank you as always for your kind words x
Very true! It’s hard not to get caught up in it all especially when it is brands you love that become pushy. There’s a lot of new brands that have a ‘marketing strategy’ of merely bombarding every single blogger they come across even though they have nothing to do with the brand. This is disheartening and I almost want to say no just to be different.
I have some thinking to do next year too x