Feedspot Blogger Outreach and
Influencer Marketing Guide
Blogger Outreach is the strategy of working with online influencers in the form of
bloggers to build a brand ambassador network, promote new products, earn
authentic mentions and get noticed by a variety of new consumers.
The 5 Phases of Blogger Outreach
● Plan your entire campaign before reaching out to bloggers. Envisioning
your goal all the way through before pitching is crucial so that you can
accurately steer the campaign in the right direction. It’s also very
important to consult buyer personas so that you can have a clear view of
the types of bloggers your consumers follow.
● Identify the right bloggers (make use of list we shared with you)
● Pitch Reach out to bloggers in a personalized manner that contains a
give (what you’re offering and why they want to work with you) and an
ask (what you want them to do for your brand).
● Send Give the bloggers you work with the assets to write about an entire
experience with your brand. From awesome content to new brand items
to infographics to exclusive interviews—send what you promise and
make it awesome.
● Promote When you earn media from bloggers share it on your own
channels. This helps your posts get exposure and helps the bloggers get
exposed to new audiences.
Why is Blogger Outreach Important?
● The average buyer consults 11 product reviews before making a
purchase decision. Most of these are blog posts.
● Bloggers are easier to search for by granular contextual criteria than
influencers on other platforms.
● Bloggers are some of the most sought out resources when consumers
are researching brands and products. In fact at least 81% of the digital
population trusts advice they get from bloggers.
● Bloggers are active on a variety of social channels so they are a great
springboard for campaigns that span across many digital channels.
● Bloggers write about niche based topics instead of genre allowing
marketers to find influencers who have a very targeted audience.
● Action and social mentions are driven more effectively by “power
middle.” Mid-level influencers like bloggers have a smaller but more loyal
audience and drive 16 times more engagement than paid media and
“mega influencers.”
● Blogs are in the top five sources of trustworthy information.
● “Influencers are most active on blogs, as 86% say they have them and
88% of those say they blog for themselves.”
How to build a successful blogger outreach strategy
● Approach blogger outreach in a “network building” approach. Create a
strategy that identifies the bloggers that lift your brand the most and
segment them into an advocate group that you nurture and work with
ongoing.
● In the initial outreach email after identifying a blogger you want to work
with, send a personalized pitch that contains the following in a clear and
concise manner:
1. Brief background on you and your brand
2. Why the two of you are a good fit
3. What are you asking of the blogger
4. What are you willing to give to make the relationship mutually
beneficial
5. Link to brand assets but don’t send attachments in first email
● Identify niches within blogger verticals that your target consumers would
follow.
● Trial and error. Try different approaches and work with different niches to
learn what digital mediums and what types of posts create the most
brand engagement.
● Focus on giving your bloggers an entire experience with your brand. This
elicits posts that drive engagement as opposed to simple links and shout
outs.
● Focus on a contextual fit over a numerical fit. A small but super targeted
audience is more effective for your campaign than a blogger who is a
“sort of” contextual fit but has a lot of Twitter followers.
● Promote all earned media on your own social channels.
● Equip bloggers with plenty of assets to help them write an awesome and
accurate post about your brand. High resolution images, product guides
and infographics are great!
● Work with bloggers across multiple digital channels. Bloggers promote
themselves across their social outlets so their influence tends to be on a
variety of mediums.
Building Relationships with Influencers
When it comes to influencer marketing (especially with influencers who are
domain experts), your goal should be to build a relationship with them.
Depending on the strength of your brand, influencers with fewer followers
may be a better fit.
Influencers with many followers get a lot of messages, so there is a lot of
competition for their attention. Even though they may seem like stars who’d
make your revenue skyrocket overnight, they may not be the right ones for
your business.
So focus on the more approachable influencers with stronger communities.
Find the high-value players and focus on motivating them to promote your
content. And not only should you do that, but you should also help them
achieve their goals first.
If you approach an influencer out of the blue and ask for something
immediately, the chances are that you’re not going to have a high success
rate.
Instead, focus on building a relationship with them.
Build a rapport with influencers - Share, like or comment on their recent
content to get on their radar. Another great tip is to subscribe to their
content on social media.
Add Value - If you’re particularly interested in an influencer, seek out ways
of helping them first. Sometimes a backlink to their site or a discount for
your product goes a long way towards creating a great partnership. Just be
sure to mention or tag the influencer when sharing their content, so they
are notified.
Be Their Advocate (and They Will Become Yours) - There’s a lot we
could say about brand advocacy, but there’s only one truth: there are two
hands in a handshake.
If you’re expecting an influencer to help you improve your marketing
efforts, be ready to do the same for them. Show passion and appreciation
for them and their projects, and you’ll see that you’re getting much more
attention in return.
Once you’ve started a partnership with an influencer, nurture that
relationship.
Influencers may be superheroes for your content marketing, but you should
be a superhero for theirs, too.
With this knowledge in hand, you can begin to harness the power of
Influencer Marketing.