Gasp! Paying Bloggers to Blog?
It’s something my company, Marqui, pioneered four years ago, and (in doing so) launched an ethical debate that still rages today. This week there have been some very interesting debates on the ethics of sponsored social media because Forrester just issued a report called “Add Sponsored Conversations to your Toolbox.”
(I have to admit, I haven’t read it. At $749, I wonder how many will download the 8-page document… but I digress.)
Over at RWW, Marshall Kirkpatrick took issue with Forrester’s stance in a post titled “Forrester is Wrong about Paying Bloggers“. There’s fascinating dialogue between Marshall and Jeremiah Owyang, (one of the authors of the report) in the comments, as well as others chiming in - so take a moment to read them if you can.
In a post on his personal blog yesterday, Jeremiah listed brands and how they’re paying for marketing their products through the social web - including bloggers. From Dairy Queen to Mercedes, big brands are experimenting with social media and enticing others with offers to play with them.
I’m absolutely fine with that, but did find (at Marqui) that our brand’s voice wasn’t heard in the debate until we began blogging ourselves, and engaging in the conversations that we were pulled into once the firestorm broke out.
The is NO substitute for having a seat at the table when people are talking about you - and yes, even for you.
So go ahead. Let folks drive your cars, eat your bars and give coupons to their readers… why not? But there are three things you must embrace - having been the impetus of this great debate - from WOMMA’s Code of Ethics:
Honesty of Relationship: You say who you’re speaking for
Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity
And I have to admit, it’s fun to watch the sparks fly, four years later, and have them scorching others for once. My hair’s grown back and I’m now concentrating on helping brands protect themselves from what I had to go through in the olden days…
I agree Janet. I posted a long comment (#48) on the RWW post and really think this dialogue will go on for some time. When bloggers become media, people are going to want to pay for a piece of the action.
Mark, you’re absolutely right. The thing is, the world is so noisy, you’re best off honing your message exactly to the blogger’s audience and making a very relevant case to take to them. Of course, you should do that as a good marketer anyway, one might argue!
…of course, you said that in your very well considered comment when you said,
“however fragmented and micro-scale blogger audiences are, they have value. And however you choose to turn that audience value into money is your choice, but slamming anyone for accepting money to write a post is like throwing stones in glass houses”
Cheers, and thanks for adding to the dialogue.
I guess RWW figure bloggers are actually from outside The Matrix and no longer need money to feed themselves or their families. The truth is out! They are in league with Al Gore - who is also the creator of The Matrix as well as the Internets.
Ultimately no blogger (or any marketing campaign for that matter), no matter how eloquent or popular, change change what product or service a company ultimately delivers to a customer. I do think a firms reputation gets corrected by the invisible hand of the market over time. The internets seems to help ensure it happens a little more quickly.
As always, Craig, you’re absolutely right - no blogger can change what product a company ultimately serves up. And every firm’s reputation is ‘corrected’ along the way.
I think most people were worried about the bloggers’ ethics more than the company’s ethics.
Who do you trust?
To me, that’s a basic decision every single one of us needs to make ourselves. Not have others make it for us….