Blogger Outreach Campaign Checklist – How to Succeed Every Step of the Way
A blogger outreach campaign is an often overlooked method of promoting a new product or service. When combined with a press release marketing strategy you’ll find that your traffic, sales, and profits increase exponentially. And it really just takes adding two relatively straightforward campaigns to your existing marketing strategy. We’ve talked about press release marketing strategies in the past (and we’ll talk about them again to be sure). However, today we’re going to take a look at creating your blogging outreach campaign. We’ve compiled a simple checklist to help you make sure you don’t miss any steps.
- Identify the product or service you’re promoting. What do you want bloggers to talk/write about on their blogs? What are you sending them? Generally, when you reach out to a blogger you’ll send them a free product or service in exchange for their post on it. What will you send?
- Who are you reaching out to? This may be the lengthiest part of the blogging outreach process. You want to make a list of bloggers who:
- Fit your audience or target market
- Have large followings (you define the parameters)
- Support your brand and each of whom is a good fit for your audience and company
- May be likely to agree and blog about your products or services
- Will you pay for it? This is a key decision, and one you should make in advance. Some blogging outreach campaigns do set aside a budget to compensate bloggers who write about their products or services. If you are willing to pay for promotion:
- What’s your budget?
- When will you pay (After the post? Before the post? Before and after?)
- How will you pay? Will you send a check, give free services, or pay commissions on sales?
- Write your pitch. Once you’ve created an outline of what you want to accomplish and who you’re going to reach out to, write your pitch. What do you want to say in your email that will convince them to post about your company? Include:
- Who you are/what your company is about
- If you have a common connection, mention that person
- Who your target audience is
- Why their audience will benefit (what’s in it for them)
- What your product or service is – be excited and passionate about it. Why is it different?
- What you’ll send to them (the product or service)
- Your contact information. How they can learn more about you and how they can contact you if they have questions?
- When you’ll follow up.
Make sure your pitch is short and sweet. People are busy. Respect their time and get to the point quickly. Also, strive to personalize the pitch as much as possible. Make it relevant to the blogger you’re reaching out to.
Finally, create a plan to follow-up. A few days after you’ve sent your email, follow up with everyone. And for those who do agree to write a post on your product, follow up with a thank you and show your gratitude on social media. Drive traffic to their post so that you’re promoting them and building awareness for your own business.
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