Out of Sight, Out Of Mind

Out of Sight, Out Of Mind: How Can You Enhance Your Blogger Outreach

The internet reached more than 3 billion users in 2014 i.e. nearly half of the entire world’s population, and your blogging efforts are going to amount less than a drop in the ocean if you’re just starting now.

According to IPSOS, around 61 percent purchase a product   after researching online, and 81 percent of those are dependent on the word of bloggers, shows BlogHer’s research.

It has thus become crucial for brands/products/services to remain in front of their target market in order to make sales through the use of this marketing channel. What exactly is blogger outreach and how can you benefit from  it? Let’s find out:

Blogger Outreach Defined

Today, marketing has evolved into P2P (person-to-person) rather than B2B or B2C. It is no longer of any benefit or purpose to push your message to people, rather becoming more about forming meaningful connections. Blogger outreach exactly does that: maintaining relations with bloggers who subtly put your message out towards the right consumer thus connecting you with target audience.

Why Blogger Outreach matters?

Successful bloggers today are influencers who have a large following. It is crucial for all your marketing efforts in order to reap benefit they reach the right target audience and that is what  bloggers outreach help you accomplish. It is like word of mouth marketing where the blogger pushes your message/product/service towards your consumer and helps create trust and influence purchase decisions. Isn’t that what all brands require from their marketing efforts?

But Why Sould Bloggers Work For You?

When reaching out bloggers to work with you, you must first answer the question, why would they want to do it? What’s in it for the blogger to write for your product or service? Most often, the mistake that most brands make when reaching out to bloggers is expecting them to work for free, or underestimating the value of the time and effort they put in. Whenever reaching out with a proposal to a blogger, go for a win-win situation in which you are mindful of their time and effort put into pushing your product/service towards their influencers. Two popular ways to achieve this can be to:

• Offer compensation or
• Offer first look/free giveaway

Bloggers also don’t like receiving redundant pitches. In order to up your game and involve more of them to work with you, you need to be creative in what you offer as well as in the way you reach out to them every month or so to work with you. It could be harder than it seems to receive a reply back from an influential blogger, and the greater their influence is, the better it is for you. So always make sure you are grabbing their attention as well making your pitch attractive to not only them but also their readers. Some things which your pitch to the blogger should answer outright include:

• What is it meant for? (the product or project)
• Why should you do it (the benefits for the blogger) and
• How (what to do if you’re interested)

Clearly addressing these concerns from the onset ensures that the blogger gives your pitch a thought at the very least. Tips to Expand Outreach

Focus On Long Term Relationships

Instead of approaching bloggers for a one time campaign, focus on creating strong and ongoing relationships in order to make your blogger outreach successful and of value. Regular mention of your brand/product/service ensures your content to be an organic fit, the content itself should not only create awareness but subtly convince readers to take action.

Reach Out With a Purpose

First off, in order for you to be able to create effective relationships with bloggers and enhance your blogger outreach, you need to do a quick research to find the top influencers in your industry/brand category/product/service. You can do this by using resources like AllTop or Technorati that reveal the most relevant blogs for you based on your relevant keyword. The next step is the hard one, which entails reaching out to them to work/partner with you, and the best way to do that is by showing them what you can give to them. Once you introduce yourself/ your brand/ product, you must remember to offer them your product and focus more on forming a relationship instead of just pushing them to write for you.

For example: send them a free sample with your message that they may or may not mention it on your blog. However, if your product is authentic, meaningful, and likely to incite a positive response from their followers, they will probably partner up with you.

Consider Hosting Blogger On-Site Blogger Events

Transparency in dealing with your target bloggers can help create a positive image as well as foster relationships to expand and enhance your blogger outreach in meaningful ways. Bloggers get to learn about you firsthand and the kind of authenticity that can provide in their content for you can really do wonders for your outreach and sales.

Conclusion

You have a great product or service and quite a few people know about it, but guess what? They are not your target audience. What does that suggest about your marketing efforts? Fruitless right!Establishing and expanding your blogger outreach in meaningful ways and to form long lasting relationships helps you get in front of your target audience and possibly influence their purchase decision in a very subtle way. It is high time to get serious about your blogger outreach and start enhancing it if you haven’t been doing it already. It’s the age of digital marketing, and today, it calls for authentic, relevant and meaningful content that doesn’t push for sales. Bloggers help you give that and much more, and while reaching out to them you must be mindful of the time and effort they put forth.

Tip: Always personalize your messages and be respectful when creating your pitch in order to be successful with your blogger outreach initiative/strategy.