Participate in Social Media Marketing Campaigns for Your Mom Blog

By Wendy Piersall from Mom Blogging For Dummies

You’re more likely to have an opportunity to participate in an existing social media campaign than you are to sell your own right off the bat. The best thing you can do for yourself to gain access to these gigs is to raise your visibility as a blogger and social media mom.

To achieve visibility, you’ll need to actively socialize and promote yourself all over the web, as well as attend live conferences and events where you get to meet other bloggers and brand representatives in person.

It’s not very likely that you will be at the table while a big company is planning its next big campaign. What you can do is establish your reputation so well that someone who is at that table thinks of you when it’s time to find a blogger to bring on board.

A great example of this approach is how Esther Crawford used videoblogging to build her following — and to establish herself as a mom with social media savvy. When Esther decided she wanted to lose the baby weight from her recent pregnancy, she chose Weight Watchers and videoblogged the process of losing over 20 pounds. Weight Watchers noticed.

And it ended up hiring her as an ongoing social media consultant and to be a part of its recent television advertising campaign, with Jennifer Hudson as the spokesperson. You can see one of the images from the campaign here.

While this strategy may seem relatively passive, building your personal brand is critical if this is the route you want your blogging career to follow. Brands and companies look for a certain type of mom when they want to plan a new social media project. Such a mom has

A strong personal brand that is recognized and respected by her peers.
A large following on Twitter and Facebook.
A prominent voice in her respective niche, and is usually one of the more recognized names on that topic.
A blog with strong, unique, and high-caliber content.
The skill to promote herself without spamming friends or being overly pushy.
The ability to elicit a response from her community, through blog comments, tweets, and Facebook conversations.
The attention of the traditional media and journalists through coverage in newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV appearances.

In short, companies look for a mom who can be a true ambassador for their brands and have the social clout to spread the word for them. The more you can accomplish these things, the more your name will come up as a blogger associated with your chosen field.

Here are some ways to be proactive about finding opportunities in existing social media campaigns:

Active networking: This is a situation where in-person networking is most important, especially at blogging and social media conferences. Hundreds of brand representatives go to these conferences to get to know the blogging community better — and to scout out bloggers they can work with in the future.
Build your credibility: Nobody who has taken part in big social media campaigns got there easily. They all had to prove their worth and work their tails off to build up enough credibility to get hired. You may need to start small, but everything you can do to prove you know how to spread the word about something is one more step closer to the bigger opportunities.

You can also create your own campaigns promoting things you love to buy as a consumer, but make it clear that you’re doing it of your own accord. It’s not ethical to imply that a client hired you for work they didn’t hire you for.
Ask for it: Your blog should make it clear that you’re interested in working with brands on campaigns and marketing projects. Mention that availability on your About page and your advertising page — and be sure to include it in your media kit as well.
Research social media agencies: Most of these kinds of campaigns aren’t put together by the companies themselves; their marketing agencies handle that job. When you see a new campaign involving social media moms, find out which ad agency is behind the campaign.

That’s usually pretty easy to do by interacting with the campaign participants (such as the person who’s running the Facebook page or Twitter account). You can also simply ask the bloggers involved in the campaign. Introduce yourself to these agencies and let them know you would like to be considered for future promotions in your area of expertise.
Create campaigns to promote yourself: If you can’t find a campaign to be a part of, create your own — and promote yourself in a creative and fun way. The more you can prove that you can deliver more awareness and results, the more value you have to brands and companies.
Build on your successes: Any time you can add an accomplishment to your blogging résumé, use it as a step toward your next opportunity. Publish mini-case studies of things you work on, create a portfolio of past projects you’ve worked on, and keep your media kit and advertising information up to date. Every time you gain more experience, it’s one more thing you can use as a reference to get in on the next opportunity that comes your way.