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Five Things We Learned at the Pittsburgh Influencer Summit

Five Things We Learned at the Pittsburgh Influencer Summit

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The Pittsburgh Influencer Summit may have been a week ago, but we can’t stop thinking about it! We were so thankful to have such a broad range of experts share their knowledge and experience of what it means to be an influencer in their space. The conversation left us feeling inspired, and we couldn’t help but share a few things that we learned.

1. People come for photos, but stay for stories.

During our Pittsburgh influencer panel, Jessica from How Sweet Eats blog talked about the things she’s learned from teaching herself photography over the years. While she stressed the importance of using high-quality and interesting photos in your content for the sake of engagement, she also noticed that once readers clicked to her content, they needed a good reason to keep them there. And that’s where quality stories come into play!

Speaking of photography, we were inspired by Erin from The Almond Eater, who said she practices photography every day. If you are a newer blogger or simply want to improve your photography skills, don’t give up! We can all get better with discipline and dedication.

So what constitutes a good photo? Content Marketing Institute recently pulled together research-driven stats to help instruct how to select the best images for engagement. Here are our favorite stats to consider:

  • Images earn 2.3 times more engagement on Facebook than text posts, according to BuzzSumo research.
  • Images that do well on Pinterest and Instagram differ from the types of images that do well on Facebook. See some of the differences here!
  • Images that include a face on Instagram earn more “likes” than images without faces, according to research from Georgia Tech.
  • Similarly, Convince and Convert found that images get the most engagement when they show a part of a person, typically a hand, interacting with an object. The explanation could be that consumers can more easily imagine themselves interacting with the product when it’s positioned in this way.

2. You can do anything, but not everything.

Such wise words from Valerie of Lily + Val! As content creators and business owners, we can easily become distracted with the many possibilities of things we could implement or could write about. But it’s important to target specific things that you want to accomplish and only go after those.

Pittsburgh Magazine editor Brian Hyslop echoed this thought during the editorial panel by saying, “You don’t have to be “the most [fill in the blank]…” in order to be good.”

A great example of someone who chose a specific goal and went after it without trying to do everything? Victoria of Burgh Brides! We loved listening to the story of how her blog and company began through simply recognizing a need for Pittsburgh-focused wedding planning tips and inspiration. While the theme of weddings could potentially be very broad, Victoria stays focused on all that Pittsburgh specifically has to offer.

Adding to this theme, Bri Conley, owner of No. 14 Boutique, shared the importance of delegating, and making sure you have trusted team members or outside help who can help carry responsibilities when needed.

3. Your blog is your home base!

While Instagram’s and Facebook’s algorithms will be forever changing, your website is the one thing you own and can control. Chaton, Pittsburgh influencer who blogs at Chaton’s World, strongly suggested to always stay focused on that piece of your brand — and let the social follow.

https://twitter.com/cherielianne/status/1042807191718244353

4. As a brand/blog owner, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and start a dialogue with your community.

Our keynote speaker, Michelle Ford Faist, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs at StarKist Co., encouraged brands to not shy away from asking for feedback. She gave the example of StarKist seeking out and listening to their partner influencers’ experiences with their products, but also mentioned that bloggers can do the same thing and ask for feedback about what type of content works for their followers. The lessons learned through asking for feedback are extremely valuable in creating future campaigns and goals!

5.  Details, details, details… they matter!

If you’re interested in future work with an agency or brand, ensure that you are reading emails thoroughly, following guidelines, tagging the brand correctly in your social posts, etc. It sounds very elementary, but can be often be missed by influencers — but noticed by top executives of brands! Simply put: be professional and accountable.

As Michelle put it, “Everyone makes mistakes, but don’t make the obvious ones!” These mistakes could potentially hurt your chances of working with the brand again in the future.

In addition to missing out on future work and partnerships, lack attention to detail could also hurt the integrity of your content. The editors of Pittsburgh Magazine shared anecdotes on the importance of fact-checking to ensure that what they were posting was true information.

Did you attend the Pittsburgh Influencer Summit? What things did you learn?

Influencer Spotlight: Christie, Raising Whasians

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Top Florida influencer and mom of two, Christie with Raising Whasians, is one of our favorite bloggers. On her blog and via social media, she shares personal family memories, recipes, craft ideas, travel tales and how she’s raising multicultural children in today’s society. She is candid, reliable and relatable, and that’s why we love her! Read more about Christie below in our October Influencer Spotlight!

Where do you find inspiration for new blog posts?
I get the most inspiration from my kids. They provide some really clever and creative ways for me to look at the world. I also keep a journal of ideas and always take inspiration from OFFLINE as much as possible. I also love the challenge of thinking outside of the box – and try to incorporate authentic storytelling in everything.

What is your favorite space to engage with your readers?
Right now my favorite place to engage is Instagram Stories. I can ask questions, get feedback and be totally candid. This also allows me to connect directly, try crazy new ideas and give a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of my life.

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by your readers, and what’s your answer?
My readers always ask me how I balance it all. I wish I could say that every day is a breeze. But, just like everyone else, I have good days and bad. The flexibility to work from home and be with my kids as much as possible is a blessing within itself, as well as the opportunities to explore passions and authentically connect with people. I basically just want to show readers that I’m a mom with the same problems, struggles and wins as every other mom.

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by brands, and what’s your answer?
For brands, I always get asked for creative new ways to reach target audiences with their product/services. This is really important to me to not only produce great creative content, but open up honest communication and feedback to the brand on what will and won’t work with my audience.

Influencer marketing is ________.
Always changing. I’m certainly never bored in this industry. There’s always something to learn, to grow and to adapt to.

What should brands start doing (better) when working with bloggers?
The marketing world is never easy. I get that brands have goals and milestones and ideally money strategies that they need to reach. At the end of the day, influencers know their audiences. We know how to best collaborate to bring authenticity to the campaigns. If there’s no trust, the campaign won’t succeed. Open and honest communication and making sure that it’s always a “mutually beneficial relationship” is key to a successful partnership.

What are your thoughts on blogging conferences / are you attending any blogger conferences this year?
I think blogging conferences will always be important to this industry – because of all of the learning and constant change. I go through phases personally with conferences. Some years, I take everything in like a sponge. Some years, my heart just isn’t passionate about them. I think it’s important to know when conferences are right for you in the stage of blogging that you’re in.

Favorite program you’ve done with The Motherhood?
So hard to choose! The Kimberly-Clark campaign still gives me consistent traffic to my natural toilet cleaner post to this day. The Duncan Hines Perfect Size for 1 also comes to mind, just because it was so fun to hide in my closet and eat cake! I also loved working with the JOHNSON’S products, especially when I was in “baby” mode.

What are your thoughts on affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make passive income, but strong evergreen content is key!

What is your most productive time of day?
Right now my most productive time occurs after I put my kids on the bus! With two kids in full time school this year, I have a few hours to get work done without distractions, potty breaks or whining. 🙂

Raising Whasians

More about The Motherhood’s Influencer Spotlight Series
Each month, our internal team convenes and discusses our latest programs, stellar partnerships and top 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 feature.

Take a look at our most recent featured influencer here, and stop by in November for the next Influencer Spotlight!

 

The Motherhood and Pittsburgh Magazine Host Pittsburgh Influencer Summit

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The Motherhood and Pittsburgh Magazine recently partnered to create and host the first-ever Pittsburgh Influencer Summit on Thursday, September 20 at Slate Studio in the Strip District.

The event idea was born out of a conversation that happened between The Motherhood and Pittsburgh Magazine months prior about the intersection of traditional and social media. We were specifically talking about the amazing talent right here in our city of Pittsburgh and wanted to have a larger conversation about one of the most innovative topics in marketing, publishing and business right now: influencers. So, we invited a group of influencers and brand marketers to come together to exchange their knowledge, skills and experiences surrounding marketing, publishing, blogging and more.

The theme we observed throughout the day: when you assemble influencers, marketers, brands, small business owners and creatives in one space, amazing conversations happen.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine
Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine
Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine
Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine

The #PghInfluencerSummit opened with insightful influencer panel discussion. The six talented influencers each shared their stories of how they began their blogs and businesses, and other things they’ve learned along the way. These influencers each shared different reasons that they got started blogging, but one common thread emerged: these women work HARD. They’ve spent years cultivating loyal communities who value what they have to say, and they place a premium on genuine connection and authenticity.

Huge thank you to the following panelists for sharing your expertise with us:

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine
Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine

https://twitter.com/melmoraes/status/1042807439177998336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1042807439177998336&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themotherhood.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D24910%26action%3Dedit

The second panel was brought to us by Pittsburgh Magazine’s very own editors, Brian Hyslop, Sean Collier, Lauren Davidson and Hal B. Klein. They shed light on the elements of a good story,  journalistic integrity and the importance of fact-checking. This panel was hosted by our guest emcees, Kelly Brennan and Courtney Brennan. Courtney is a reporter for WPXI and Kelly, formerly a reporter for WTAE, is a lifestyle blogger who writes about motherhood, style and health.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine

We were honored to have Michelle Faist, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs at StarKist Co. as our keynote speaker for the Pittsburgh Influencer Summit. She shared key learnings from StarKist’s influencer campaigns, as well as tips for influencers on how to stand out and partner with the right brands, so it was a win-win.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine

See here for more photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn9DdKqhPzi/?tagged=pghinfluencersummit

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn93u_Wgh5Z/?tagged=pghinfluencersummit

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Magazine

 

Thank you to all who attended the Pittsburgh Influencer Summit and helped to make it happen. We’ve been inspired by this conversation and looking forward to what will come next for the industry and particularly in Pittsburgh.

P.S. Make sure to also check out the Five Things We Learned From the Influencer Summit here!

The Motherhood Rebrand

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As you might have noticed, things look a little different around here! The Motherhood is thrilled to introduce a new look and feel for our website and brand.

When our agency was born in 2006, mom influencers and parenting campaigns were our primary focus. Since then, we’ve grown to include many campaign categories and influencer verticals: We currently work with clients in a broad variety of fields like health, finance, fashion, food — just to name a few. And our influencers now represent categories beyond moms, including millennials, technology, finance, fashion, beauty and food.

Through the last decade, our company has also developed a unique approach to influencer marketing. In a world of automated platforms and technology, The Motherhood stands out by building human connections for the benefit of everyone involved. For example, we hand-select and personally invite influencers for each campaign. We believe there is no one-size-fits-all campaign, and each campaign is customized specifically for our clients.

Following all of that experience and evolution, it seemed like the perfect time to freshen up our branding to better reflect our work and process. Thank you to local Pittsburgh company Top Hat for helping us pull our ideas, beliefs and style into a new logo and website!

 

We are excited to share all of the changes here at The Motherhood and look forward to continuing our successes on behalf of clients and influencers through the rest of the year.

Influencer Spotlight: Michelle, Modern Mom Life

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Top influencer Michelle with Modern Mom Life has been blogging for seven years and counting. She’s worked hard to build a community of – and for – moms who want ideas around family entertainment, travel, recipes, DIY projects, events and how to juggle it all! We love her can-do attitude and how she puts a modern spin on everything she touches. That’s why Michelle is our September Influencer Spotlight! Check out our Q&A with her below and get to know the woman behind Modern Mom Life.

Tell us why you blog.
I blog because I love to write, share stories and connect with others.

What content do you feel your readers find most valuable?
 My readers love when I share personal experiences. They also react to content that solves a problem, makes their lives easier or lifestyle hacks that make them look and feel their best.

Where do you see the most engagement with your content?
 I see the most engagement when I am vulnerable with my writing. Anytime I bare my soul and write in an authentic manner, the comments, likes and shares usually follow. Coming in a close second are cooking videos because people love to eat!

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by your readers, and what’s your answer?
 I get asked a lot how I am able to juggle everything. My answer is “I don’t.” I remind them they only see a segment of my real life and that I have struggles and challenges just like everyone else. What has helped me this year with balance is prioritizing my life. Saying “yes” to things I really want to do that bring me joy while saying “no, thank you” to other things.

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by brands, and what’s your answer?
 What unique things can your blog offer? I answer that I am able to provide a variety of ways to share their story. I am dedicated to my craft and willing to learn new strategies when algorithms change our go-to methods. My storytelling connects to my readers in a way that sparks engagement. It’s a win-win for both my audience and the brand when it’s a great fit!

2018 is the year of: _____.
 My word for the year is “Release.” Release as in letting go of what others think about my work, life or choices. Releasing negativity and naysayers. Eliminating the idea of perfectionism and giving myself grace during this busy season of motherhood and entrepreneurship. I want to have more fun and less stress. As a result, I believe this attitude will produce better writing and content creation on my end.

What are brands doing right when working with bloggers?
 Brands that allow bloggers to use their authentic voices to spread the word about their product or service are doing it right. When they do this, bloggers are able to let their creativity spark and make a more compelling piece that people actually want to read. It comes across as real and less robotic.

Favorite program you’ve done with The Motherhood?
 That’s a hard question because there’s been so many great ones! Interviewing Angela Santomero, creator of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, was surreal. I enjoyed getting to know her story and how Daniel Tiger and Blue’s Clues came to be.

Coming in second would have to be Mayfield Creamery’s Baseball and Ice Cream opportunity. Who doesn’t love America’s favorite pastime and ice cream?

Who is your mentor?
 I don’t have one mentor per se, but do have amazing people that inspire, support and motivate me to do my best. They lift me up when I am down. While some of these mentors are bloggers, many are not. I think it’s important to have a good balance of friends, colleagues and family members who can support your dreams but also bring you back down to Earth in certain instances. I am forever thankful for those bloggers who helped a newbie in the beginning and were open with their knowledge. I hope to be that mentor to others who are first starting out in this industry.

How do you organize your day?
 Full disclosure: I don’t! I wish I could tell you that I have a strict schedule I follow, but I really don’t right now. This is a goal of mine to tackle once my son is in preschool. I seem to think I thrive on chaos most days and somehow the work always gets done. Most days, I write early in the morning, answer emails and shoot photos during the day. Later, in the wee hours of the night, I schedule out social posts, pitch brands and tend to my ever-growing inbox. Batch working, to-do lists and writing out my intentions for the week help keep me focused and productive.

Michelle, Modern Mom Life

More about The Motherhood’s Influencer Spotlight Series
Each month, our internal team convenes and discusses our latest programs, stellar partnerships and top 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 feature.

Take a look at our most recent featured influencer here, and stop by in October for the next Influencer Spotlight!

Manage Time on Facebook and Instagram with New Tools

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Social media has become synonymous with the digital age and connectivity. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and other social platforms were devised to bring communities closer together, to bring users closer to other people and their interests. However, in the past few years, overuse of social media has been criticized, and even linked to depression. These criticisms were perhaps the impetus behind the new tools that allow users to manage time on Facebook and Instagram.

These features, called “Your time on Facebook” and “Your activity” on Instagram, encourage users to set daily limits for time spent on the platforms, as well as offering the ability to mute their push notifications.

According to The Verge, they are “designed to address concerns that addictive feedback loops built into social apps have been detrimental to users’ well-being.”

Knowing how aggressively social media platforms encourage their users to spend time on their sites and apps, the move may seem contradictory to their business model and ultimately, lead to lower usage of the platforms. However, Ameet Ranadive of Instagram made the point that “it’s really important for people that use Instagram and Facebook to feel like the time that they spend with us is time well spent. That’s the whole purpose of this release.”

“We want to empower people to make intentional decisions about how much time they spend, and how they want to engage with the app,” he said. “There may be some trade-off with other metrics for the company. That’s a trade-off that we’re willing to live with. In the long run this is something that’s important for the community, and something we want to invest in.”

Learn more about how you can utilize the tools they’ve introduced to manage time on Facebook and Instagram here.

How do you feel about these developments? Will you be implementing these features to manage time on Facebook or Instagram? Tell us in the comments!