It's not what you say, it's who says it

Sponsorship or product endorsement on blogs is gaining in popularity as it proves its effectiveness. Blog advertising expenditures have grown 300% in the past year(Ochman, 2006) ,according to Henry Copeland, president of blogads.com, and blog advertising is still obscenely cheap. In fact, companies can make a really big dent in the market for $25-$75K.

Bloggers can write individual posts on their personal blogs endorsing certain products they have tried. Some high profile bloggers are known as “influencers” and are sought out to sample new products and create buzz about them. This is where the relationship the reader forms with the blogger is most conducive to compelling and effective advertising.

 An elite form of bloggers is a selection of individuals chosen for their influencing power. They are the people who are always ahead of the curve, the early adaptors or influencers in the words of Malcolm Gladwell. The early adaptors fall in love with an item before it gets trendy, they are the ones who know the band before it is famous, or wear their hair a certain way before everyone seems to be doing it. They do not do this on purpose but just seem to always know what the next best thing will be first. Influencers are highly sought after by companies looking to become that next best thing, because, reasonably, if they spark the interest of an influencer they have a great chance at becoming the next trend or cannot live without item. Brands search out influencers to review their products and spread the awareness of a new product. Unfortunately, magazine ads and television spots can easily fall into the clutter that is the current marketplace. On the other hand, influencers speak to a dedicated group of readers, looking for the next cool item or accessory.

 For some blogging influencers such as Raymi, of www.raymitheminx.com, a devoted fan base looks to her choices to model their own. Her blog garners over 4000 hits per day, which is high in terms of dedicated readership. When asked about how readers react to the things she promotes on her blog she replied, “the only way I find out if the thing I plugged was successful is by comments feedback and emails saying I bought that thing or I did that thing, ate that, changed my hair. I can also tell by the some odd 50 blogs out there that mirror my brand. When I cut my hair they cut their hair, when I wear that thing, they wear that thing. It doesn’t happen overnight, it isn't immediate (though sometimes is) it comes in waves. Sometimes I don’t link to a brand but I mention it and people go out and get it for themselves, all you have to do is say it and they do it, so there's no numbers click throughs in that regard.” Unfortunately, Raymi does not get paid for what she promotes and as a result can not precisely know how many people follow her suggestions and reviews and actually purchase an item. Her place in the marketing mix as an influencer can be of huge value to a company.