Why Companies Should Pay for Reviews

July 30, 2012 by 16 Comments
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This isn’t going to be a very popular post with the business crowd, but it has to be said and explained because I have heard and seen so much confusion over the topic of paying for reviews on blogs.

It is a blogger’s prerogative whether or not they charge for reviewing a product.  Many bloggers will waive a review fee if the product is high dollar or something they really want.  But rarely is an unsolicited review something a blogger will tackle for free.  In fact, I would encourage businesses to never ASSUME a blogger will work for product.

It is imperative businesses change their view of paying for blogger reviews.  Doing so will result in a much better working relationship and often a much better, more far-reaching review.

Time and Energy

Bloggers who do great reviews put a lot of time and energy into writing their posts.  They use the product, take photos, and write a post full of great SEO for the company they are working for.  Total time for writing a review post can be anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours or more depending on how intensive the use of the product is and how extensive the post is.  Bloggers deserve to be compensated based solely on the work involved in writing a review!

Great SEO

Search engines are the bread and butter of today’s companies.  I wrote a review post years ago that still gets search engine hits today!  As a result the company whose product I reviewed receives hits from my site and purchases as a direct result of my review.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the gift that keeps on giving!

Blogs Versus Traditional Print Ads

Companies typically have no problem paying for print ads because they somehow seem more legitimate, but as I mentioned above, the internet is so important to business today that print ads are no longer as useful as blog ads and reviews.

Top Ad Space

Reviews are top ad space in the blogging world.  Your product gets a post all its own and is put in front the blogger’s entire audience.  This is worth more than any sidebar ad or magazine ad out there!

Reader Loyalty

When a company works with a blogger, they are tapping into the blogger’s loyal readership.  These readers trust the word of the blogger and are much more likely to purchase a product promoted by their favorite blogger than a product they see in passing in some other venue.  However, a company should never assume that their willingness to compensate for a review automatically guarantees the blogger will do the review.  The best bloggers typically have a high standard of blogging integrity and will not put a product in front of their readers that they do not believe in.

I hope this article has clarified for both bloggers and businesses why paying for reviews is not a poor investment of advertising dollars.  Companies need to rethink where their advertising dollars are going and bloggers need to not shy away from charging for their hard work and ability to reach the online consumer.

Join us for Twitter Tuesday this week (3pm ET on July 31, 2012) where we will be discussing writing and promoting reviews and digging deeper into the topic of compensation.

 

Related posts:

| For Bloggers, For Businesses, Reviews, Working with Bloggers, Working with Companies
  • http://www.savingforsomeday.com Sara at Saving For Someday

    Companies that pay for reviews often don’t get honest feedback. By paying for a review, the blogger is now in a business relationship that could jeopardize the ‘gravy train’ if the blogger writes something about the product/service the company doesn’t like. Where’s the incentive for honesty and authenticity.

    In addition, the company won’t get follow links. Or, they shouldn’t, per Google. Paid links, which a paid review becomes, require “nofollow” links, and any company who is trying to get linkback should know this. Many don’t, so it behooves bloggers to know this so they don’t get caught up in a mess when Google “delists” a company for buying links. And companies should know this so they don’t end up with useless link or in a heap of trouble both with Google and in the ensuing public relations nightmare that can ensue.

    Disclosure – being paid for a review requires complete disclosure to the readers. If readers know you’re getting paid to say these things, do you think they’ll believe it’s honest? In addition, disclosure isn’t just a suggestion. The FTC does require it, companies (and PR agencies) should know this. Blogger should know this too. And even though the FTC has not come down on bloggers, do you want to be caught up in a mess if the FTC goes after a company that’s paid you to review a product for which there wasn’t full disclosure?

    Input – If I’m a company and I’m paying for a review, I then have the right to ask for certain links, specific language, keywords, and the like. Bloggers lose their complete independence, and possibly being edited to reflect a corporate message that is inconsistent with their true beliefs.

    The benefits may seem nice for a blogger – cash. But is cash more important than integrity?

  • http://cultivatedlives.blogspot.com Heather @ Cultivated Lives

    I found this insightful. I have only done a handful of reviews, mostly because they are so much work. I have turned down product reviews even for products that sound very interesting because of the work involved. Compensation for my time seens entirely reasonable and I can’t believe that thought had never occured to me.

  • http://www.gentleshepherd.biz Djiane Hurst

    It sounds like there is more to payment for reviews than I knew about . . . didn’t know about all those rules about disclosure and follow links (what are follow links, anyway? and what are no-follow links?).

    I would agree that it can be a lot of work to write a review post– and it probably isn’t something all bloggers want to do, but some people really like telling about resources they’ve found that work well for them or that they just really like. I don’t think all homeschool bloggers need think they ought to write review posts. I’ve found that there are some blogs that specialize in this, though– sometimes other homeschoolers appreciate the info and will follow a blog just because they like getting all these leads to interesting resources. For me, that has been Sheri Graham’s blog (though she has a variety of other interesting posts, too): http://sherigraham.com/sheris-blog

  • http://getalonghome.com Cindy

    This is a really tough one for me to agree on, I’m afraid. The whole time I’m reading your post, I’m thinking “Gosh, that sounds so GOOD.” But it doesn’t work that way. Not for me, anyway. Once my palm has been greased, I’m no longer a strictly dispassionate reviewer. Product is NOT pay. It’s what I’m writing about. As long as no money changes hands, I can in good conscience say exactly what I think of it. Once money does change hands, my posts and work are no longer on an objective footing. If someone wishes to pay me for good SEO, links, and the use of my skill to promote their business, I call that a sponsored post or advertorial. With a review, there shouldn’t be any pay if we want our readers to trust our opinions.

  • http://jimmiescollage.com Jimmie

    Thank you, Amy. I totally agree. If the relationship is clearly disclosed as according to law, it is up to the blogger’s audience to decide whether or not the post is reliable. If that blogger has already proven herself over time, her readers trust her. Period.

    If a blogger has integrity, a review can be both honest and compensated. I have set up reviews and found the product to be something I could not honestly endorse. I returned the money and aborted the project.

    Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course. That’s the beauty of the disclosure. If you automatically think the blogger is dishonest because of compensation, you can discount the review and move on. But loyal readers will normally trust the blogger and her compensated review.

  • http://simplifiedpantry.com/ Mystie @ Simplified Pantry

    Do you think that a good affiliate percentage solves the dilemma? Then it’s not a paid review or paid content, but the blogger receives compensation for her loyal readership and promotion. Also, paying an advertising fee is one-time, but if you continue to generate an income off clicks & purchases from search engine traffic a year later, the blogger can even come out ahead.

    • Homeschool Blogging

      Definitely it can!

    • Melanie

      This is an option, but it’s important to disclose the affiliate link and make the product/company links NoFollow per FTC and Google guidelines.

  • http://twitter.com/StefLayton Stef Layton

    thank you! I actually had a blogger disagree with me about paid reviews and went so far to say she wouldn’t read a pay review because she felt the writer was “bought off”. I tried to explain the time, energy, editing, and honesty behind reviews – not to mention the DIGITAL FOOTPRINT it’s forever out there unlike print ads. She came around toward the end – but this topic is surprisingly one that is hard for some people to understand.

    • http://blog.ashleypichea.com Ashley Pichea

      This is definitely a topic that can create a heated debate among bloggers and between bloggers and brands. When you stop to consider the time spent and the digital footprint created, a well-crafted review is worth every penny and then some. Not every review ought to be compensated – some “free” reviews are beneficial for a blogger to do in order to create a relationship with a brand or to bless their family with a product that is worth more than “cash” in their home. Each review opportunity must be evaluated in light of the blogger’s goals and the overall benefit to the blogger and brand.

    • Melanie

      Kelby, Deb, and Sara have already made the points I would — and they are correct. Reviews should never be paid. Period. And I’ll emphasize that the links — whether the post is paid or not — should always be NoFollow per Google’s guidelines.

      If a blogger feels the review isn’t worth the time and effort to write well without payment, then it’s not a product to review. It sends a stronger message to the company that bloggers won’t spend that effort on a $5 product than if bloggers ask for payment for writing about it (which is unethical). To be clear, I’m not calling anyone unethical; I’m calling the practice unethical.

      If bloggers start asking for a sponsored post (paid), the more these companies hear that, the more likely they are to start building it into their budgets (this will not be an overnight process because there will always be bloggers willing to do a review of an inexpensive post that costs the company nothing).

  • http://typeaparent.com Kelby Carr

    Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge proponent of bloggers getting paid for work, but not when the word “review” is used. Call it a sponsored post, fine. The word review by definition is a critical analysis of something, its primary purpose is to provide readers with a balanced, unbiased test of a product. Paid and review are two words that don’t belong together.

    Also, the SEO statement is flawed because Google has made it clear that posts where product or payment is received should no follow all links out or risk both sites being sandboxed by Google and getting a zero pagerank.

  • Deb Ng

    You can’t give an honest review if you’re getting paid for it. If someone pays you to talk about a product, it’s a sponsored post or advetorial, not a review.

    Brands shouldn’t pay for reviews because they won’t get an honest assessment. People who receive money in exchange for reviews might feel obligated to give a positive write up even if they’re not feeling that way so they can continue to earn money from that brand. Moreover, the public may feel the review, reviewer and brand aren’t honest if people are paid to review a product or service. I could never trust a blogger that gives a paid review or brand that pays for reviews.

    Call it what it is, a sponsored post.

  • Heather Tenney

    What you’re describing has been around for decades in the media. It’s called an Advertorial. Ay time money changes hands in relation to a specific product, it goes from being editorial to being advertising. A review is editorial. I’m all for bloggers making money, and you’re right, there is a lot of time put into reviews. But when you start moving into doing SEO for a brand in your post, wording it so that it sounds complimentary to the product, incorporating their slogans or trademarks…those are all hallmarks of paid advertorials. There is a reason why the FTC came screaming in a few years ago to regulate bloggers–it’s because lines like this were getting seriously blurred. The media has understood this line for a couple decades now. It’s time for bloggers to understand it too. If we want to be treated like professionals, we need to act like them.

  • Melanie

    For those uncertain about what NoFollow links are, I wrote a post about it a while ago (the info is evergreen): http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2010/02/nofollow-vs-dofollow/ I wouldn’t normally include a link to my blog on someone else’s blog, but since there are so many questions, I thought it would be useful. Please delete if you deem it inappropriate.

  • http://jessicagottlieb.com JessicaGottlieb

    Review bloggers are already the least trusted bloggers out there. Adding payment for reviews that are already failing most sniff tests doesn’t seem like a good investment of time or money.