The rise and rise of the ‘mummy bloggers’

There is an immovable force in the blogosphere. They come in their thousands, and command dedicated followings who trust in their every word.

They are the so-called mummy bloggers.

Real mothers, blogging about the minutiae of family life to offer a no-holds-barred account of life with children.

For the mums, they provide a discussion and support network, but for advertisers they are the holy grail: popular, trusted – and worth paying for.

Despicable Me is a new family film from Universal Pictures.

For the first time, the company’s marketing campaign has added social media to the traditional routes of advertising the film. It specifically targeted the likes of Facebook, Twitter, but also prominent parent bloggers in the US.

They don’t pay you to bash their company and say something negative about their product”

Among them was Jennifer Donovan, a stay-at-home mum from Connecticut who has been blogging for six years.

She was flown to Los Angeles, put up in a luxury Four Seasons hotel and invited to rub shoulders with Hollywood stars like Steve Carrell, Miranda Cosgrove, Julie Andrews and the film producers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, she then went on to blog about the film – very positively.

“I will say, after I accepted the invitation, had I not liked the movie I think it would have been a little bit more difficult to do such an extensive coverage,” she told BBC World Service’s Digital Planet programme.

“I would probably have opted to do a little bit less.”

Full Story: BBC News – The rise and rise of the ‘mummy bloggers’

WATCH: CRAIGSLIST