How to Reach Out to Blogger to Give Your Content Marketing a Much Needed Push
Before you concentrate on the how, you need to understand why you need to reach out to a blogger? For starters, a blogger can help you reach out to your target audience; and getting their advocacy for your brand helps in building trust among their followers.
But, like every relationship, this can go very right or very wrong. If you need a blogger to say good things about your brand, you have to focus on the relationship first. And how do you do it? Well, it will take time and effort on your part. As a Virginia SEO company here are some strategies that we use to reach out to guest bloggers.
Here are the steps to follow when you want to reach out to a blogger for your brand.
Step 1: Concentrate on the right bloggers
Imagine working hard to get a blogger to write about your brand, and only after you have put in hours of work on it, understanding that they aren’t the right fit.
Go through their work to understand whether their audience fit your target market. It won’t be a good match if you sell a web-based service to business executives and contact luxury bloggers who focus on haute couture.
Tip: Create a list of the best bloggers in your niche to get in touch with.
Step 2: Get to know them
Yes, you can pay some bloggers to write good things about you. But it won’t be the same when they write about you on their own. And it won’t be easy if you are hard pressed for money.
The best way to do it is to connect with them, via email or social media. And be supportive. Check out their profile details, read their work, like and share whenever you feel it is a worthy piece, and just keep the communication going.
Step 3: Personalize your approach
If you send out a general email to every blogger you know, it will be just a waste. Most of them won’t even bother to read it. Once you have formed a relationship with a blogger, personalize your approach to suit them.
Get their name right. Mention what you want from them. Be clear and concise. Keep in mind your tone and pitch. Also, mention some little detail that exhibits your familiarity with their work. And don’t bore them to death!
Step 4: Learn to appreciate
A simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way when it comes to this. Everyone loves to see their contribution acknowledged. And it isn’t anything different for a blogger. If possible, compensate them for their work.
But again, compensation doesn’t necessarily be monetary. You can always come up with creative ideas to do it. Such as give them insider info about a new product. Or, you can go the time-tested way, and offer them a good discount or a complimentary product.
Step 5: Keep in touch
Most importantly, don’t let the relationship you worked so hard on just go away after your post is published. A long term one can prove to be useful for you, as they will be more than willing to mention your brand that way.
Stay in touch. Like and share their work on social media. Check on them once in a while. Such simple yet nice gestures will show that you weren’t interested in the one-time thing only. And you may get to connect with others in the niche from them too.
Tip: Schedule the communication with all the bloggers you have worked with.
With the right approach, it will become a lot easier to get a blogger to say good things to their followers about your brand. And as these bloggers assert a lot of influence, it will be easier to reach out to your target market with your content marketing efforts too.
