Get the right people talking about your business.
When it comes to social media, having just ten followers who are genuinely interested in your brand is better than having thousands, none of whom will ever become actual customers.
Cue blogger outreach.
It is the single most effective marketing activity that works for almost all businesses.
Links are the currency of the web
Before I explore exactly what blogger outreach is, let me give you some context.
I’ll start with SEO. When a user types a question into a search box, the search engine will look for web pages that will best answer their question. It looks for:
- Accuracy
- Authority
- Relevance
How does it decide which web pages tick these boxes? One big way is by assessing how many credible websites link to that single web page. Think of these links as votes. The more votes your web page has, the more likely a search engine is to present it on the first page of search results.
As Niche Hacks point out, links from other blogs count for a lot.
How blogger outreach makes you rich
Getting the same people to ‘like’ and ‘retweet’ your content is no longer a viable strategy to spread your message. Success lies in diversifying your social influence.
Blogger outreach is a way for companies seeking more exposure to enlist the services of popular bloggers to reach a wider audience.
In simple terms:
- You contact bloggers who have substantial followings.
- Offer them a fee or more popularly, a free product or service.
- They write about it and publish content.
Voila! Your business will reach a wider audience from a trusted source, and your website will get links from credible websites.
Importantly, you will get organic traffic to your website – people who are genuinely interest in what you offer.
Make an offer that can’t be refused
The biggest challenge to launching your blogger outreach campaign is finding willing bloggers
Moz highlights that the top pain point from bloggers is companies who ask them to promote without offering adequate compensation. So, how can you overcome this? Offer them a great product or payment.
But, if you really want to be successful, think big.
Through their blogger outreach campaign, Ariel reported 4,200 Facebook shares, 15K Instagram likes and 1,500 purchases. Here’s what they did.
Ariel sent fashion bloggers surprise boxes of designer t-shirts. The twist was that the t-shirts were so stained that nobody could see the designs underneath. So, the boxes also came with Ariel’s stain removal powder and instructions on how to reveal the designer t-shirt.
They went on to partner with a Brazilian designer who was showcasing at Sao Paulo Fashion Week 2013. Watch the video below to find out more.
Ariel Surprise Collection from Rodrigo on Vimeo.
Ariel’s blogger outreach campaign was successful because they:
- Created a win-win situation between themselves and fashion bloggers
- Found other opportunities to extend the reach of their campaign
- Gave people a ‘first look’ type experience
Develop a water-tight blogger outreach strategy
As with any type of campaign, you should start by planning.
Define your goals
Your goals will help you make good decisions. For instance, you may want to increase sales in which case a product review would be suitable. Alternatively, your aim may be to increase your brand’s presence in which case an authoritative guest post would help.
Find bloggers
Your aim is to attract the right audience. So, when looking for bloggers to partner with, make sure their audience are relevant to your business.
Establish partnerships
The best way to get in touch with bloggers is in a personal (but professional way). Avoid sending a generic email and instead, focus on how they will benefit from your offer.
Promote
If you have chosen a blogger with a substantial social influence, he or she will promote the content. But it is up to you to do the same. Sharing your blogger’s social media posts is a great way of telling your audience ‘look what other people are saying about us’.
Your work doesn’t end here.
To make sure you are getting the results in-line with your goals, you should monitor results. Are you seeing any spikes in your social media following? Have you noticed increased sales? If you are not, consider trying a different campaign and reaching out to different bloggers.
But, blogger outreach takes time
According to Group High, “an average buyer consults 11 product reviews before making a purchase decision. Most of these are from blog posts.”
This makes blogger outreach one of your most powerful marketing tools.
But, finding credible bloggers and forming the necessary relationships with them, takes time.
That is why we have already done this leg-work for you. All you have to do is select what package you want, and we’ll do the rest.
