“Last week, Nathan Burgess wrote about a very top-of-mind issue for PR professionals – blogger compensation. If you haven’t read that post yet, head over there first before diving into this one.
As Nathan notes in his article, it’s not uncommon now for bloggers to receive monetary compensation to review a product or service…in addition to getting to test out that product or service for an extended period of time.
But won’t compensation in the form of cold hard cash sway the blogger’s opinion of said product or service? And won’t that immediately move this review into the paid media versus earned media category? Can bloggers actually be unbiased when a company pays them to write about their product or service?
I reached out to a few bloggers I’ve connected with over the years to get their thoughts on the compensation topic, as well as working with PR pros to coordinate reviews. Here’s what they had to say:
Jackie Harper – Free is My Life
Compensation to me is not just about cash. Compensation can include exposure, cash, gift cards, event passes, sponsored trips and brand products. When everyone is upfront in their expectations, both the brand and the blogger will be satisfied with the end product.
What I do not like is when bloggers work for free with an “implied” expectation that the free work “may” turn into compensated work. I am pitched countless times per day by people who ask me to do something with the subtle implication that if I just do them a “favor” now and post this “whatever” or mention their “whatever,” they will keep me in mind for work in the future when they have money in their budget. The problem with that is a Google search will turn up that another blogger already received compensation for the same type of post from the same brand…”
Courtesy PR Breakfast Club, click here to continue reading!