Influencer Spotlight: Natasha, Grits & Grace

August 6, 2018 by The Motherhood

Natasha with Grits & Grace, a mom of two (with one on the way!), knows how hard mom-ing can be. She created a beautiful blog and community to help encourage and inspire moms through the little things. We love working with Natasha, which is why she is our August Spotlight Blogger! We recently caught up with her to get her thoughts on social media, blogging and more. Take a look!

What do you feel is the #1 trend in influencer marketing in 2018?
Video, definitely. I believe IGTV is going to change things for influencers in a good way! If you haven’t started using it, start doing so! And make sure you are doing stories as well!

What content do you feel your readers find most valuable?
My readers seem to be most responsive to our children’s book reviews or posts dealing with technology. Also, anything my husband writes! All of my top posts were written by him!

How has your blog changed since you first got started?
I have changed topics at least five times since I started blogging way back when GeoCities was a thing. I was a blogger for several music groups (Backstreet Boys, Immature, Destiny’s Child) and eventually moved to natural hair before settling into becoming a lifestyle blogger.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a blog?
Go for it. The only limit there is to blogging is yourself. You decide how large or small you want you to be. We know there are thousands of bloggers already in the field, but don’t let it stop you! Every voice is different, and you’ll always find the audience that resonates with your work.

What trend or platform is on its way out?
I really think Facebook is going to be out the door soon. Because brands and consumers are becoming more visual, I don’t see it becoming as useful to bloggers as it once was. (Although, if I can be honest, I wish it was Instagram.)

What’s your greatest challenge when working with brands?
Getting them to understand that blogging is a legitimate business and that we put our heart and soul into it just as much as anyone who works outside of the home. And that we can’t control algorithms. We don’t all have the reach of the Kardashians. I think it’s time they start becoming a little more realistic in their expectations.

What’s your best blogging tip?
Never sacrifice your morals or your brand for a paycheck. It’ll come back to bite you.

Favorite program you’ve done with The Motherhood?
The Universal Music program for The Lullaby Project. I have found myself listening to the music daily, especially now that I am pregnant. My three- and five-year-olds absolutely love it as their wind down music in the evenings after dinner.

What is your proudest achievement?
I get so many messages and emails weekly from other moms who are going through a tough time and just want someone to talk to and they say that I inspire them. One of my posts, “When You’re The Mom With No Village,” reached so many women, and I am truly grateful for all of the love and support that not only I received, but that I was able to offer to others in return.

What are your three most-used emojis?
🏽🏽

And they are usually always to my mom or dad!

More about The Motherhood’s Spotlight Blogger 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 September for the next Spotlight Blogger!

Influencer Spotlight: Amanda, Old House to New Home

July 9, 2018 by The Motherhood

Amanda with Old House to New Home is a mom of two, Spanish teacher and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire! She started her blog as an outlet to share her passion for cooking and DIY projects (and we’re so glad she did!). We interviewed Amanda to get to know her better and ask for her thoughts on the influencer marketing industry. Check our our Q&A below to learn more from the creator of Old House to New Home!

Where do you find inspiration for new blog posts?
I love searching Pinterest to see what’s trending and what other people are cooking up. I also look to my own kitchen. I often find that my most popular blog posts are always my family’s favorite recipes!

What is your favorite space to engage with your readers?
I love Insta Stories! It is so easy to interact with my readers and I feel like it gives me the chance to talk about something other than just food or décor projects!

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by your readers?
Do you really cook for your family every single night, and how?

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by brands?
What types of recipes do families really want to make and eat?

Influencer marketing is ________.
FUN! I never ever thought I would be an influencer and I absolutely love it!

What should brands start doing (better) when working with bloggers?
To be honest, offering bloggers free product and no payment for a post is unacceptable. We put so much hard work into our posts, and a box of pasta (for example) isn’t fair compensation. If you want quality work, you have to pay!

What are your thoughts on blogging conferences / are you attending any conferences this year?
I am not attending any conferences this year since we are doing a few big home projects, but I love them. I have made some of my closest friends at blogging conferences!

Favorite program you’ve done with The Motherhood?
One of my first campaigns was with DairyPure, and the Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs I made for the post are one of my favorite recipes!

What are your thoughts on affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is nice to make a few extra bucks here and there, but I haven’t been able to make a substantial amount from it! It is definitely not my strongest income stream.

What is your most productive time of day?
Depends on the time of the year! During the school year, I teach full time so I have to work on my blog at night, usually right after the kids go to bed. During the summer, I like to work in the mornings while my kids eat breakfast and watch cartoons.

Amanda, Old House to New Home

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

Shopping Via Social Media: Trends and Insights on Social E-Commerce

June 26, 2018 by The Motherhood

Do you shop via social media? In a recent Avionos survey, 55 percent of respondents said they made a purchase directly from social media within the past year. Even if you weren’t part of that crowd, you are likely closer to it than ever. Earlier this month, Instagram and Facebook both introduced features that make it easier than ever to shop on their platforms.

Instagram added shoppable content to its Stories feature for select brands, so users can now include a shopping bag icon that a user can tap to learn more, or click a link to purchase the item. Because Stories has around 300 million users, this could prove to be a popular feature for both users and brands.

According to Instagram, 60 percent of people said they discover new products on Instagram. The platform also touts that one-third of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses, which makes Stories integral to product discovery.

Similarly, Facebook added functionality for shoppers who purchased a product advertised to them on Facebook to provide feedback on their e-commerce retail experience.

With influencer marketing showing no signs of slowing down, and influencers infusing their feeds and stories with this more integrated form of advertising, it’s no wonder that social media platforms are seeking more seamless ways of directly driving conversions.

Investor Mary Meeker recently shared her 2018 Internet trends report. In it, she mentions that 55 percent of people buy a product after discovering it via social media, but only 11 percent of those purchases occur immediately (insights that align with our own research).

As these shoppable features become more sophisticated and secure, and as social media platforms gather additional insights from consumers, it will be interesting to see if this more turnkey way of making purchases will result in more immediate purchase behavior.

Tell us: do you shop via social media?

Facebook Live Video Tips

June 12, 2018 by The Motherhood

Did you know that since it debuted in 2016, Facebook Live has streamed 3.5 billion broadcasts?

The role of video in social marketing, especially live video, continues to become more and more important. The live video experience is social at its core, and on average, they generate six times more interactions than regular video, and daily average broadcasts from verified publisher Pages have increased 1.5 times over the past year due to Facebook Live use (source).

Marketers, publishers and consumers of media ALL want to break through the clutter, and Facebook Live is a great vehicle to help achieve that: Facebook Live videos continue to show up in the news feed since they encourage engagement.

Have you gone live yet? Below, we share some tips on how to make the most of your Facebook Live broadcasts.

When and why should your brand use Facebook Live?

To connect with your audience in a real, human way.
To communicate hot-button issues.
To connect communities during a crisis or share urgent information.
To provide a behind-the-scenes look.
To give viewers a glimpse into your life or company culture.
For interviews.
To broadcast a regularly scheduled program or event.

Tips before recording:

Promote the upcoming Facebook Live event with a post on your page an hour or two in advance to give your organic followers a reminder.
Always test your Internet connection and ensure your device is fully charged prior to going live! It’s always a good idea to have a backup device ready as well.
To get comfortable and practice, you can restrict privacy settings so that only you can see the live video. (Under Live Video settings window, on the right-hand side, there is a padlock; click on that and choose the “Only Me” option.)
Facebook recommends broadcasting for at least ten minutes. Experiment with time of day and see when your engagement and active viewers peak (this information can be found within Facebook’s analytics).
Good-quality lighting and audio equipment is worth the investment if you are regularly broadcasting live.
Make sure your lighting is appropriate (face the window instead of having your device facing the window), and if you can, remove glasses to eliminate the glare on the screen!
If you’re using a phone or tablet, don’t shy away from recording with the device horizontally. It shows more of your surroundings to help viewers place you in context, and the formatting works better in the news feed.
Once you’ve connected to wifi, make sure to switch your device to Airplane Mode! In this setting, you won’t get calls or other notifications that could disrupt or be a distraction to your video.
Don’t kill time just to fill time. Record with a purpose and have your content ready.

Tips during the broadcast:

Acknowledge your audience! Answer questions or thank commentators verbally by name for their input.
If you are hosting a broadcast in which you expect a steady volume of questions, have a colleague or friend help field them (some can be answered via text and some verbally).
Encourage interaction. Static Facebook posts that encourage likes, shares, comments and other engagement are penalized for seeming spammy. But, encouraging these during a Facebook Live broadcast gives viewers an actionable request and may help make your content or call-to-action more visible the more times it is liked or shared.

Tips for after recording:

Once a Live Video is created, it will live on your Facebook page (up to 500 videos can live on your page).
Pin the video to the top of your feed to increase video views.
Promote the video with a boosted post after the broadcast to target and extend the reach beyond your organic followers.
If an influencer creates a Facebook Live video for a brand, the brand can and should boost it on their own page.
You can create an edited version of the Facebook Live video to promote with an ad.
You can upload a custom thumbnail, with a graphic overlay if you’d like, to convey the topic of the video.
Respond in a comment to anyone you may have missed during the chat to increase engagement.
Captioning the video is another option post-recording, which is helpful for those viewers who tend to scroll through Facebook on mute!
Take a look at your Insights, and if you have a high-performing video, you can make it a more prominent “featured video” on your page.

Do you broadcast live? We’d love to hear your best Facebook Live video tips!

Influencer Spotlight: AnnMarie, AnnMarie John

June 5, 2018 by The Motherhood

AnnMarie John is a lifestyle blogger, retired Army veteran, mom of four, and our June Spotlight Blogger! We asked this Colorado blogger about her thoughts on social media, influencer marketing and a couple of personal questions, too. Take a look at our Q&A below and get to know AnnMarie!

Tell us why you blog.
Blogging is something I enjoy doing. As a high-schooler growing up in the English education system, literature was one of my favorite subjects. I would come home and write novels (which have never been published), and would dream about the day when I became a famous author. While I’m far from famous, blogging is my step in that direction, I would say.

What content do you feel your readers find most valuable?
Anything that is done in a lifestyle format, whether it’s for their home or travel. I’ve noticed that readers really connect with posts that speak to them; posts that share real-life stories that they themselves may have gone through.

Where do you see the most engagement with your content?
I actually see more engagement on blog posts than I do on social media content. While you may not see it in the comments, you can see it via the views that each post receives.

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by your readers, and what’s your answer?
I get asked all the time, “How do I become a blogger and get free stuff?” My answer is always, “There is no such thing as free stuff.” I personally didn’t become a blogger to get free items, and I would much rather work for cash than “stuff.” Blogging also is a full-time job for me, and it’s a job because I file taxes.

What’s the #1 question you’re asked by your brands, and what’s your answer?
Whenever I’m approached by a brand, the first question is usually “What’s your rate, or can you send your rate sheet?” My answer is ALWAYS “I don’t have a rate sheet.” I know some bloggers have one, but it limits what you can earn per campaign. My rates are also based on the company I’m working with, and as I would tell anyone, “You wouldn’t charge Apple or Microsoft or even Google the same you would an Etsy shop owner.”

2018 is the year of:
Being transparent. I want to share a bit more of me.

What are brands doing right when working with bloggers?
Asking for our input and allowing us to speak in our own voice. While they may give guidelines on how they would like their item portrayed, they prefer if we incorporate it into our lives and are honest with our opinions.

Favorite program you’ve done with The Motherhood?
I would have to say 2nd Skull and Nature’s Bounty. 2nd Skull introduced me to a product that parents should invest in for their sports-loving kids in order to help reduce head injuries, while Nature’s Bounty gave me everything that I needed to live a better life in 2018.

Who is your mentor?
I don’t really have a mentor. Instead, I have a few bloggers whose blogs I enjoy reading.

How do you organize your day?
Can I admit that I don’t? I used to, but recently I sat down and had a chat with myself. Life is short, stop organizing and living with schedules, rather, live your best life each day. Buy all the shoes and handbags, take time to smell the roses instead of the coffee and just enjoy life.

Take a look at our other featured influencers here, and stop by in July for the next Spotlight Blogger!

How Pet Brands Can Harness the Power of Influencer Marketing

May 29, 2018 by The Motherhood

If you’re in the business of helping pets live their happiest lives, you may have considered pet influencer marketing as a strategy for communicating your messages to your target audience. We’ve recently noticed a shift happening in the pet industry and with pet owners, and we believe that now, more than ever, is the perfect time for pet brands to utilize influencer marketing.

Consider these recent trends in the pet industry:

21% of pet food sales has shifted online, with no signs of slowing down.
One in four Americans says that they’re more likely to purchase pet food online than in traditional stores (Nielsen).
The annual spend on pet food per pet-owning households has increased 36% from 2007 to 2017. Nielsen attributes this increase to the demand for higher-quality, premium food.
Nielsen also said, “Sales of products that boast additional health benefits are on the rise — and shoppers are looking past marketing claims to base their purchase on what they see in the ingredient panel.” Pet owners increasingly care more about the ingredients in their pet’s food and are purchasing from brands that share similar values.
The American Pet Products Association estimates $73 billion in spending among U.S. pet owners.

Whether dog owners are searching for tips on detangling their pup’s fur, or a cat lover is on a mission to find the healthiest food for her kitten, the internet and social media are go-to sources for finding tried-and-true, pet-related information. The content that bloggers and social media stars produce help with search ranking, too, so by partnering with the right pet influencers, the information brands aim to communicate becomes more readily visible to their audiences.

The Motherhood’s network of top influencers is chock-full of animal lovers and pet owners! We took a survey of them to gain insights on how they celebrate, show off and spoil their favorite creatures.

Nearly all respondents (92%) who have pets said that they include their pets in their social media and blog content.
14% said they have a dedicated section of their blog that focuses on their pet(s).
About half (43%) of those who said they post pictures of their pets on Instagram reported higher-than-average engagement on those animal-centric photos.
From our survey, it is clear that pets are true members of the family: 76% said they buy gifts for their pets for the holidays, and 64% have a special birthday celebration for them. We love that!

And perhaps the biggest takeaway from our survey, 85% of influencers said they want to work with a pet brand in an official capacity. The opportunity is there, and we can help you create a custom, authentic campaign to get your brand in front of pet influencers and their readers/followers who share your love of our four-legged friends.