Britmums Live – Be a blogger ambassador, the notes.

This weekend saw me head off for my annual visit to London.  Britmums Live is a blogging conference that takes place once a year and is one of the highlights of my year.  Blogging friends, a weekend with no children, a chance to learn more about blogging and a chance to socialise – what is not to love?

This year I was asked to speak at Britmums Live.  I was asked to sit on a panel, share my knowledge and answer questions about being a brand ambassador.  I was totally flattered to be asked and jumped at the chance – I do like holding a microphone and I am not adverse to chatting to a couple of hundred women! As a teacher I am quite used to public speaking.  The experience was great fun and I hope it gave others an insight to becoming an ambassador in addition to highlighting the good and the bad.  I have therefore written up the notes for anyone that wasn’t at the session.

Panel: Be a blogger ambassador: Hear from those that have done it. — Penny Alexander, The Alexander Residence; Claire Hazelgrove, ONE; James Silverston, Butlins; Emma Bradley, Emma and 3

Both Penny and I were there as bloggers who have been ambassadors, Penny led the discussion and did a fab job.  James is the social media bod from Butlins and has the task of selecting bloggers who would like to work with Butlins (a fair few it seems!) and Claire works with bloggers through the charity One.

Previous campaigns I have been ambassadors for include Toys R Us, Graco, Quinny, Centre Parcs, Fisher Price and Steps Charity.  I was selected as a toyologist and believed it to be a dream job but it actually was very time consuming and became a burden – that sounds ungrateful but I have learnt that you really need to know what you are committing to.

Tips from Penny and me.

1. Be aware of what you are committing to – how many blog posts will be required?  How often?

2. Get to know the brand – you need to build a good relationship with the brand, you will become associated with it and so need to believe in it yourself.

3. Be professional

4. Consider the length of time you will be an ambassador for.  What will you recieve for your time and effort?

5. Opportunities often arise through competitions and you apply for the campaign.  Center Parcs and FisherPrice were both competitions that I entered to be selected.  Tots100 and Britmums often promote such opportunities so keep an eye out.

6. Approach companies / brands you are interested in developing a relationship with.  Your voice is powerful and you have lots to offer so be proactive.  Consider what you have to offer.

Advantages of being a brand ambassador:

1. Opportunities to review new products as they are promoted or launched.  I was one of the first to try a Graco Fusio as they came onto the market.

2. Attend press days which are fun and an opportunity to get to know the brand better.  I went to one press day with Graco and a professional photographer was also there and took beautiful photos of Erin and I that I then had turned into canvas’s.

3. Your voice / blog becomes associated with the brand – that is why you need to be passionate about the brand.

3. Host and promote competitions, this can be good for traffic to blogs and the brand often promotes your blog on social media channels.

4. The brand may sponsor you for events, like Britmums Live!

Disadvantages of being a brand ambassador:

1. The time commitment varies – you need to be fully aware of what is expected of you.

2. Some brands do not like you promoting similar products or competitors at the same time.  FisherPrice asked me not to work with other pre school toy brands for the duration of the campaign.  I agree with this as I think you cannot promote two similar products at the same time.

Being an ambassador for a charity:

I became an accidental charity ambassador.  Steps is a small national charity for those with lower limb conditions such as club foot or hip dysplasia.  When Erin was diagnosed with DDH I naturally turned to Steps for support and information, over time I have developed a strong voice for DDH and use it to shout loudly about hip dysplasia and STEP’s.  I think it is great that bloggers can work with charities this way and whether that is promoting them on campaigns, writing about them or supporting them on social media through tweets and facebook.  I have thought very carefully though about how many charities I support.  I do not just put up press releases therefore I stick to Steps so that I have become recognised as supporting them.  I do participate in one off campaigns like a post for a specific cause but I know I am committed to being a regular voice for DDH and STeps

Claire agreed that approaching bloggers for charity is different and reach is far more important than statistics.  Claire looks for those that have a passion about helping others and a passion for the cause. 

What the brand is looking for:

 1. Bloggers that will give an honest account of a product.  Although James did say if there is a problem he would like to have the opportunity to rectify the problem / issue before it being immediately blogged about.  I think this is fair as you wouldn’t write about a faulty item straight away.  You would go through customer service to resolve it first.

2. Reach, James reiterated that statistics are not the only factor when selecting bloggers for Butlins.  He looks for those engaging in social media.  They look for families that fit there target.  Therefore don’t take it personally if you don’t fit a campaign.  You may fit the next one.

Great Questions that were asked:

Q:  I am a family of seven and don’t fit the profile of two adults and two children for holidays – should I apply?

A: James – Yes definitely, if you are right for us we would accommodate you.  I also explained that I have negotiated as I was offered a term time break but need holiday time as I teach.  This has since been offered to me.

Q: How do you say if something doesn’t work for you?

A: I said be honest.  There are usually some postitives even if there are negatives.  James asked to be given the chance to put things right first.

Q: How do you get picked?

A: Approach companies directly and enter competitions.

Thanks to those who supported me and a huge thanks to Susanna and Jen for asking me to be more involved – do ask again as I loved the microphone!

Sharing is caring!

6 Responses

  1. I was there and it was a great panel with lots of interesting debate Emma. I wanted to raise a point but didn’t get chance – I’ve been asked to be an ambassador for a brand you’ve worked with in the past actually and I thought the pitch and proposal wasn’t that well thought through. The time commitment seemed big and the brand were offering products that didn’t fit me or my family. A little more research on their part would have figured that out and potentially they could have been more flexible. It was a shame but shows that what works for one doesn’t always work for another!

    1. ooh I’m intruiged now – which brand? But I agree that is why it is so important to build a two way relationship. It needs to work for both blogger and brand.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

screen recorder

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!