With the growing trend of using third parties to help with advertising I've been faced with a huge question: Should I do it? It would be so much easier than organizing by hand, coding, etc...but would it be helpful? I've found a few bloggers that use the service don't do sponsor spotlights on their smaller ads since they are coming & going with no group start date. I also know that a lot of blog readers don't really read sponsor spotlights because it may not be the content they are looking for. So today I want to share with you 4 reasons why I read sponsor spotlights:
To Find Other Bloggers or Shops:
The biggest reason why I read sponsor spotlights is because I love the blogs I read & want to find more blogs to read. There is a ton of inspiration out there from DIY's to how to deal with life and I love finding them. Maybe there is a blogger that lives next door to me & I would never know if I didn't connect with them through the blogs that they sponsor. It's a great way to add more blogs to your reader or find more people to interact with. I also wouldn't know a shop existed if it didn't sponsor a blog that I read.
Because the Sponsors took time to Advertise:
A lot of work goes into advertising even if it's just for a small spot. Sometimes the small spots on huge blogs will help you out a lot more than the hugest spot on a blog closer to your numbers. These guys are testing the waters for their brand. They are trying to learn what to do, where to do it, & how to do it best. If they seem interesting, I go over & give a click. After all, that's what their looking for...support!
Because the Blogger took the time to Feature:
The blogger took time to generate the post because he or she wanted to share these guys with you. He or She wanted you to get to know these rad people that have supported him or her through the month on their sidebar. They went through the trouble of advertising, going through submissions, approving them, & promoting them. It's a lot of work & I appreciate the dedication to sharing quality with readers. Though it's not a post that is always on their blog, it's still a post that counts!
To Find Other Blogs to Sponsor:
Reading sponsor spotlights introduces me to a whole new blog I might like to sponsor in the future. Maybe I have found the best blog to sponsor through another blog just because I've read the spotlight post. Perhaps this new blog fits perfect with my target audience, has ad rates in my price range, & has a spot available! If they hadn't been mentioned & I hadn't clicked over, how would I know?
Additionally, I also try to click through the sidebar sponsors on my favorite blogs just to see what my fave bloggers are into. The best recommendations come from friends, so why not go see what your blog friend recommends. Reading sponsor spotlights is as much about you as it is about the blogger & the sponsor. It's a three way relationship here & I do think it's important.
So what do you think? Do you read sponsor spotlights of only the Feature or Large sponsor? Do you even care about the other smaller guys? How about on blogs waaaayy bigger than myself....do you feature the smaller guys? Why or why not? Maybe you only factor it into social media campaigns?
I am considering going to a third party site but I don't want to not feature the people who so graciously want me to show them off. I've been exploring other options for featuring but maybe I am just behind the times. I often feel I don't catch up or keep up with trends well enough....
I'd love to know your experiences & what you think!
If you'd like to sponsor Five Sixteenths for the month of August, head on over here to find out more & then shoot me an email!
If you'd like to sponsor Five Sixteenths for the month of August, head on over here to find out more & then shoot me an email!
From someone who sponsors sites - it is a lot more convenient. We're able to see exactly how many views the site is bringing in, and exactly how many days we have left on their site. So, it's a lot more organized on our side too. :)
ReplyDeleteI just switched over to a service (Passionfruit) this week because I was having MAJOR server issues due to the plugin I was previous using to manage my ads (AdRotate). It was not only slowing now my site's load time, but also that of every single site on my server. So, my switch was out of necessity - not sure if I would've done it otherwise because I was managing fine on my own, save for the server issues.
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