Last month and for the very first time I dabbled in sponsorship. I didn't go out there and say "Hey, come sponsor LuckyRainbowDesigns!" while waving my hands in the air. Instead I went on the hunt for blogs to sponsor. In an effort to reach more lovely readers, up the stats for my blog and hopefully gain more followers, I decided to purchase a few monthly slots with some very famous blogs and just test the waters and see if it actually worked or made a difference to my readership.
The blogs I selected are ones which I personally enjoy reading, have followed for a considerable amount of time and felt the type of reader they attract may also be the type of reader interested in little ole me, all the way in rainy Ireland. I see the LuckyRainbow reader as someone similar in age or younger, interested in lifestyle posts, vintage or thrifty finds, an arts lover, a crafter or art student and generally someone who lives a creative life or who wishes they did.
The results, were as follows:
I sponsored FiveSixteenths from 24 January to 23 February and purchased the XL Feature Spot for a bargain busting $15. For $15, the lovely Moe of FiveSixteenths gives you the following:
"Feature spot is at the top of the sponsor column for the entire month. Feature interview at the end of the month + optional guest post. Mentioned on Twitter throughout the month, often included in Fan Friday's posts."
I have to say, it was wonderful to sponsor Moe for 30 days. She mentioned me on many occasions via Twitter and I really loved having two posts on her blog and I certainly noticed readers make their way to my blog via hers by checking the Blogger stats.
The ad size I received was 300 x 220 in size and bang for buck it was super value. My ad was large, and clearly visible on the left hand side of Moe's lovely blog.
I purchased a medium sponsorship slot from the very popular One Sheepish Girl for the sum of $30. While its more steep than the XL Feature Spot offered by FiveSixteenths, One Sheepish Girl is a very well known blog with a huge readership and given that it breaks down into $1 per day, I was happy and interested to try this out. One Sheepish Girl boasts a readership of 163,000 in January alone and up to 5,500 hits a day so financially speaking it seemed like a sound investment.
The ad space I received was 200 x 100. Not huge, but enough to make an impact on her blog and like FiveSixteenths, I set about creating a colourful mini ad that would encourage readers to click and come my way. I did notice that as the month progressed, my ad slipped down the page and so it would only be visible if readers were scrolling down the blog, however it didn't stop readers coming my way and it was clear that I was receiving more readership via One Sheepish Girl than I did via FiveSixteenths.
Without a doubt, the clear winner of the day was sponsoring The Dainty Squid. I purchased a large ad for $45 which again ran for 30 days. The size of space received was 212 x 102 and from day one and right up to the end of my 30 day subscription, I received reader after reader checking out LuckyRainbowDesigns. I would have no hesitation in returning to The Dainty Squid and purchasing more ad space.
If you're interested in the stats, The Dainty Squid has an impressive following and currently boasts the following:
192,000+ pageviews in January (as of the 21st)
7,000+ average daily pageviews in January
7,300+ GFC followers
5,900+ Facebook fans
5,900+ Facebook fans
29,000+ Tumblr followers
4,500+ Bloglovin' followers
5,600+ Twitter followers
14,000+ Instagram followers
Neat huh?
Overall Results?
My GFC followers increased by 10, so hello lovely new followers! Great to have you on board and I'm excited to share new posts with you! My readership certainly spiked over those 30 days and I would definitely recommend purchasing some sponsorship space if its something you think will assist your blog / brand. While completing initial research, I noticed many of the popular and who I'd consider successful bloggers, sponsoring numerous different types of blogs, so clearly it's something they believe in and has always worked for them. I also noticed increasing numbers of people commenting on posts, which I was delighted to see.
Overall, a very positive experience and a good return on my $90 investment!
Submit articles, blog takeovers & enter competitions in a concerted way so that your name (& link) are continuously in the readers' head. This should also help raise your profile or so I've been told! Build on your spike & keep it up. Not enough time in the day for me to try this out so I've no empirical data on it though :)
ReplyDelete[Also word verification can stop some people commenting, but moderating can be time consuming I know]
I wouldnt worry too much if the Google friend connect thing didnt spike as much as you would of hoped, i know many more people now use bloglovin to keep track of blogs or like me just add them straight to Google Reader, its one thing Google really need to update to allow for followers of other accounts or just an easier way. I think the most important thing to get a real sense of new readership is the google stats.
ReplyDeleteSeems like you got great exposure though!:)
Thanks for posting the feedback, I might be tempted for either of my blogs. I think I might wait until I properly get into the swing of things with the blog though.
ReplyDeletePs I totally agree with Claire, I used to get lots of new followers but few people use it anymore, my numbers stopped increasing years ago, but my readership has gone up
PPS: if you change your word verification to moderation on posts older than 14 days it tackles the spam and encourages more comments, those security thingys are kinda off putting
Hi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback - I didn't realise I had the word verification thing going on and personally speaking it ALWAYS bugs me on other blogs!
Silly me, slap on the wrist there! I'll be fixing that pronto!
Mwah! x