So you have an ideal blog niche to make money and optimize it for ad revenue. Your blog traffic has steadily increased, and some companies have noticed your success. They want you to include some sponsored posts or links promoting their products or services.
This is an opportunity to make money with your blog after the hard work of writing and posting quality content.
But is making money through sponsored posts a good idea for bloggers? This article discusses the pros and cons of sponsored posts for your blog site. Read on to find out more.
What Are Sponsored Posts?
Sponsored posts are blog articles or social media posts that bloggers or social media influencers create and publish to promote other brands’ products or services on their sites for payment or compensation from a brand or company.
These sponsored posts often include a disclaimer that the content is sponsored or that the blogger received compensation for creating the post. The disclaimer is essential in ensuring transparency and informing readers that the post may contain biased or promotional content.
Sponsored posts can be an effective way for bloggers to monetize their content and generate income. However, as a blogger, you should ensure that this content aligns with your values and interests and is valuable to your audience.
Examples Of Sponsored Posts
Popular sponsored articles include 15 Bands that Probably Wouldn’t Exist without LED Zepplin, published as a BuzzFeed listicle.
The music streaming services-Spotify sponsored this article, featuring content BuzzFeed’s audience would appreciate. And with links to various Spotify profile, the post help promote Spotify and offer valuable content to BuzzFeed readers.
Another example is a Netflix article published in the New York Times, Women Inmates: Why the Male Mode Doesn’t Work.
Netflix partnered with the New York Times to post in-depth exposés on topics relating to their Original TV show (Orange is the New Black”), showing how women are treated in prison.
This engaging article would resonate with the show’s audience. Now that you understand sponsored posts let’s discuss their benefits and challenges.
Pros Of Sponsored Posts For Bloggers
Sponsored posts can benefit a blogger in various ways. Consider some benefits:
1- Guaranteed Income
Unlike AdSense ads and affiliate links that may not generate income, sponsored posts guarantee income. You get paid to publish links on your site or write articles that promote another brand’s products on your site.
You receive the money before you publish, regardless of whether your audience reads the article.
2- Income Diversification
Suppose you already make money with personal blogs through affiliate marketing, e-commerce, and direct advertising. In that case, sponsored posts are an excellent addition to the multiple income streams for your blog.
This secondary source of income can boost your passive income, giving you more financial stability.
3- Increased Reach
Sponsored content is a win-win situation, allowing the blogger to leverage the brand’s audience. While the brands want your audience to be their customers, you can also get new followers who don’t know about your blog.
And the more followers you have, the higher the chances of getting more sponsored post gigs.
4- Networking
Sponsored posts allow you to build relationships with various brands and companies in your niche. This relationship can open opportunities for future collaboration and advertisements on your site.
If you do an excellent job with sponsored posts for specific brands, they may want to engage you on a long-term contract. And who won’t love easy cash from content?
5- Enhanced Credibility
Sponsored content shows that you have established relationships with reputable brands and companies, which can enhance your credibility.
Your content must be great if MacDonald’s or Nike gives you a sponsored post opportunity. Your audience will trust you as a niche expert.
This can build trust with their audience and position them as an expert in their niche. And if the sponsored content is from major brands with high-quality products, it should be top-notch, enhancing your credibility.
6- High Conversion Rate
One study shows that people will likely recall branded content twice as much as traditional advertisements. In fact, 30% of millennials admit to buying a product after seeing or reading a sponsored post.
While your audience will likely reject traditional ads immediately, sponsored posts don’t create a strong perception of “selling something.”
No one likes to be sold to, and sponsored post doesn’t feel like selling. The earlier study shows that almost 37% of buyers think valuable sponsored posts negate their branded nature. Besides the brand, useful posts help the audience see the product’s benefits and buy.
Cons Of Sponsored Posts
While sponsored posts can provide bloggers with an additional source of income, there are also some cons to consider.
Here are a few:
7- Loss Of Authenticity
One of the main concerns with sponsored posts is that they can undermine the authenticity of your voice as a blogger. If you accept too many sponsored posts, readers can lose trust in your opinions and recommendations, hurting your credibility and reputation.
You may also feel like a sellout, where you accuse yourself of selling your audience. Your audience may feel short-changed.
8- You Could Alienate Your Fans
Most countries require social media influencers and bloggers to state when a link or post is sponsored clearly. It means your audience will know when you start publishing sponsored content, and some dislike this approach.
A disgruntled audience will likely accuse them of selling out and move to rival blogs. This is the cost of monetizing your content. If you want to lose some traffic and make money, go for it.
9- Lack Of Editorial Control
Sometimes, sponsors provide you with pre-written content that can limit your creative freedom. The sponsored post may be substandard, thus compromising your editorial integrity.
10- Creating a Sponsored Post is Time-Consuming And Expensive
You need a lot of time to develop and edit sponsored posts. Sometimes you need a lot of cash to hire contract workers to produce entertaining storylines and designs.
And when designing sponsored content, you’ll have to contend with multiple steps, rounds of reviews, and cross-departmental collaboration. The back and forth with sponsors can take time and interfere with your regular publishing schedule.
11- Negotiation Can Be Tricky
While many sponsors may value working with bloggers, they may not understand what goes into vetting working links, products, or services into a blogger’s content.
Preparing sponsored content is expensive, and bloggers may not have the money to finance it without support.
On the other hand, sponsors may be unwilling to pay upfront because they aren’t sure what you’re worth. So negotiating for ideal pricing is tricky.
12- Decreased Engagement
If readers feel that sponsored posts are taking over a blog, they may lose interest in your content.
The result? It could result in low readership and engagement, hurting a blogger’s long-term success.
The Verdict
A sponsored post is an excellent way to monetize your blog; however, it has several drawbacks. When considering sponsored links for your blog, keep your audience in mind.
I suggest you only accept relevant links since irrelevant ones can alienate your audience, making them feel sold out. So work with companies you and your audience genuinely like and fit your niche.
Moreover, you want to set a specific period for displaying the sponsored link or content on your blog-typically, one month to a year.
Remember that to comply with Google’s guidelines, all sponsored links must have the rel=”nofollow” attribute. This ensures they do not pass on any search engine ranking benefits to the linked website.
While sponsored content can be a great source of income, it’s important not to let it overshadow your primary content. Be selective about the sponsored links and articles you accept, and keep your focus on the topics that inspired you to start blogging in the first place.