Spa Marketing: 10 common myths about blogging
In my article 4 reasons why blogging is good for your spa business, I have explained the relationship between Spa & Wellness Businesses and Blogging.
Of course, critiques have a lot of points against that, so let us have a close look at some of the common myths around blogs.
all bloggers are after any free sample
I agree, there may be some people out there on the hunt for free samples or free invites only, however they are easy to spot and can be excluded as potential partners. A serious blogger will refuse samples or invites that are not compatible with his topic and content.
bloggers have no journalism training
true, most bloggers do not have a formal journalism training. Yet bloggers aren’t journalists, they are a total different breed. A blog article should be very personal, usually providing a personal opinion, written from the heart of the author, in his language, almost as if he spoke to a friend. This is what makes blogs authentic, credible and the blogger’s personal opinion provides value to the ‘tribe’ (which are the people called that follow a blog and connect to the blogger). A journalist has a total different approach, hence I think the two do not compete, nor should they be compared.
bloggers only blog as a hobby
whereas a lot of bloggers have started their blogs as hobbies, some of them have become blog entrepreneurs. In any case, it does not matter if it’s done for a living or as hobby, and if the blogger is paid for or not. A blogger who has an expertise in a field, who has something to say, who provides value on his blog and who has followers should be taken serious and awarded for his effort in some way.
blogs have no value
many bloggers take great care in providing excellent content in depth and width on their specific topic.
every business has to have their own blog
blogs are a great way of getting information across, they assist in building relationships with target customers, they can be useful in getting more traffic on a homepage, they can support social media efforts of businesses – but they are not needed nor suitable for every single business. Blogs need content and a dedicated person in charge. If a business cannot create useful, informative and valuable content on a regular basis for their blog, the blog will become obsolete soon.
blogs are no serious nor useful channel in the marketing mix
oh boy, what a nonsense. Some marketeers though still seem to be rather conservative when it comes to choosing marketing channels. Bloggers receive messages such as “we have no marketing budget for blogs”, or “we do not work with bloggers”, or “..not matching our strategy…”. Those businesses seem to prefer to pay for more conservative advertisement. Every business decides for themselves, if a blog cooperation or own blog fits in with the overall marketing strategy reaching their very target customer.
blogging is easy
well, not really. Bloggers need to be tech savvy and set up and run a blog technically. They need to do a lot of research for the topics they write about. They have to have people’s skills. They have to perform trials, test samples, produce content on a regular basis, network, may have to travel a lot, use mediums such as photos, videos, podcast, webinars etc… blogging is hard work that requires a broad skill set.
bloggers don’t have to work
depends on how you define work. Is sitting in front of computers for several hours a day, liaising with business contacts, making phone calls, doing research, attending meetings, answering emails, travelling etc. considered ‘work’? well then, bloggers do ‘work’!
blogging is just a fad that will eventually fade
ok, the internet is changing pretty fast, and new things come up all the time. But people will also always look at information, and personal, authentic information like provided by passionate bloggers provide great value. Expert opinion is, that blogs may evolve, yet stay for a long time to come.
blog articles should be free of charge
I don’t fully agree. We debunked myths #8 and #9 and understand, that blogging requires dedication, skills and hard work. And this can be rewarded like any other job. Whether your business is ready and willing to set a budget for this? Again, totally depends on your overall marketing strategy, target customer, customer oriented message etc.
Having said that, I would like to highlight that I personally do not charge for reviews on my blog. This is not suggesting that I am too humble, or that I do not believe in the value I am providing or because I am trying to undermine other bloggers who do wish to charge for their services.
This is owed to my passion about the Spa & Wellness Industry. I am happy to provide some services for free for the good of the industry. Whereas in-depth spa audits or mystery checks for example are services part of my consultancy and for which I charge a fee, snapshot description of spa visits like I provide in my spa reviews, are not.
I believe in the power of knowledge and sharing the knowledge and experience I have been fortunate to obtain.
