There are millions of great posts around the blogosphere that detail the best practices of Blogger outreach, but what some people might not realize is that Blogger Outreach is a multifaceted strategy. There are different methods of outreach that achieve different goals, and all of these methods fall under the Blogger Outreach umbrella. So how do you know which kind of Blogger outreach is right for your brand?
Finding that niche list of blogs to target isn’t the hard part. The difficult part is how to approach these bloggers. The key to approaching bloggers is to work backwards and answer these questions;
1. What are the Goals?
- Brand Awareness
- Product Announcement or Exposure
- Event invitations
2. Why would the blogger care?
- Their audience is the main demographic
- The blogger has a specific outlook on campaign details
- Location centric
- The blogger will receive compensation or be able to offer gifts to their audience
3. Why does the brand NEED the blogger?
- The blogger has a large targeted audience within the brand demographic
- The blogger has a valued presence on the blogosphere and ranks highly in the search engines
- The blogger has the potential to enhance the brand awareness
- The brand lacks organic presence and is new to the Social Arena
- The blogger has fans on Twitter, Facebook, and additional important Social Networks.
If you can check off many of these points, then you are ready to accept Blogger Outreach into your marketing strategy.
Learn from History and Avoid BAD Blogger Outreach:
- Keep it Personal
- Research the Blogger ahead of time
- Do not Solicit
- Play by the Blogger Rules (Many bloggers have specific outreach instructions on their site)
- Learn about their audience
- Make sure its blogworthy (give them a real reason to post about the brand)
- Give the blogger all the assets they will need. (Images, Video, Links, and content)
- Make sure to remind the Blogger of the new FCC Guidelines, play by the rules!
Here are some examples of Good Blogger Outreach Examples:
Secret of the Mountain DVD review and Giveaway on Dad-O-Matic:
Bacon Freak Gourmet Contest on Bacontoday.com:
Grasshopper Phone Systems example:
When done properly, the advantages to a GOOD blogger outreach campaign are endless. But tread lightly, do research, and be transparent at all times. Bloggers are real people and need to be treated with respect and delicacy. When treated correctly they could help market your brand better than your VP of Marketing.
Thanks for using my post on Dadomatic as an example. I think Walmart and P&G did a very good job of outreach.
Good post Stephanie! I’ll definitely keep this in mind for potential blogger outreach.
You also have to realize that some bloggers just refuse to take any sort of products or payment. It’s usually not something you can convince them to change. Some bloggers do.
Do the research beforehand. Has this blogger reviewed other sites or products before? Have they taken gifts or payment? How did they include the brand, was it a full review or was it just a mention in a more broad post?
Understanding not just what the blog is about, but also how they prefer to cover companies that pitch to them, will make your life a lot easier.
And remember, when you’re pitching a blog, it’s not like a mainstream publication. You’re talking to a person, not a website. Treat them like a person.
David, Scribnia
TRUTH! The most important skill I ever learned.
A lot of valid points but for me there are just 2 main components of a blogger outreach strategy – 1) offer something of value – meaningless content / product / promotions are pointless. 2) think long-term – the best blogger outreach strategies focus on building lasting relationships.
Number 2 is key. Unless you’re giving the blogger something they want, they’re not going to care enough to help you.
I think the most important thing is the blogger has a large targeted audience within the brand demographic.
Large audience is ideal but I will take a smaller, but highly engaged, group any day.
Thanks for all of the feedback.
@Pina and @Kieran – targeting a large audience can be helpful based on the type of outreach. That is a highly debatable topic but can only be determined by the type of brand reaching out.
Great advice – particularly for us, we’ve just launched an SEO iPhone app: http://www.linkjuiceapp.com
We need to make sure that we approach people in the right way. It should be a win, win for everyone: publisher, blogger and reader.
Particularly in this field, it can look like you’re spamming so we’ll stick to this.
Thanks again
Charlie
Founder, Ignite Fly Ltd
Thanks for featuring Grasshopper as a good example! Your tip about transparency is one of the most important parts of blogger or any outreach really…but especially bloggers. They aren’t dumb and will call you out if you try to trick them.
Transparency is one of the most important points you made in this article. No one wants to be spammed!
One additional point to mention: I’ve always had the most success in pursuing long-term relationships with bloggers rather than offering them bits of content sporadically. Building a network of bloggers worth their salt is a big project and takes extensive research, but worth it in the end.
Thanks for a great article!
good writing, you deserve a free iPad: http://bit.ly/freeipad6
this is what i was searching, thanks for sharing.
Good article.