Lorraine Ladish, owner of the Latina lifestyle blog Viva Fifty!, aims her content at men and women over 50 years old who want to live life to the fullest. She has hit her program milestone in all of her Linqia collaborations and shares how working with influencer marketing programs has helped her go from a single mother on welfare to a digital entrepreneur.
Congrats! You’ve overachieved on all 9 of your campaigns! What is your secret to driving so much traffic and interest to your sponsored posts?
I’m solution-oriented and I love finding creative ways to exceed my goals. I own several Facebook Fan pages and Twitter handles so that extended audience helps draw interest and drive traffic.
I usually start out early on in the program with Facebook promotions on my Fan pages where I target the content to reach the most likely users of the product or service. It’s about getting the message in front of the right people – it’s really that simple. I also promote the programs in my email newsletter and on Twitter, of course.
Additionally, I remain true to my brand and who I am. I have a large following that believes what I share is useful in some way so I choose campaigns that are not only relevant to me, but also relevant to my audience.
What was your favorite Linqia campaign? Why?
The one I did for Clarins. It was not the most lucrative, but it was the most fun to create. I love cosmetics, and I had used Clarins when I lived in Europe. I really enjoyed recreating the three looks for the blog post and social shares. I also loved that I could run a giveaway for my readers because that is always fun and exciting.
You have an impressive following, how did you grow your audience? What are your tips for attracting more followers?
Oh, my, I speak at conferences about this. In fact, I just released a book titled REACH! – From Single Mom on Welfare to Digital Entrepreneur, which is available on Amazon. I realized that social media has the power to drive awareness, build communities, and also drive traffic. My advice to attracting more followers is to remember that social media doesn’t sleep. It’s a 24/7 deal. As a result, I consistently create content for all my platforms and don’t skip a beat.
Many people over 50 are not big internet users. What do you do to attract users 50+ to your blog?
People are turning 50 every day. And those who are 50+ today were younger when they started online. My father is in his 70’s and has an online presence on Facebook and Twitter. I also have a lot of 50+ followers on Instagram , on the Viva Fifty! Facebook page, and on the @VivaFifty Twitter handle. By sharing my own life at 50+, other 50+ audience members want to interact with me because they can relate to being vibrant and digitally savvy at 50+.
What is the best way to approach a Latina blogger for sponsored content or someone who has a bilingual audience?
The same way as anybody else! The only thing that differentiates us is that we are bilingual and bicultural. Many of us are what has been labelled as “ambicultural.” This means we are just as comfortable in one language and culture as in we are in another. I have been a brand ambassador for mainstream audiences because of being 50+ and also for Latina audiences because I am Hispanic.
Are there any unique challenges or benefits to having a bilingual community?
There are many advantages. Primarily, it expands my audience because I can reach people in two different languages and that alone gives me (and any other bilingual influencer) an edge. The challenges may be that the audience can sometimes get frustrated when not all the content is both in English and Spanish. But there is a reason behind that. Not all subjects are culturally relevant in both languages. We do, however, take requests from readers to translate specific articles they are interested in.
For more on Viva Fifty!, read her Influencer Spotlight.
