Product placement - is it worth to place third party logos?

Probably most of people, especially those who are engaged in blogging or vlogging, have heard at least something about product placement. If you are one of those people, who enjoy posting different articles with images or videos, making reviews for different products, sharing some ideas or making tutorials, then this article should be interesting to you.

According to Wikipedia, Product placement (also known as embedded marketing) – is a marketing technique in which references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with a specific intent to promote said product.

This technique is widely used in different movies and on television, but if we are just a simple bloggers, is it worth it to place third party products or logos in our work? Let’s investigate all the pros and cons of product placement for bloggers and vloggers.

Who can expect product placement on their website / YouTube channel?

The number 1 step for product placement is, definitely, the number of visitors and/or subscribers. We all understand that product manufacturers or suppliers will not provide you with products or money if your blog or YouTube page has no visitors. It is also a type of advertisement, so it should sell the product. No people – no sales. Many people – many sales. Obviously there are some exceptions, but for most cases it will work.

The more popular your website or channel is, the more potential ads customers you may have.

If you still haven’t received any offer at all, just keep on investing your time and skills into your work. It will result in some nice outcome if you are serious with your blogging or vlogging.

How product placement looks like?

Usually, any kind of product placement is just a demonstration of the product, intentionally or “unintentionally”. You may place it just behind yourself, place it on your table, show some software (if it is the product) or just say something like “I’m shooting this image on my SteadyReady tripod”.

All such demonstrations of any product, material or electronic, can be considered as product placement.

Yes, some bloggers / vloggers are using different products and demonstrate them, but it is not a product placement. Because it is your personal decision whether to hide logos and brand names or show them with no compensation.

Probably while watching some videos on YouTube you noticed that the authors hide camera brands or laptop logos with a duct tape. This is the case when authors do not want to associate themselves with some manufacturers or brands.

But when you see something like open demonstration of a logo or brand for many times or the author pronounces them, then this is probably 100% product placement (or other type of cooperation between the author and manufacturer).

What is the difference between product placement and advertisement?

Product placement and advertisement have many in common, but the main difference is how they are demonstrated or showcased. A small disclaimer here – in some cases such actions are sponsorship or other types of cooperation which differ from product placement.

So, how authors usually demonstrate ads? It is an open demonstration of a product: at the beginning / end of a YouTube video; in a special part of an article; named by the author; openly named as the ads; and many more.

While the product placement normally has no special highlighting. The author just put the product in front of you and does not pay any specific attention to it. But the product is pretty visible, it remains in front of your eyes. And in some cases you become curious what is this? Is it so good that this guy is using this product? And this is the final goal of a manufacturer / seller – to create curiosity and interest towards his product.

What types of product placement do exist?

The most common – you receive some money to show some product. For example – you will receive USD 10 for a single video or USD 100 for all videos during month or year. It is just the same as in case of normal advertisement – pay per demonstration.

Another type – is showing the product in exchange for the product itself (or for discount). The manufacturer approached to you with the offer like “we will provide you with this microphone, but you need to use it on your table while you record a video of your reviews”. And this is also a nice idea. Yes, you do not receive any money for this, but you save on buying this item (obviously if you are interested in it).

Is it worth it?

It depends. It is up to you. Do you need it or not? Are you interested in the product itself? Are the terms and conditions of such a cooperation will benefit your website or YouTube channel? And you may ask yourself many other questions.

But for those, who manage their blogs or vlogs as a job, product placement will definitely be a nice deal. You could add one more source of income to your blog articles, reviews or videos.

Consider it as your salary – that is what you are doing with your blog.

But never forget about the morale! Try to avoid showing any of controversial or abusing items. As the author of a content you are the influencer, so try direct your influence in a good trend.

How you may get some product placement?

The best way, obviously, is when the manufacturer simply approaches to you with an offer. In this case you are free of any “hard” activity. But at the same time you need to make your website or channel outstanding in some sort. To make it visible to potential advertisers.

Another option is just to try to offer your services to some company, directly connected to your blog / channel thematic. The chances that you’ll receive a positive reply is pretty high.

One more option is to start showing some products, describing their “unique” features and benefits. This also can attract some manufacturers or suppliers. But in this case try to maintain some sort of balance, in order not to create an image that you are ready to continue doing this for free.

Some cons

Product placement is not the most popular advertising technique, so not all authors can get it. In addition, it associates you with the product, which may have some negative effect also. Let’s imagine that your visitor has purchased the product, but he/she had a negative experience with it. In this case there is a high probability that he/she could associate this experience with you.

Another negative side of a product placement – you limit yourself just to a single brand. Not always the case, but still. By doing so you deprive yourself of cooperation with the competitors of the advertiser.