How Bloggers are different from Influencers and what do they bring for brands

Authored by Ms. Richa Singh, CEO & Co-founder, Blogchatter. 

The words influencers and Instagram have become ubiquitous, so much so that when we think of digital brand campaigns, we think of influencers. But have you ever paused to think what an influencer brings to the table? They bring their network yes, and you get access to that network for the 1 post, reel, story or video that they post. What is their shelf life? 24 hours at max - isn't it?

Now think of a consumer and the journey that they take from coming to know about a brand and being convinced enough to buy a product. An influencer may spark this journey but there are a whole lot more steps between awareness and purchase.

A blogger bridges the gap between awareness and purchase.

I have a favourite line that all bloggers are influencers but not all influencers are bloggers. I’ll tell you why that is. With an influencer, you get access to 1 social media channel and 1 content piece. With a blogger, you get access to multiple social media channels and multiple content pieces. 

A blogger, much like a consumer, emulates the journey where they are on boarded to a brand campaign, they build a relationship with the brand, talk about their experience through long form content, social media posts, etc. and thus turn into digital advocates for said brand.

There are key levers and advantages that bloggers bring to the table for a digital brand campaign. 

1. Own website that affects SEO and Google search results
2. Multiple social media platforms where not only their own content is shared but others’ content is cross promoted as well
3. Their shelf life is a whole lot longer and their life cycle with the brand does not end once they have posted their content. It continues for the duration of the campaign
4. They become voices for the brand wherein if someone from their network has queries, they can reach out to the blogger and the blogger can assist them with their queries, sharing their own experience with the brand
5. As digital advocates, they become stakeholders in the campaign and start to own the space, adding their own unique flavour to the content they create

Over the course of 6 years that we have sketched brand campaigns, two of the major pain points that brand managers have highlighted to us are: most influencer campaigns are a blip and miss, and they fail to generate conversations around the campaign or messaging.

With the help of bloggers, we’re changing the way influencing is looked at in the marketing world. Bloggers don’t just bring in their assets and networks, but also their body of work and we work with them to build a communication plan that works for them.

If you look at a typical consumer journey today, it usually starts with a question or a recommendation by someone they follow. That question is usually typed on Google, and the answers that come up are usually blog posts. Once the consumer's questions start to get answered, they look for a means to join the conversation.

At every juncture of a consumer journey, be it search, social media or conversation, a content piece from a blogger is present. And that is the biggest USP that a blogger brings in marketing for brands.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.