Best Practices for Blogger Outreach
It’s really exciting to see that a lot of businesses are finally recognizing blogs as legitimate and powerful outlets for their marketing message. However, most outreach campaigns don’t work because the pitch sucks.
Here’s some advice for creating a blogger outreach program, and pitch strategy that doesn’t get ignored.
First Step: Read the Blog
It’s amazing how many people don’t read the blog they outreach to. You don’t have to read the entire thing, just enough to understand the style of writing, the topics, and if there are any reasons to not contact the blogger.
(Don’t contact an anti-fur fashion writer about your awesome new fur coats… you won’t know about their taste until your read the blog)
I recommend also checking PostRank to see if the blog has been included there, so you can read the most popular articles. These articles tend to be a bloggers favorite articles and can give you an insight into how the author thinks.
Prepare an Outreach Template
Generally, an outreach campaign will include emailing at least 20 to 30 bloggers, if not more. The reason why you outreach to so many bloggers is because not everyone will respond. You want to make sure that you reach your goal of published articles.
If you’re reaching out to so many bloggers, it’s important to have an email template that answers who, what, when, where, and why. Remember the template is just a template and needs to be customize for each blogger.
There is nothing more annoying than a canned pitch. Bloggers realize that these pitches are sent verbatim to hundreds of other bloggers and end up not writing about because they’re not exclusive. A blogger gains nothing by writing about an event, or special that everyone is else writing about.
Let the Blogger Opt In
The first email you send a blogger should outline who you are and why they should pay attention. Give information about the campaign, but don’t overload the reader. I recommend against including an entire press release, or huge paragraphs. If a blogger can’t quickly scan it, they won’t read it.
Let the blogger then decide they want to be a part of the campaign. Let them know who you are and why you’re contacting them. Close the email by asking them if they want more information, a review copy, or free product.
This helps build a relationship with the blogger and keeps your opening email short. Once the blogger is expecting your next email, they’ll be more likely to read a longer, more in-depth, message.
Outreach Only Important Information
I think the biggest mistake most businesses make when executing an outreach campaign is that they make a campaign around mundane everyday occurrences. If you want a successful outreach campaign, your event better be interesting or eccentric.
Unlike press releases, a blogger outreach campaign needs to be very targeted. Don’t outreach about events unless they offer some kind of value to the blogger.
The reason why you should only outreach around important events is because if you send an email to a blogger and they’re not interested in the event, more often than not, they’ll ignore all future emails. Make sure you’re giving the blogger something exclusive or exciting and they’ll be more likely to write about it.
Bonus: Give a Blogger Assets
Don’t forget if a blogger agrees to write about your campaign, help them out!
Send them videos, images, previous press releases, or even post ideas. Make it as easy as possible to write about your event or product.
Conclusion
Blogs can be very influential and their authors are careful when endorsing a product. They understand that their value comes from their reputation and they tend to be wary when they receive product pitches.
If you want your campaign to be a success remember to outreach the right blogs, keep your pitch short, and give the blogger something.
Recommended:
The Art and Science of Blogger Relations – An eBook by Biran Solis.
BuzzStream – A highly recommended management system for blogger outreach.
