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Everything You Need to Know About the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers (Updated Nov 2017)

April 14, 2017 by The Motherhood

Disclaimer: Information below represents our findings to date. We will continue to update this post as we learn more about the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers.

In April 2016, Facebook announced the release of a new tool for branded content on verified pages to create easier collaboration on sponsored posts between Pages and brands.

The initial reaction to the announcement was mostly confusion about what exactly these new guidelines meant for brands and bloggers. This was especially the case for social media influencer marketing agencies, including The Motherhood, since we work with a network of “micro influencers” who promote sponsored content on their Facebook pages frequently.

According to Markerly, marketers are seeing higher engagement results with “micro influencers,” meaning those smaller-in-reach pages produce high value for brands through their devoted and active Facebook audience.

Before we answer what this tool means for marketers running influencer campaigns, let’s back up:

What is the Facebook branded content tool?

It’s a tool integrated into Facebook that allows pages and profiles to mark content that includes a third party, brand, or sponsor.

Branded content can be a post, Instant Article, link, photo, or video. Through the branded content tool, publishers of these posts tag the marketer or sponsor’s page. The marketer who is tagged will get a notification and receive access to insights on that post (such as the number of people who have seen it, click-throughs, etc.). The brand tagged will also have the ability to boost the post through their own account.

Facebook wants sponsored content to be marked clearly, therefore updating the branded tool to include the word “Paid” in the post.

Do all influencers have to use the Facebook Branded Content Tool?

When the Branded Content Tool originally was launched in April 2016, Facebook only allowed verified pages (and then later, verified profiles) to access the branded content tool. However, Facebook recently announced that they are making the tool more widely available and offering it to non-verified pages, as well.

Starting in April 2017, for users on iOS and the web (and Android in the near future), any non-verified page can submit an application to access to the branded content tool. Facebook will begin to offer the tool on a rolling basis to non-verified pages that it predicts are most likely to use it. Pages will get a notification in Facebook if they are selected for the branded content tool.

We recommend that influencers apply for the Branded Content Tool. Once you are approved for tool (it usually only takes up to two days), you can easily mark which posts are sponsored by clicking the handshake icon when composing a new post. If you have any questions about using the Branded Content Tool within your current campaign with The Motherhood, feel free to reach out to your account manager to discuss.

Do I need to include a disclosure statement if I’m using the Branded Content Tool?

This one has caused some confusion among influencers and agencies. The short answer is yes, you still need to include a proper disclosure statement (“ad” or “sponsored”) for sponsored posts, even when using the handshake tool. Facebook has clearly defined the rules for branded content, which includes using disclosures in addition to the handshake tool:

“Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including by ensuring that you provide all necessary disclosures to people using Facebook or Instagram, such as any disclosures needed to indicate the commercial nature of content posted by you.” (Facebook, August 2017)

Best practices for the Facebook Branded Content Tool for influencers moving forward:

If you have not already, request access to the Branded Content Tool here.
If a post is flagged as not complying with their branded content policies, Facebook will notify the publisher and the post will not appear in the News Feed until fixed.
If you are a brand or company reaching out to influencers to share branded content on their Facebook pages, we highly suggest consulting a marketing agency that has knowledge on the subject and is up-to-date on all policies. You can contact The Motherhood with inquiries at contact@themotherhood.com.

In our research since publishing this post, we have come across interesting articles on the topic that we would also like to share with you:

We are still following the news on the Facebook Branded Content Tool for Influencers, and we will be sure to keep our readers updated as the situation evolves — which, as many social media marketers know, is bound to happen! We welcome any feedback.

Updated: November 1, 2017

Influencer Spotlight: Green & Gorgeous

December 1, 2016 by The Motherhood

“Blogging gives us all a voice. It’s just up to us individually to decide how to use it.” – Jennae, Green & Gorgeous

Whether you’re looking for examples of the right way to work with brand partners or just a few good style tips, Green & Gorgeous is a resource for both instructional and inspirational content. As her tagline states, Green & Gorgeous is where life, style and creativity meet substance.

We encourage you to read more in the spotlight below, and give her a shout at @jennaepetersen.

Want to see more? Check out our Influencer Spotlights here!

How does the Blogger Spotlight Series work? Each month, our internal team convenes and discusses our latest programs, stellar partnerships and top-performing influencers. It’s not about numbers, but rather, the quality, authentic content they’re delivering consistently. It’s about reliability, professionalism and partnership. We discuss our nominations for the month and ultimately decide on just one blogger to invite as our featured blogger. Stop back in 2017 to see how we’re giving a nod to our valued partners!

Advantages of Using an Influencer Marketing Agency

July 27, 2016 by The Motherhood

Influencer marketing is a discipline that’s continuing to grow and attract brands’ attention: More than half of marketers recently surveyed have reportedly increased their budgets for influencer marketing in 2016.

This comes as no surprise, as we know that influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to seed authentic, searchable content that drives purchase over time. The Motherhood found that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands they’ve read about from a trusted blogger, and additional industry data reveals that marketers who implemented an influencer marketing campaign earned an average of $6.85 in media value for every $1 they spent on paid media.

As influencer campaigns are on the rise, many brands are exploring the most effective and efficient ways to incorporate a sponsored content strategy into their overall marketing plans. One of the most critical decisions is whether a brand will manage influencer marketing in-house or through an agency. As evidenced by Google’s search history for the term “Influencer Marketing Agency,” brands are exploring their options at a record high rate.

The Motherhood team is made up of professionals who have worked at the world’s top PR agencies, so we have a unique, first-hand understanding on how these decisions are made by brands at the firms that represent them. As a social media marketing agency that specializes in influencer marketing, we understand the power and perks of leveraging a specialty network to act as an extension of a brand’s team.

Three advantages of using an influencer marketing agency

1. Gain an expanded circle of trust. Hiring an influencer marketing agency requires that the marketer allow the agency to act as a steward of their brand — and leap of faith requires a great deal of trust. The Motherhood understands this — we’ve been on the other side! However, marketers should feel confident that hiring a credible, long-standing influencer marketing agency will offer a level of expertise and reliability that expands far beyond the four walls of a brand’s headquarters.

While many agencies tout their large networks of influencers, it’s imperative to know that the agency you’re engaging has a unique understanding of each individual influencer’s preferences, strengths and specialities. For marketers who want to create mutually beneficial partnerships built on a foundation of trust, pride in the brand and investment in creating exceptional work together, quality — rather than quantity — should be weighted heavily.

2. Save time, save money. A partnership with an influencer marketing agency allows brands and their PR agencies to work more efficiently by eliminating the time internally that’s required to research, identify, vet and manage a group of bloggers. A survey found that 75 percent of professionals consider identifying the right influencers to be the biggest challenge of a sponsored content campaign. Influencer marketing agencies have the right institutional knowledge and infrastructure in place, offering a better and more efficient way to manage relationships with influencers.

Using our proprietary database, The Mometer, The Motherhood makes it our business to provide the most strategic, targeted partnership recommendations between our bloggers and the brands who trust us to help represent them.

3. Offload details. When you hire an agency that specializes in influencer marketing, you’re gaining a partner with a deep, fine-tuned understanding of how to run a successful sponsored content campaign. Brands can weigh in on the aspects of the campaign that are most relevant to their direct role: key messaging, coverage pacing and key performance indicators, for example. However, turning over the reins to an experienced influencer marketing agency means that someone else will handle minute but important details such as blogger negotiations, product shipping, giveaway rules, managing bloggers’ adherence to the coverage deadline, disclosure compliance and hashtag use — just to name a few. When using an agency, these details are not the responsibility of the brand; rather, the agency is on-call for all related program management and implementation.

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If you are interested in teaming up with The Motherhood on an influencer marketing campaign, please email contact@themotherhood.com.

LISTERINE Client Spotlight: 5 Tips for a Great Summer

June 18, 2015 by The Motherhood

Enjoying summertime while wrangling the kids and ensuring the whole family is totally taken care of can be a real balancing act.

For an ongoing campaign with LISTERINE®, we invited a talented group of mom bloggers to share their advice on keeping their families totally taken care of, from teeth to toes, all summer long. We compiled five top tips for a great summer to help you enjoy the season:

1) Be Prepared. Mellisa of Mom Luck advises, “Pack a small bag with all your summer essentials, such as sunscreen, snacks, bottled water, BAND-AIDs for boo-boos and a bottle of LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE to help keep your mouth clean and refreshed.”

2) Remember Good Oral Hygiene. Notes Sara of Saving for Someday, “Don’t forget that good oral hygiene is especially important in the summer when the kids are snacking and maybe heading off to bed with a different routine. Walgreens has you totally taken care of on this with a range of wellness products.”

3) Protect Your Skin. As Felicita of Casa Moncada points out, “It’s fun to be outside in the pool, going to the beach, or doing any other outdoor activity but we must take care of our skin. Using sunscreen is essential when going outside even if it’s just for a little while… Be sure to re-apply every few hours and more if you are in the water.”

4) Maintain a Routine. With no school and many hours of daylight, “it can often be easy to let kids slide into later and later bedtimes,” Xenia of Thanks, Mail Carrier, says. Often, the result is “the following day ends up being stressful and exhausting for everyone. Instead, sticking to a consistent schedule (at least for the majority of the summer) and a regular daily and weekly routine can lead to a smoother, happier time for the entire family.”

5) Have Fun! The most important thing to remember this summer is to “enjoy yourself and really embrace life, and while you do it, make sure you are not letting your well-being slip,” advises Ellen of That Chic Mom.

To learn more about keeping your family totally taken care of all summer long, and to share your own tips, tricks and wellness ideas, join a #LISTERINEMom Twitter party – we’ll be sharing the date, time and details soon. Hope to see you there!

How to Monetize Your Blog

February 26, 2015 by The Motherhood

At The Motherhood, we have the pleasure of working with some of the most savvy, hard-working and successful bloggers out there. If you’ve ever wanted to follow in their footsteps and create a profitable way to promote your passion, read on for some tips on how to monetize your blog.

Find Your Footing

No matter what you blog about – recipes, parenting, bodybuilding, your kids’ artwork or anything in between – make a commitment to create quality content on a regular basis. We’d recommend at least three blog posts a week. The more you publish, the more you’ll appear in online searches, and the faster you’ll build a solid reader base. You don’t have to have millions of monthly visitors to successfully monetize your blog. While a strong following is important, many marketers are looking for niche influencers who resonate with a loyal audience.

Blog for Brands

If you’re interested in working with reputable brands but aren’t sure where to start, consider working with a blogger network (like The Motherhood!) to bridge that gap. Much like a headhunter matches ideal candidates with their dream jobs, we cultivate opportunities for target-right online influencers to help brands reach their marketing goals.

Compensation depends on the specific opportunity, and can include a cash stipend or goods in exchange for your honest opinions. If you’re interested in joining our network, tell us more about yourself here!

Advertise

You’re likely familiar with this popular revenue model! While certain blog creation sites, such as WordPress, have specific policies on this type of advertising, several bloggers use banner space to run advertisements on their pages.

There are three main types of online ads:

Pay-per-click: Each time someone clicks on the ad from your site, the advertiser pays you.
Pay-per-impression or cost-per-impression: You’re paid each time an ad receives 1,000 impressions (the number of times the ad is seen or displayed) from your blog.
Pay-per-action: Just like it sounds – and similar to affiliate links described below – you’re compensated each time someone clicks and completes a required action from the ad on your blog.

Google AdSense is an easy way to get started with on-site advertising. Once you apply and your site is approved, ad networks determine the most relevant ads for your readers.

Become an Affiliate

Affiliate links work like commission. Once you include an affiliate link on your blog and a reader clicks on it and takes a required action (for instance, purchasing a specific product or signing up for an email list), you’ll earn a percentage of that profit.

We recommend incorporating affiliate links that align with the content you post. That way, you can combine your editorial opinion with products or services you personally trust, which your readers will appreciate!

A quick online search for “affiliate programs” or “affiliate networks” will yield several options that might appeal to you; Amazon and Apple are just a few brands that offer affiliate programs.

Keep it Real and Play By The Rules

Just like with any business, there are certain rules and regulations when it comes to monetizing your blog.

The best way to maintain the integrity of your blog is to disclose your participation in any and all promotions and endorsements. Not only is proper disclosure required by the Federal Trade Commission, maintaining transparency will help boost your reputability with readers and brands.

As our friends at More Than Mommies explain: “Did you know that if a company pays you more than $600 in a tax period they will need to send you a tax form so that you can claim your earnings with the IRS?” Read their post for even more helpful tips and rules to keep in mind!

Have you dabbled in any or all of these options to monetize your blog? Tell us your experiences in the comments below!

Featured image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user Tracy Olson