Today an interesting discussion streamed across Twitter thanks to the Silicon Valley Moms Group Brand/Blogger Meetup in Chicago. The SV Moms have been organizing these get togethers to connect parenting bloggers and leading parent-centric brands so they can have face-to-face conversations about brand-blogger relations. (There are upcoming events scheduled in New York and D.C.)
Many bloggers argue that they should be monetarily compensated, either with an hourly rate or a flat fee, to review products.
One common solution has been for bloggers to simply keep the product they reviewed as a form of compensation, but the issue gets stickier when it’s not possible to keep the item because it’s a high-end product such as a car.
Credibility is the reason readers first enjoyed blogger product reviews. It was a mom at home who happened to be using an item who freely shared her opinions – the good, bad and ugly.
We don’t see many negative reviews on blogs these days (unless of course the product was purchased by the author). In that case, if it doesn’t work correctly or there’s a customer service issue – watch out world!
Veronica Arreola of VivalaFeminsta.com tweeted:
Bloggers have a tightrope to walk because authority and influence stem from authenticity.
{TwitPic: svmoms; tweet: veronicaeye}
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I’m going to be honest and say, if I knew a blogger was compensated for a product review, I would very much doubt their sincerity in liking the product. Which is one of the reasons I don’t accept payment for a product review, I don’t want that obligation to feel like I can’t be truthful. Even though I do keep the products I review, it doesn’t change the fact if i have a complaint, I’m going to write about it. In many cases, you don’t see negative reviews because a lot of bloggers will send the product back with feedback and choose not to write about it.
Product reviews should not be compensated. Who is going to believe a reviewer if they receive money to do so?
Reviews should not be paid. They should be unbiased, unpaid and raw. Campaigns should be created with relevant bloggers and companies who seek to foster a long term, mutually beneficial partnership. And THOSE should be paid well.
I believe that if a blogger receives compensation for a review and doesn’t disclose the relationship then it will affect their credibility in the long run. However there are many other avenues in which a blogger can receive compensation and work with brands including ads, sponsorships, brand ambassador relationships, etc. The key is to ensure that there is clear definition between what can be bought and what can’t.
How is it really different from the blogger keeping the product VS getting paid cash? I’ve wondered this for a long time??
And what about whole campaigns where the blogger is involved from the beginning, brainstorming and helping with the creative process say around a Mother’s Day production upcoming on their blog as well as several others??
Spending literally tens of hours on one campaign. Helping create buzz for the product/campaign not only on their blog but on Twitter/Facebook etc… In essence acting as PR.
If the company is willing to ‘employ’ the blogger as part of a larger overall promotion.. does it really make a difference?
I realize ‘pay for tweets’ is it’s own can of worms… but really there has to be a middle ground here??
Agreed, campaigns are the future of blogger/brand relations.
I am not comfortable with paid reviews either, I don’t think there is anything wrong with bloggers being paid for working with companies at all, they should be getting the compensation they deserve, but not for reviews. As a reader I would see it as an ad. I like hearing the good and bad and I just don’t see that as often anymore with paid or unpaid.
I think disclosure helps a lot, but also the bloggers readers will learn by reading if that blogger is sincere or not. There isn’t a lot of negative on my blog because I try in real life to be positive also – that’s not to say that I don’t include any negatives in my review, I do, but I also know what may be negative for me might be a positive for someone else.
UnplannedCooking.com and I are doing a mockumentary (of ourselves) mostly,) on bloggers and social media marketers at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheVlogPantry. I don’t think people should get paid to review products. However, the line is blurry when companies give bloggers products to review and keep (i.e. the stick of butter in our video.) On the other hand, how else can most bloggers be compensated for their writing?
I have recently started doing reviews where I have to return the item. Returning items, even when the company sends a return slip is still a hassle because I have to schedule the pick up or drive it to a drop off stop. So I can understand why moms want to be paid for reviews. When someone is paid for a review, that makes everyone involved feel like there is an expectation. The company expects it to be worth their money, the blogger feels like it should be a positive review, and consumers are going to expect that it wasn’t sincere. I don’t do paid reviews, I do paid posts, paid ads, but reviews I don’t.
I do however, include negative feedback and will write negative reviews, if a company sends me something, I’m honest if I don’t like it.
Here are my two cents:
YES but not for reviews…for campaigns. That is why I created MarketingByMoms.com. Companies benefit from bloggers’ reviews and hard work, why shouldn’t they?
I take a if you have nothing nice to say say nothing at all approach to reviews. I only write reviews on things/places I truly love & use. For the record, I’m against being paid for reviews.
A company recently contacted me to somehow work together. I like their approach a lot which was we will send you product, if you like it then we can proceed with collaboration ideas. If not, no problem.
My blog is lacking in negative reviews for one simple reason – I actively seek products to review, I very rarely accept random pitches that are sent my way.
When a blogger is reviewing an item that she/he wanted, it is rare that they are going to dislike it. It does happen, when something doesn’t work the way you thought it might, but just as a regular consumer does, I research items to see whether or not I would like it before I pitch a PR company to do a review.
For instance, I recently received a Bake Pops pan that makes cake pops without the “work” – I asked this company for an item to review because I saw it on TV and wanted to try it. I used it last week and didn’t care for it. It does what it says it will, but the cake pops don’t turn out like they do if you made them by hand. I’ll be writing that in my review. Did I hate it? No. Will I ever use it again? I highly doubt it – for those that don’t want to bother with the few minutes it takes to make cake pops the old fashioned way, it would be fine, but it’s not good enough for me.