On this edition of Spill-the-Tea Tuesday, I’m moving things over from Instagram to my Blog where I’ll continue this weekly series on Influencer Marketing.
The biggest reason for the move is simple… I truly believe that blogs have an important place on the interwebs despite the fact that I’ve only written three posts so far this year! (But that’s about to change!)
You see, over the last few years I’ve completely embraced Instagram and have sort of “forgotten” about my love of writing posts and sharing stories at Curtains are Open.
It got me thinking…Do Influencers still use Blogs?
There was a time when brands sought out Influencers/Content Creators who had active blogs, however, things changed as the Instagram application offered more features and having a blog wasn’t nearly as important as having an active and engaged social media account. Those of us who at one time told our stories (shared our recipes, worked on DIY projects, posted about our travel adventures, etc) on our blogs or vlogs… instead, started “micro-blogging” (writing longer captions) on Instagram…which then led to video content through reels and stories… which then led us down the TikTok path… which will eventually lead us to the next bright and shiny app… and so on, and so on.
Blogs/Vlogs were once the “home base” for a content creator who then used the various social media platforms to promote their posts. Then, the apps we’d once used to help us market became the place to share the message itself…resulting in many more content creators growing audiences and being sought after by brands. The landscape of Influencer Marketing is always changing… but like all marketing through the ages, it continually changes to match the current medium! (Is the medium the message or the message the medium?)
With the changes over these past few years, are blogs even necessary? Are content creators still using them or is it time to give them up by way of the dinosaur?
Well, there’s an old saying about “not putting all your eggs in one basket” and for Influencers, it’s important to listen to that lesson in order to take back “control” of their content. Time and time again we hear of social media accounts being “hacked” or “deleted” and influencers “losing everything”. All that hard work building a brand… gone… and good luck getting help!
Besides worries of losing social media accounts, the apps update and make changes so often that Influencers are forever at the whim of changing the way they share their content. Maintaining a blog (or starting one if you’ve never had one) gives you more control over your content.
Don’t get me wrong here…if I was a blogless TikTok or Instagram Influencer with millions of followers then NO, I’d probably not start a blog. But for a micro influencer like myself who’s writing long captions on Instagram, then yes, it makes sense to revitalize this neglected blog and share links to the posts on my various social media programs.
Having control of your own content is just one of the reasons for keeping a blog but there are other reasons Influencers may want to maintain a blog including: SEO benefits, evergreen content, longer lifespan, analytics and measurements, the ability to grow an email list to name a few… and those same reasons benefit the Brands. The longevity of posts alone is a huge benefit as it’s not in and out of the algorithm in a flash!
So, do Influencers still need blogs? Not necessarily… it’s really up to the individual content creator to decide whether or not they want to maintain one. However, with the constant changes in social media, it’s not a bad idea.
In my opinion, blogs and websites are still very much part of the game…if anything, to have a home base that showcases everything you do!
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What are your thoughts on whether or not Influencers should have blogs?