By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team –  

“Pay to Play”, “You Get What You Pay For”, “Quid Pro Quo”, Nothing in Life Is Free”. I could go on and on with these classic truisms, but the bottom line in social marketing is the price of FREE is going up. We’ve seen it with Facebook and Twitter not far behind in wanting to amortize their platform.

Mom Bloggers Are a Force to Be Appreciated.

They’ve toiled to build up significant readerships for their blogs, dispensing Dear Abby advice, product reviews and recommendations, offering promotions, coupons and giveaways. They drive traffic, generate brand awareness and drive sales. They are now charging for what marketers have long realized, they perform a valuable service both for their readers and for brands hungry for increased exposure.

The old Madison Avenue paradigm of slick print ads, promotional radio spots and entertaining TV commercials alone are not enough in this new age of social media. Reviews and recommendations from trusted sources like Mom Bloggers, WOM Marketing and Yelp are where consumers research before purchasing.

Mom Bloggers Unite!

Mom Bloggers have coalesced into Mom Blogger Networks to guarantee marketers will be able to place their client brands in influential Mom Blogger blogs — for a fee. Depending upon the type of network, number of blog uniques (readership reach), length and types of promotions (couponing, giveaways, twitter parties, etc.) the pricing will vary considerably – but well worth the investment to reach a brand’s key target demographics.

Pay It Forward Campaign

Mom Blogger programs are getting more aggressive and innovative. One recent successful Mom Blogger promotion the Web Success Team conducted for a client was a “Pay It Forward” campaign, where our campaign was run twice in a two-week interval where 50 Mom Bloggers (two 25 blocks of bloggers) pushed out a brand review during a 4-day promotion. The giveaway was a WIN One GIVE One where the lucky winner on a product for herself and one for her friend of choice. It was hugely successful, garnering over 1 million uniques. The readers were also streamed to the brand’s Facebook tab where “Everybody WINS” with a BOGO special – Buy one get one free! The “likes” poured in.

In the Final Analysis

Budgeting for Mom Bloggers is an integral part of any digital marketing mix. Mom Bloggers appreciate loyalty and brand support. It’s an exiting new frontier in marketing and will pay big dividends for brands, break through the advertising clutter, increase brand awareness, and target, reward and energize your brand’s customer base.

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